A/N: This was originally a gift fic for blue_cage, who wanted a story featuring Ko Yeongha and Hon Suyong. dcinside is a website similar to 2chan in Korea (though it's more about commenting on pictures I think). Please read and enjoy.

Baiting

Suyong resisted the urge to shout at the computer screen. His parents were in the house, and might come to check up on him if he did, but it was very tempting. Finally, he settled on a less than satisfactory grumble, and typed out a reply.

B_W dont talk about what u dont understand, asshole! Korea is the strongest in go right now, so shut up.

Reply done, he went to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of barley tea. In one gulp he was finished, and he immediately returned to his room. He stared at the computer screen, which blinked back innocently at him. Well, perhaps he'll refresh the browser just one more time…

B_W dont talk about what u dont understand, asshole! Korea is the strongest in go right now, so shut up.

1m4w50m3 hahaha, look at you, being a moron. korea may be strong right now, but the latest set of korean pros are pretty much crap. they nearly lost to japan in the hokuto cup!

A few minutes later, Suyong was left awkwardly trying to explain to his parents why he had been shouting in his room in the middle of the night. The resulting lecture lasted nearly twice as long.

"Don't laugh!" Suyong snapped, but it was already too late. Yeongha was laughing so hard that he shook with the very effort. If he'd been sitting on a chair, he would have fallen off already. As it stood, it was amazing that he hadn't slid off the cushion yet.

When he finally calmed down enough to speak, he was still grinning in a way that was both obnoxious and endearing.

"You take things too seriously," he said, running a hand through his hair.

"Who wouldn't get mad at that?" Suyong said. "Koreans are still the strongest! Korea has been winning all of the international tournaments for the past two years, so it was obvious that the guy didn't know what he was talking about. And we did not nearly lose to Japan."

"I wouldn't have cared what he said," the older boy said, shrugging. "None of what he said was true, so it doesn't matter."

"Well, I'm going to try to avoid that place anyway. It's far too distracting," Suyong replied, feigning a determination he did not actually feel. He had managed to resist refreshing his browser this morning, but come evening and he would probably be back on the site again.

"Your games haven't been suffering," Yeongha said.

"Yet," Suyong said ominously. "But it's far too addicting. I didn't spend any time studying go last night because of that website. If this goes on…"

"It's not wrong to take a break every once in a while," Yeongha pointed out, "but you shouldn't let it interfere with your go."

"I know. Now I have to make up for the studying I should have done last night." Suyong looked pointedly at the go board behind Yeongha. "When was the last time we played a game together?"

"Not since the Hokuto Cup," Yeongha answered. "Shall we play a game?"

In the end, Suyong ended up black. He began the game cautiously, playing close to the standard joseki. His friend obliged him at first, but twelve moves in he broke the pattern, and laid a stone in a place that, if unchallenged, could potentially endanger his upper-right cluster. This was assuming of course, that Suyong was a complete idiot.

He looked up at Yeongha, trying to figure out the reason for that particular move, but the older boy had no expression on his face. Suyong countered the stone with a simple block. Almost immediately, Yeongha placed another stone, this time challenging the lower-left. Again, it was something that only an idiot would have fallen for.

As the hour passed, Suyong continued to counter Yeongha's continued challenges. The older boy never actually followed through, abandoning the area after only a few moves to go somewhere else. Still, despite that, he was building solid territory, while Suyong was becoming preoccupied defending several areas, his own territory in danger of being cut off from each other as a result.

There was something oddly familiar about this. The continued challenges, all of which Suyong hadn't been able to help but answer, felt far too much like something else altogether. He narrowed his eyes, as the pieces clicked together.

"You bastard," Suyong said.

"Hm?" Yeongha replied, the smile on his face smugly superior. It deepened when he noticed the glare on Suyong's face.

"That guy was you!"

"What guy?"

"On the dcinside website. The idiot I was talking about. It was you wasn't it?"

For the second time that day, Yeongha burst out laughing at Suyong's expense.

"You're so easy to tease," his friend admitted. "I couldn't resist."

"You insulted Korea!" Suyong shouted, jumping to his feet.

"It's not my fault that it gets the funniest reactions out of you," Yeongha said, completely unrepentant.

"How is it not your fault? You typed it!"

"But you replied," Yeongha said. "You could have just ignored me." When he saw that Suyong's expression remained unchanged, "Oh come on, it was only a joke."

"You… you…"

"Are we still going to continue the game? I've won, you know. You spread yourself out too far, trying to keep up with all of my baiting."

"Baiting? You bastard. Shindou was right about you!"

Yeongha ignored the insult with a flick of his hand.

"He's another one that's fun to bait. Are you keeping in touch with him? Invite him to Korea sometime."

"How did you figure out it was me?" Suyong asked, ignoring the jab for what it was.

"I can check your IP address, and the screen names you choose always have some reference to go," Yeongha said airily. "You really should mix it up, like I do. And get a few proxies."

"I'm not going to fall for you again," Suyong told him.

"Really?"

"And if I do, I know what to do afterward." He was satisfied to see a hint of confusion appear on Yeongha's face. "The next time you decide to bait," he growled, picking up the cushion underneath him, "remember not to do it to someone who can retaliate in real life!"

The sound of the cushion hitting Yeongha in the face felt better than any insult he could have written on the internet.