Hello, everyone. It's good to see you again. Today, I'm bringing to you a new KhunBam story. It's a six chapter story that is completed and just needs checking so this time you won't have to pray for me to get the inspiration to write the next one. I actually finished the whole thing in less than a month.
The story has as its base Khun and Bam playing the popular game Genshin Impact, but I tried to explain things as much as possible so those who haven't played the game can enjoy it, too.
The story went straight to two of my dearest individual's hands; my Bakura and my Aether. My Bakura had absolutely no knowledge of Genshin but according to her, she enjoyed the story. My Aether knows Genshin better than I do. I want to thank both of them for their wonderful comments and how much they made me laugh. You are so important to me.
Now…you can all enjoy chapter 1.
"I enjoy certain games." Those were the four words Khun Aguero Agnis had uttered unaware of how they would be his doom. Or maybe those words weren't responsible for the predicament he found himself in. It was most probably the name of that game; Genshin Impact. That was how everything started. But maybe we should take things from the beginning.
Even though the past week had been quite hot even for summer, a soft breeze made the prospect of leaving one's house bearable that day. It was what had persuaded most of the group to have a picnic at the park instead of meeting at a café or at someone's house as they usually did. They had chosen the perfect spot by the pond with the ducks, and they were all excited to spend some time together, outside.
The group was usually consisted of Bam, Wangnan, Endorsi, Shibisu, Hatz and Anaak but recently Shibisu had been bringing Khun with him. Khun and he shared some university classes, with both of them studying law. Shibisu hadn't expected Khun to agree on a second meeting with his friends even though the bluenette already knew Endorsi, especially after he and Hatz had started arguing about Khun's earrings only moments after they were introduced to each other. Shibisu was pretty sure the only reason Khun hadn't left that evening was the appearance of a disheveled Bam who had started profoundly apologizing for being late without ever realizing that his sudden entrance had stopped a war from happening. In the total chaos that was always caused by the group, Shibisu was the only one who noticed that Khun was unusually quiet and focused on the sunshine boy Bam was.
So, Shibisu wasn't really that surprised when Khun agreed to come to the picnic after he mentioned Bam would be there too. It was the same technique he had been using for the last two weeks to get him to meet with the others. He actually had a hard time hiding his grin knowing too well Khun would murder him if he caught sight of it. It was quite rare for the ice prince to show interest in another person and Shibisu wanted to stay alive to see how the situation would play out.
"That's a big freezer box you're holding, Isu." Wangnan exclaimed when Isu and Khun appeared at the entrance of the park. "Do you think we need all those drinks?"
Each of them was responsible for bringing something. Isu and Hatz had to bring the drinks while Endorsi and Anaak would bring the snacks. It was always a competition between the two girls about who would bring the most so everyone always left with some spare bags. Wangnan had said he'd cook some sweet and sour pork which technically wasn't a dish people expected to eat at a picnic. However, since no one was in the mood to hear another lecture about how sweet and sour pork was suitable for every occasion, they had decided to let him do whatever he wanted. Khun had been assigned the dessert task while Bam would bring the sandwiches.
"Khun may have gone a bit overboard on the desserts." Isu replied, doing his best to hide his amusement.
Khun had gone a bit more than overboard buying a bunch of different desserts in great quantities; anything from cookies and cinnamon rolls to fruit puddings and scones. If that happened because Isu had mentioned Bam had a sweet tooth, it was no one's business but his own. Probably they would all perceive it as a need to show off his family's wealth anyway.
"Wow. Maybe we should skip everything else and go straight to dessert!" Bam exclaimed, excitedly; his eyes never leaving the freezer box Isu carried as if it was his own.
"Bam looooves sweet things." Wangnan teased his friend, bumping his shoulder on the brunette's. "But no matter what Blue brought, we won't skip on your sandwiches."
Bam had the magic touch and whatever he cooked turned delicious. His friends often had him cook for them and picnics were always Bam sandwich days. He was always in charge of them so he tried to spice things up by changing an ingredient here or there and adding different sauces.
"Hello, Khun." Bam greeted Khun with a wide smile. "It's great to see you here."
Khun took a step forward as Isu placed the freezer box in the shade of a tree. "Hey, Bam. Great to see me or the sweets I brought?" He teased the boy with a confident grin.
"You, but the sweets are a bonus!" Bam answered enthusiastically causing Khun's grin to waver at the boy's honesty. Was the boy always so open about his feelings? "Isu said he wasn't sure if you'd join us."
That was because Khun wasn't planning to join them until Bam's name was dropped. Even though they didn't have any classes yet, he had started preparing for the next semester working his way through the list of books he'd have to study for his new classes. One day outside wouldn't hurt his well planned schedule of studying. Maybe he even needed to spend some time in the sun.
"Look, the princesses did it again. They bought half of the store's snacks each." Hatz commented seeing Endorsi and Anaak walking towards them, sulking, with a man following them, carrying some pretty big bags. The man placed the bags on their blanket, bowed and left without a word.
Endorsi and Anaak Jahad were step-sisters, daughters of one of the most well-known businessmen in Japan. Everything about them was a competition to see who was superior but everyone knew the two sisters cared for each other.
"Bam!" Endorsi immediately attached herself to Bam's arm. "I bought your favorite snacks. Maybe we can save them and after the picnic you and I could go to your place and watch a movie."
It was no secret that Endorsi had a thing for Bam since the day he had offered her his umbrella when a sudden storm almost ruined her hair. However, Bam was oblivious to the girl's crush causing her great frustration. To Isu's amusement, Endorsi had intensified her tries to get Bam's attention since a certain blue haired boy had joined their group.
"I'm sorry, Endorsi, but I can't today." Bam seemed genuinely sorry as he said that. "I've some plans for today that I can't cancel. But we're going to the movies this weekend, right?"
Endorsi pouted as Anaak snickered by her side. It was clear that Bam once again hadn't picked up what her invitation entailed. Going to the movies with the whole group hardly counted as a date.
"So what are you doing this evening anyway?" Endorsi brought the topic back after they had all sat down by the pond, sandwiches and drinks at hand. Most of the group were discussing if they would play some kind of game or not, but Endorsi was only interested in Bam.
"I'm a guest to Prince's YouTube stream tonight." Bam easily answered sipping his soda. "It's for a charity event so we'll pull an all-nighter playing different games. "
"I think Yuri mentioned it at some point. Wasn't it a 24 hours thing?" Endorsi tried hard to remember what her older sister had said but she was never interested in video games so she rarely paid attention to Yuri's words about them.
"It is. Officially the event starts at six pm today and will be finished tomorrow same time but I'm only a guest so I don't have to be there for the whole duration. It works for me since I didn't want to miss our picnic." The brunette scratched his head, thoughtfully. "I need to remember to pick up some coffee on my way to Prince's. I'll most probably need it."
"So, you're a youtuber?" Khun asked, curiously. He was pretty sure Isu had told him Bam was in the English department and had a part-time job in a small bookshop that Isu often frequent. He hadn't mentioned anything about him being a youtuber.
Bam chuckled. "No. Not really. Prince is Wangnan's younger cousin. He and his friends started their gaming channels some years ago and they've been quite popular in the gaming community. I quite enjoy games so we became good friends and sometimes they invite me to play with them when they stream."
Khun was sure there was more to the story. Even though he didn't follow a lot of youtubers, he knew Prince and his gang. They had a steadily growing base of followers so he didn't believe they'd invite just anyone to a 24 hours marathon. His suspicions were confirmed when Wangnan joined the conversation.
"You're too modest." The blonde stuffed his mouth with another sandwich before continuing. "Bam takes Miseng's or Horyang's place when they are unavailable. They have their own studio, courtesy of my uncle, and Bam borrows their equipment when they are to stream together." Another sandwich ended up in Wangnan's mouth. "He's quite popular in the community and everyone keeps asking him to start his own channel but Bam always says no."
Bam's ears slowly started turning red at his friend's words. "That's not…"
"Don't say it's not true." Endorsi interrupted him, wanting to be part of the conversation. Khun had managed to take Bam's attention away from her. "Yuri told me about all the girls going crazy in the chat. They even found out you know her so they keep asking her if she'll stream with you at some point."
Interesting, Khun thought. He'd have to watch the stream, and maybe ask his brother about Bam. Hachuling Khun, three years older than Khun, was one of the most famous gamers in Japan, known with only by his nickname, Blueberry. He and Yuri would stream together that night. So, if Yuri knew Bam, chances were Hachuling knew him, too.
"What are you going to play?" Khun asked with interest.
"Oh, this and that. We'll be on for hours so we'll try a bit of everything. I believe we'll start with a game called Operation Tango which from what I've read is quite an interesting game to play. It's a two-player game, and requires Prince and I giving information to each other to complete missions as hacker and agent. Each of us has to complete tasks based on whatever the other says." Bam's enthusiasm was evident in his voice as he explained the game. "I think Overcooked and Fortnite will be also part of our itinerary since they're quite popular. And at some point we'll play Among Us with some other streamers. Horyang and Miseng will be guests in some other streams for some hours but they'll join Prince in the morning and then I'll be dismissed." He chuckled. "I love games but I don't know if I could handle a 24 hours gaming marathon, especially one streamed."
"Don't pretend you haven't stayed up a whole day playing games before." Endorsi scolded him, remembering some days back in high school that Bam would appear with black circles under his eyes having spent his whole weekend playing video games.
"That was different!" Bam pouted. "I was playing for my own enjoyment, either alone or with friends. Even though Prince does most of the talking with the fans, I need to be aware of the chat and answer some questions, too. You can't ignore the chat. That's rule number one of being a youtuber, I guess." The boy scratched his head once again, embarrassed. Then he turned towards Khun once again. "Do you like video games?"
"I enjoy certain games." Khun replied, cautiously. He didn't want to mention Hachuling and how they'd often compete in private. Khun would never appear in a stream no matter how many times Hachuling begged him to.
Bam leaned a bit closer to Khun, looking at him as if he was analyzing him. "Hmm…" He made a sound, deep in thought. "You strike me as someone who loves to use his brain when playing. You probably enjoy games that have plenty of puzzles and require you to actually think instead of hitting some random buttons or go from point A to point B."
Khun didn't know if he should be pleased or disturbed that Bam was able to read him so well. It was true that he wasn't interested in games that didn't mentally challenge him. Real-time strategy games were his favorite.
"Let me guess…You've have experience with at least one of the Age of Empires franchise." Bam continued without waiting for Khun's reply.
"I've played all three of them." Khun admitted, once again surprised. "They were interesting and kept me entertained for quite some time but…"
"Games are an activity that is quite time consuming and a future lawyer has much better things to do." Bam finished his sentence, but there was no sarcasm in his voice, just understanding. "Games are a great way to spend your time but as we grow older it gets harder to find time for them, I guess."
There was a bit of a sad tone in his voice so Khun hurried to bring the conversation back to a happier moment. "Is there any game that you especially favor lately?"
Bam laughed. Bingo, Khun thought, loving the sound. "As a matter of fact, I've been spending quite some time on a game for the last months. I don't know if you've heard of a game called Genshin Impact but it's been my guilty pleasure for the last eight months."
The bluenette couldn't help but love the way Bam's lips moved as he said the word pleasure. A side look at Endorsi assured him that the girl was displeased by Bam's attention to him. Not sparing her another look, Khun focused back on Bam.
"Actually, I've played the game." Khun answered slowly and was rewarded with a wide smile by the other boy.
"Really?" Bam leaned even closer to him. "Isn't Inazuma such an intriguing place? Liyue was a walk in the park compared to it. I'm so glad I decided to pull for Zhongli because his shield is a lifesaver in those storms! Of course, Kazuha is also a lifesaver. He has almost replaced my Aether." The boy talked fast throwing names one after the other. "Do you have a default team or do you switch characters back and forth like me? I'm still trying to decide on mine. Building your characters is one of the most difficult things in this game. I'm quite fond of a bunch of them so I keep going back and forth trying to level up everyone and that of course doesn't help me properly build anyone."
Bam was ready to start another barrage of questions, and Khun hated how he had to shoot his enthusiasm down, but he had no idea what the other boy was talking about.
"Bam...I think maybe I didn't use the right word to describe my experience with the game. I downloaded it, tried it for a couple of days and didn't play it again."
"Oh." Silence. The brunette pulled back to his place, biting his bottom lip. "I guess I got ahead of myself. I apologize."
Endorsi sent Khun a caustic look that promised him a slow and painful death. Not only he had stolen Bam's attention but he had managed to make their personal sunshine sad. Who did he think he was?
"It's a pity really. I'd like to see the builds you'd do, which characters you'd favor, and of course co-op with you." There was some wistfulness that was hard to hide in Bam's voice but there was also hesitation. "The game has an anime-like design that makes people think it's for kids but the story is complicated, full of twists, and a plot that gets darker and darker as you proceed. What started as an open world adventure game with gatcha elements has turned into an amalgam of games that keeps changing with every new quest and event." Bam smiled and awkwardly looked at his feet. "But enough of this. I was actually surprised you even tried it. And then I thought that you'd have hurried through every puzzle and quest and farmed for the best artifacts until your characters were powerhouses." The chuckle that escaped his lips was more of an echo of the carefree laughter from before. "I was actually wondering what you'd think of my characters' builds."
Did Bam really think Khun had mastered the game the boy had spent months playing? Did he really want to share the game with him? The brunette seemed really into the game and he made it sound quite exciting. Maybe there was more to it than his quick gameplay had shown him. Building characters and choosing the right members for his team sounded intriguing for sure. And Bam was right. He wouldn't have been satisfied if his team wasn't the best. Maybe he could even like the story. As a kid, he enjoyed reading a good book that was pure fiction once in a while.
Khun had actually downloaded the game because he'd heard it was one of the best games of the year but he quickly forgot about it. He wasn't sure why everyone thought so highly of it. It seemed more of a children's game to him than one for teens and adults. But he had to admit, he had found the opening of the story quite intriguing. The story of the twin travelers who were stopped by a goddess as they tried to escape a world and were separated by fate didn't appeal to him in an emotional level but it created enough mystery to get him going. The open world was quite colorful and seemed to expand to cover a great length which meant it could keep him busy. However, he had found the little companion, Paimon, quite annoying and the initial quests were quite tiresome. He had abandoned the game soon after unlocking the first sixteen ranks. He hadn't even bothered trying to learn the game.
His only real interaction with the game since then was when Hachuling would have him pull for characters just for fun. He often justified the use of money on an abandoned account as a future investment. He always said he'd just borrow the account one day and play but he never did. Not that Khun really cared about it. He'd just click the mouse without even looking at the screen until his brother was gone.
"Kazuha, you said?" Khun allowed a small smile touch his lips as Bam blinked softly, his eyes reflecting the confusion he felt. "This name actually rings a bell. Is he a blonde boy with red brown clothes?"
He was pretty sure Hachuling had recently bothered him about that character. It was during one of his breaks so he had paid a bit of attention to what his brother was saying.
"Yes! That's him. He's an anemo vision holder. His swirls are pretty fun to use and he does some pretty great damage. However, his greatest use is as support." Bam explained, but it was clear that he was still hesitant.
"You know…maybe I was a bit hasty on my decision to abandon the game. I guess I could give it another try."
And right there, with those words, Khun damned himself, but it was so worth it for that shy smile full of promises Bam gave him in return.
And here you have it. Now, I guess I can give you some more background about this story. I hadn't planned to write anything like this until one night I had a discussion with a person who was quite dear to me for years. At some point, games were mentioned and he said that he plays Genshin, too. Knowing how much of a strategist he is and how he would grind a game all the way to get the best characters, I started wondering what kind of builds he'd have and what he'd think of my characters.
I'm one of these people who don't care as much about for power as for having the characters they want. For quite some months my main team was all four star characters. I'm still maining Razor.
However, soon it became apparent he was barely a rank 10 and had kind of abandoned the game. I offered to help him with the game, explaining basic things to him and we even co-oped when he reached rank 16.
The story was only just inspired by this incident but it was an idea that I grabbed and ran, and I'm glad for that. Through this whole journey, my two friends were the ones that really supported me so I once again want to thank them.
Stay tuned. Next chapter will come soon!