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myshipshipsitself · 2 years

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Between Us Fanfic: Brother Knows Best

Title: Brother Knows Best Ship(s): WinTeam, pre-relationship GamerBoys (Waan x Tul) Character(s): Waan, Win, Tul, Team POV: Waan Word County: 3203 Summary: Waan finds out who T-rex is, Win is in his Feels after saving Team from drowning, and neither of them want to talk about it.

Ao3 Link

Heavy footsteps fell in a steady beat across the floor. Back and forth. Back and forth.

Who did his father think he was anyway? Waan meant it when he said he wished the entire company would go bankrupt. It would make his life a hell of a lot easier.

What do you think pays for your food? The roof over your head? You lazy, worthless, ungrateful—

Waan would happily share a shitty apartment with his brothers and eat cheap noodles for every meal if it meant being done with this. If it meant having their father back the way he was before. He wasn’t even sure if Wiew remembered what he was like back then. He’d barely been two years old when Waan first saw him starting to change. To become obsessive and angry.

The plastic pen holder on his desk flew across the room, pens flying in every direction before Waan even realized he’d picked it up.

He cursed under his breath, and started to pick up his phone. He hesitated, finger hovering over opening his game, before he threw the phone onto the bed. T-rex had known the last time they played that something was wrong just from his voice. No way in hell he could hide how pissed he was at the moment, and as much as he knew T-rex would let him vent, or provide ample distractions, Waan still couldn’t make himself pick his phone back up.

It was comfortable, talking to T-rex. In a way he hadn’t anticipated. In a way that felt vulnerable and scary, despite them not even knowing each other in real life. He might live halfway around the world for all Waan knew.

Realistically, he knew that was unlikely. T-rex lived at least somewhere in the same time zone, he knew that much from various conversations.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow he would pick up the game again, and rant at T-rex until he felt better. The stranger on the other end always did have a way of making him feel better, even when they weren’t talking about anything of consequence. But not tonight. Waan was too on edge at the moment.

He flopped onto the bed, rolling over and staring at the opposite wall for as long as it took for him to drift off to sleep, the sun barely set outside his window.

—————

Lunch off campus and away from their family was Win’s idea. One that Waan was endlessly grateful for.

“Are you going to tell me what the fight was about this time?” Win asked. Waan knew the question was coming, but he just sat across from his brother, stabbing at his ramen without answering. Win sighed, and when Waan looked up, his brother wasn’t eating, just staring at his food with a distant look.

“What about you?” Waan asked. “You look more miserable than usual too.”

Win’s eyes flicked up, a familiar unimpressed, annoyed stare leveled at him. “Don’t worry about me,” Win answered, instead of snapping at him, which was concerning in itself.

“I’m your big brother,” Waan reminded him.

“Are you?” Win asked, eyes widening in feigned surprise. Waan flipped his chopsticks around in his hand and reached over to swat Win’s head with them.

“Don’t be an ass,” Waan said. “It’s my job to worry. So what’s bothering you?”

“Tul,” Win said, and Waan’s lips pressed together as he racked his brain.

“Tul,” Waan said slowly. “Your friend I met last week on campus? Why’s he bothering you?”

“No,” Win said. The smile on his face was a relief, and when he pointed over Waan’s shoulder, he understood.

“Oh,” Waan said. “Hi again.”

“Win, P’Waan,” Tul said, a bright smile on his face as he came over. “Mind if I join you?” He sat beside Win without waiting for an answer. “What’s going on?”

“I was just trying to figure out why my little brother looks like he swallowed a lemon,” Waan volunteered. Cue the return of Win’s annoyed glare back at his brother.

“Good luck, he won’t tell any of us,” Tul said. He paused, and Waan could swear he saw an actual lightbulb appear over his head as he turned to smile at Win. “Actually, now that I think about it. You only look that grumpy these days when you’re not with—“ Win swatted the back of Tul’s head.

“Hey!” Waan and Tul snapped at him at the same time. Waan didn’t spare a glance for Tul, but could feel the boy’s eyes on him.

“Don’t hit your friend,” Waan said. “So who is it that’s making my brother not so grumpy these days, and why are they not here now?”

“It’s a boy from the club,” Tul said, drawing Waan’s eyes back to him. Win made another move to swat at him, but Waan kicked him under the table, and Win just glared across the table at him instead. “Dean said he’s been avoiding you at practice. What did you do?”

“If you want to sit with us, go get your food. I’m not waiting for you if you’re not done eating when we leave,” Win said.

“How sweet of you to be concerned about my wellbeing,” Tul teased. Win didn’t look amused, but Waan couldn’t help smiling at the easy way Tul teased. “But I already ate. I simply came over here because I thought you could use some good company.” At that, he turned and caught Waan’s eye, and—winked. Waan just stared at him for a long moment, only tearing his gaze away when he could feel his face flushing under the scrutiny.

“Great, let me know when you find some,” Win said, and Tul made a wounded sound. And just like that, Waan was certain the moment had all been in his head. “Hia Waan,” Win’s voice made him look up again, steadfastly avoiding Tul’s gaze. “You weren’t answering my calls last night. What were you doing?” Waan wished he’d choose a different change of topic.

“Playing video games,” Waan answered automatically.

“No you weren’t,” Tul said. Win and Waan both turned to look at him with confused stares.

“What are you talking about?” Waan asked. “How do you know if I was playing video games?”

A look of sheer panic took over Tul’s features, and Waan could see him trying to backtrack.

“No, I didn’t. I just, um—I thought I saw you, out somewhere. So I figured you, I mean, that you weren’t—um—“

“Tul. T,” Waan said slowly, eyes narrowing for a moment, then— “T-rex,” he said quietly. No. No, no, no. Tul’s face fell, shattered in guilt, and Waan could only see red. “It’s you.”

“I’m sorry,” Tul said quickly. “I tried to—“

“You lied to me,” Waan said. He didn’t realize how loud his voice was until he felt Win’s hand on his arm, but he shook it off and stood, stumbling back from the table. “You—How long have you known?”

“Just since we met last week,” Tul said. He stood as well, walking around the table towards him, but Waan took two steps back for every step he took forward.

“You’ve been lying to me for a week?” Waan asked. The room was spinning, and Tul was still walking towards him, and now Win was as well— No, Win was walking towards Tul. Grabbing his arm, pulling him back.

“I didn’t mean to,” Tul said. “I’m sorry, I tried to tell you.”

Waan’s eyes dropped to the tight grip Win had on Tul’s arm, and he turned without another thought. He had to get as far away as possible. From Tul, from Win—fuck, what was Win thinking now? Did he know everything Waan had told Tul?

The sight of Tul’s face when they first met in person came flooding back to him. The smirk, the knowing smile. How he looked like he knew something no one else did, and was immeasurably proud of himself for it. And joining them at lunch. The knowing smiles, the wink—God, Waan was such an idiot. Tul had known who he was, knew who his brother was.

He had no reason not to tell Win everything Waan had said. Tul had clearly known Win longer. His loyalty wasn’t to Waan. He was Win’s friend.

Why couldn’t Waan have one person in his life that wasn’t somehow tied up in his family’s bullshit?

“P’Waan!” The voice made him speed up, but the steps behind him were faster, and then there was a hand on his arm, burning his skin between tight fingers. Waan wrenched his arm away, spinning around to face Tul.

“What?” Waan spat at him.

“I’m sorry,” Tul said. For a second, Waan wanted to believe him.

“Bullshit,” Waan said. “You should’ve told me as soon as you figured out who I was.”

“I know,” Tul said. He pushed a hand roughly through his hair, looking pained as he spoke again. “I tried to. I swear I meant to tell you.”

“Then why didn’t you?” Waan snapped at him. He only felt a little bit bad when Tul flinched.

Tul shifted his weight from one foot to the other, dropped his gaze for a moment, and licked his lips nervously before looking back up. Some part of Waan wanted to feel bad for making him uncomfortable. T-rex had been nothing but supportive and friendly towards him. It was weird to think that the man standing in front of him was the same person.

“You remember I asked why you didn’t talk to your brother?” Tul asked. Waan remembered asking T-rex how he knew Waan had a brother, and Tul had said that he’d told him. He hadn’t. Waan only nodded. “You said you couldn’t talk to him, or anyone in your life. I was afraid if you knew who I was, you wouldn’t want to talk to me either.”

Waan hated that Tul was right. He wouldn’t have kept talking to Tul the way he had before. Not if he’d known who he was. Known that he was Win’s friend. The anonymity was safe. Being behind a screen and not believing he had any chance of ever meeting T-rex in person was safe.

“You should’ve let me decide that,” Waan said.

When he turned to leave, Tul didn’t try to stop him again. Waan was not going to dwell on how much that hurt.

—————

The remainder of the day was lost in a hopeless, blurry sea of sidewalks and colors outside the car window.

Waan walked until his legs felt sore, then drove until he didn’t know where he was, then let his GPS guide him back to familiar streets.

Win texted him at some point.

Winnie: I don’t know what’s going on, but for whatever it’s worth. Tul is an idiot, but he means well

Waan didn’t respond.

Some few hours later, he found himself parked outside Win’s dorm again. It was late, probably close to midnight. He shouldn’t bother Win so late, but he didn’t want to go home.

“Hmmm?” Win’s tired groan answered the phone on the third ring.

“Did I wake you up?” Waan asked. Silence was the only answer he got. “Can I stay at your dorm again tonight?”

“Why?” Win asked.

“Sorry, forget it. You probably have someone there. Don’t worry about it,” Waan said quickly. He pulled the phone away from his ear and started to hang up when Win’s voice stopped him.

“Wait,” Win said. “I didn’t say no. I said why.”

Waan hesitantly put the phone back up to his ear. “I just don’t want to go home and face dad right now.”

Win sighed heavily. “Yeah, come on over.”

“Great, I’m outside. I’ll just be a minute.” He hung up before Win could question anything further.

What he did not expect to see as he walked down the hall towards his brother’s room was a small figure huddled up, his back against Win’s door. A long pillow laid beside him on the ground, another pillow hugged tight to his chest. His eyes were shut, but he was fidgeting and breathing heavily.

“Hey,” Waan said gently, crouching down in front of the boy. Once he got closer, Waan could see the boy was sweating, mouth moving silently, and face scrunched in pain. “Hey, wake up. Are you alright?” Waan shook the boy’s shoulder, and a second later was shoved back, landing heavily on the floor. He rubbed at the place on his chest where the boy had either punched or shoved him—he wasn’t entirely sure which, but it hurt.

“Shit,” a voice said. Waan adjusted his glasses that had slipped sideways and looked up to see the boy, now wide away and leaning towards him. “I’m sorry. Are you alright?”

“Are you?” Waan asked. “Why’re you having a nightmare on the floor outside of Win’s door?”

The boy didn’t get a chance to answer before the door behind him opened. Win didn’t even glance at Waan, his eyes instead drawn immediately to the boy.

“Team,” he said. His voice was laced with pain, concern, and something Waan couldn’t put a finger on. “Why are you still here?”

“Hia, I couldn’t sleep,” the boy—Team, apparently— said quietly. Hia— It wasn’t necessarily a wrong term for team to call Win, but…Well, Waan had never known any juniors that Win allowed to call him that. He’d only ever heard Wiew call him Hia. Waan could see Win’s jaw clench, his fingers flexing against the door.

“Go back to your room,” Win said. He finally looked across the hall at Waan, still sitting on the floor where Team had accidentally shoved him. “Waan, come on in.”

Waan was certain he didn’t imagine the way Team’s face dropped, nor the way his eyes glistened. And he definitely didn’t misunderstand the look of hurt and betrayal on his face when he looked from Win to Waan.

“It’s Team, right?” Waan asked. Team nodded as Waan stood, holding a hand out to the boy. Team hesitated a moment, then accepted the offered hand and let Waan pull him to his feet. “Don’t go anywhere, okay? Give me just a minute to talk to my brother.” If he intentionally used the familial term instead of calling Win by name, it wasn’t anything either of them would call him out on. And when he noticed how Team visibly relaxed at the clarification, he also wouldn’t say anything about it.

Win’s glare was something Waan was used to, so he didn’t pause when he turned back around, shoving at Win’s chest to make him step back into the room, and shutting the door behind them.

“Why is there a freshman sleeping in the hallway outside your room?” Waan asked.

“Because he’s stubborn and won’t go back to his room,” Win snapped. “I’ll make him leave. Just go to sleep.” He waved his hand towards the bed and started to move past Waan to the door, but Waan grabbed his arm to stop him.

“If he leaves, will you tell me what’s going on?” Waan asked.

“No,” Win answered.

“Then let him stay,” Waan said. “I don’t mind. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“He’s not staying,” Win said.

“Why not?” Waan asked. “Is that the boy from the club your friend was talking about?”

“My friend?” Win asked, only coldness left in his tone. “Why don’t you tell me what the hell is going on with you and Tul?”

“So we’re decided then,” Waan said, putting on a fake cheery tone. “I’m not going to talk to you about Tul, and you’re not going to talk to me about Team. So why can’t he stay?”

“Because it’s my room, not yours,” Win answered. There was a hurt in his voice, in his body language that Waan didn’t recognize. A hurt like he hadn’t seen in his brother. The middle brother that always acted like the eldest, who had everything together and knew what was he was doing. The best of them, really. Hurting and unwilling to talk about it. “Besides, you’re my brother. You’re supposed to be on my side, not his.”

“Ok, ok,” Waan said. “I get you don’t want to talk, but I don’t think he’s leaving. So answer me two questions.”

“Why should I?” Win asked like the petulant child he hadn’t been since before Wiew was born. Waan found himself smiling a little despite the situation.

“Because I’m the big brother, and you should trust me,” Waan said. Win sighed, but didn’t argue anymore. “Ok, did either you cheat on the other?”

“What? No!” Win snapped, eyes wide and staring at Waan as if he was crazy. “We’re not really together anyway.” The way he said it, the way he shifted and avoided Waan’s eyes told him there was more to that statement, but he didn’t push. Win wouldn’t answer anyway.

“Ok, second question,” Waan said instead. “Did either of you hit or injure the other?”

“No! What kind of questions are these?” Win sounded so genuinely offended at Waan’s questions that he couldn’t help smiling a little. He sounded as if he would sooner murder Waan than even consider something like that.

“Ok then, let him stay,” Waan said. Win opened his mouth to argue, but Waan cut him off. “You don’t want to tell me what’s going on, and that’s fine. But pretty much anything other than those two can be talked through and worked out. So let him stay, and figure it out later.” Win looked like he still wanted to argue, and Waan was certain he could if he really wanted to. But instead he just shoved Waan towards the couch and went to the door.

Waan smiled, more than a little proud of himself as Win opened the door. Team had his back turned, shoulders hunched forward. Waan couldn’t see his face very well when he turned around until Win stood back and let him in the room. Team’s gaze was downcast as he walked in, pillows hugged tight against his chest like a shield.

Team paused and looked up, finally catching Waan’s gaze. Waan smiled and waved at him. Team relaxed a little, returning the smile, though it looked a little forced.

“Hia Waan, there’s blankets in the top of the closet,” Win said, pointing to the wardrobe. Waan nodded and got up to fetch a blanket.

When he turned back around, he noticed Team walking around to what Waan had thought was Win’s side of the bed. Team crawled into the side of the bed Win had slept on when Waan stayed with him before, and Win climbed in on the side he’d told Waan to sleep on. It was obvious that Team had slept there before. Frequently enough that he didn’t question where to sleep, or which switch turned the light beside the bed off.

Win caught Waan’s eye, and the warning in his gaze was palpable.

Waan smiled a little to himself and stretched out on the couch, turned away from the pair. He would get answers from his brother soon enough. He just had to figure out a way to get Win to talk without his brother forcing him to talk as well.

#fanfic #fanfiction #WinTeam #GamerBoys #Tul x Waan #Between Us #Here we go again #TBH I don't think this is how the preview of Team outside Win's door is going to happen #I think Win is not in the room and will find Team there later and take him inside #He's out drinking his sorrows with Dean or something #Or having a 'stop being a dumbass' convo with Tul or Waan about their whole shitshow #In any case #Enjoy I guess

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