Chapter Text
It was always a cycle for Brett.
He knew this even before stepping in the company and applying for a high position. Don’t get him wrong, he knows the job pays well. But for the last 8 years, he’d been doing the exact same thing.
The exact same routine, in fact. He lives in a pretty, nice house. One that he could afford. It was a better option than staying in his run-down apartment when he was just starting out in the company. He wakes up, gets ready for work, go to work, and go straight home. He does this every single day.
His career became his life. Never once did he bother to try and date someone. Mainly because he thought it was a distraction. The last time he had a relationship was back in high school.
Sometimes, he agrees to go out with his co-workers but only when there’s a special occasion and he won’t have any excuses left in him to not go. Frankly, he didn’t have any problems with them. They were nice, just a bit nosy, like your usual co-workers. Every month, they keep asking him the same questions.
“Do you have a wife yet, Mr. Yang?”
“Oh boy, not even a girlfriend? You’ll be sad and lonely when you get old with no one to take care of you!”
As if he wasn’t already sad and lonely at his current age. The only person he would consider a potential ‘friend’ was Sophie. His desk mate at work. She was kind and didn’t ask any prying questions like the others.
Sometimes, when Brett gets on and sit at his desk, he’ll see a warm coffee and a loaf of bread waiting for him with a note from Sophie. He would look at her, confused.
“Don’t worry about it, my boyfriend dropped me off at the coffee shop early this morning and I know you’re hungry so go ahead!” she’ll say. He wouldn’t admit it straight to her face, but he’s grateful for all of that.
Today, he was at the office once again, staring blankly at the word document on his screen.
“Brett, you okay?” Sophie asked, concerned. “Are you finally deciding you hate this job?”
Brett shook his head, “No, I just spaced out.”
“I see…” Sophie shrugged. “Well, good luck tomorrow anyway.”
He frowned at that, “Tomorrow?” He thought very hard for a moment, wondering if he had missed something. He was sure he had nothing in his schedule written for tomorrow. He always check his calendar and stare at it before heading out to work.
“Mr. Shimamoto, didn’t tell you?”
No, he didn’t. If he did, Brett would have certainly remembered it.
“I… don’t think so?”
Sophie hummed. “I wonder if it’s alright that I am telling you. Maybe it’s a surprise and I am ruining it.”
“Just tell me, it’s better that I learn it early and prepare.”
The other woman stopped typing on her computer and leaned closer, as if she was telling a secret. “There’s going to be an intern coming in tomorrow and you mister, will be his personal trainer.”
Now, he’s certain he didn’t know anything about that. He also assumes that the news isn’t supposed to be out yet but as expected, Sophie is always updated with the work gossips. Which means, he’ll be updated as well.
“So, babysitting duty, then?” he replied shortly, going back to his work. Sophie scoffed, “I wouldn’t call it that. The guy is directly endorsed by the manager, he must be really good. You need to be a good senior too, Brett! This is your chance to make more friends!”
“I doubt.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, you do. You doubt, doubt, doubt, doubt.”
“I am serious this time. I don’t need friends.”
“And I am serious too. You’ll be burnt out in no time if you keep this up.”
He doesn’t think so, he knows he’s miserable but he had been doing this for 8 years straight and turned out fine.
“Fine, I’ll try. But no promises.”
“Got it!” Sophie smiled. “Also, there’s a party later. You’re coming?”
Sophie knows he wouldn’t but she still asks him like the good friend she is. Brett just shook his head and the other immediately got the message, already used to it. After hours and hours of working, he could see his co-workers get up and go home one by one. Those staying are the ones going to the party so he decided to finish up for the day.
On his way home, he bought rice balls, curry, and canned sodas for his dinner at the nearby convenience store. One of his favorite things to do is walk around the city late at night. Before going home tonight, he made a detour to the gaming shop.
One thing about Brett that nobody knew, not even Sophie, was that he was extremely into gaming. He wouldn’t consider himself as an expert as he hardly has any time to be good at it. But he knows he enjoys it.
Lately, he’d been really into StreamNet. It’s a cute, colorful website commonly known for entertainment purposes. It’s mainly for live-streamers, gaming content, and vlogging.
Brett wasted no time and returned home before he could miss his favorite streamer’s live. He opened his computer and started looking up one of his favorite sites.
🎮 StreamNet
The most widely used interactive live-streaming platform! 
Welcome, @blackcat!
Following
@maskboy 
‣ 10M Viewers
🔴 Live-streaming Now!
He plugged his headphones on and started unloading his food from the store, glad that he was just in time for the stream.
Inbox (1) 
broo, you’re just in time! mask boy’s not here yet. can’t wait to see him!
He began typing his response. Nooshy’s an online friend he’s made from stupidly watching and being a fan of Mask Boy.
You @blackcat
cool. wouldn’t wanna miss it.
still dry with your responses? how is mask boy going to notice you if you’re like that?
You @blackcat
well i just came back from work dude. my 9-5?
oop! my bad. forgot i’m the only unemployed guy around here. 
He chuckled and closed the tab when Mask Boy finally decided to show himself. This Mask Boy sensation has gained over ten million following on StreamNet because of his unique way of streaming. The man’s a real beast in gaming if you ask Brett. But that’s not what’s interesting about him.
“Hello everyone! I am sure you all missed me!” Not even a second of Mask Boy going live, his comments were already flooding with people gifting him.
Brett took a bite from his rice ball.
“The mask looks quite chic, right? I designed it a little! I put some stickers and the whole set-up behind me is sort of different. If you’re an avid watcher of my channel, you’d know!” That’s what’s iconic about him. His mask trademark that he wore in every livestream. It made him more mysterious and it piqued people’s interest.
Brett knew a lot changed, he’d been watching him for years now. He managed to glance over the Mask Boy’s hand, there lies a tiny diamond tattoo on his wrist. If you don’t look hard enough, it wouldn’t be noticeable at all. Brett thinks the tattoo suits his overall aesthetic.
“I am actually so excited for tomorrow. There’s something new happening to me. I wouldn’t dare say it, I mean, for all I know, someone out there, maybe a co-worker will be watching me!” he giggled, putting his chin on his hand. “You guys are always sweet. I just started and there’s already thousands of gifts.”
Brett also thinks Mask Boy must be a millionaire by now. Those gifts are no joke. They cost at least thousands and thousands of bucks.
He knows that, he contributed a lot to it, much to his friend Nooshy’s jealousy.
i gather you’ll be gifting to him again 
man, at least include me on the message or something! so i can get a shoutout too! i thought we were friends…
Brett chuckled, typing back.
You (@blackcat)
maybe this will inspire you to go look for a job so you can finally gift mask boy yourself 
man you’re so mean! just you wait!
He was already pressing the button to gift, carefully picking out something that would make him stand out among other gifters.
@maskboy
blackcat 
just gifted 1000 flowers! 
He gasped on livestream. “My favorite viewer, blackcat!”
Who was he kidding? He knows no matter what he sends, Mask Boy will always acknowledge it. Simply because it was him who sent it. Brett scoffed, satisfied. He’ll bully Nooshy later.
“I missed you, blackcat! Since I know you really like my gameplays, I’ll start StarsShooter right away for you!” The chats started flooding. Some comments were envying him for getting Mask Boy’s attention as always, some comments were thanking him for kickstarting StarsShooter.
@blackcat: i love StarsShooter! thanks, mask boy.
“Blackcat says he loves StarsShooter! Don’t we all? Alright, since he’s here, let’s go ahead and do that,” he said, instantly opening his tab for the game.
Every stream, Mask Boy picks a game he’s going to play, usually a popular game that’s in its heights at the moment. He plays it until he beats it which is not that long considering he’s a pro at everything.
“Chat, what do you think? Should blackcat play with me sometimes? Maybe a multiplayer?” he laughed behind the mask.
@blackcat: i’ll leave the gaming to you… not a gamer :P
“Aww! But I am sure it would be easy to teach you. Maybe someday, who knows?” It didn’t take long before Mask Boy finished the whole round. In his screen, he could see Mask Boy’s rank jump. By then, Brett had already finished his whole meal.
He gets up and throws the waste into his trash can, still listening to the live stream through his headphones.
“That game was too easy…” He sat back down as the streamer was talking to the chat. “Would there be a game that would be too hard for me to beat?”
he changed his phone case, didn’t he?
Brett was almost startled by the notification. He didn’t expect for Nooshy to message him again. Usually, the guy’s too busy admiring Mask Boy to even talk to him during the live stream.
You (@blackcat)
yeah, i guess. maybe he got tired of the old one.
dude, really? we’re losing the ancient texts. you used to be the mask boy detective!!!!
obviously, he’s changing his phone case to hide his identity. he must be doing something important or whatever.
You (@blackcat)
oh lol. yeah, that makes sense.
After some discussions of Mask Boy’s next game agenda, the stream was nearing its end.
“Thank you all so much for joining this stream tonight and I hope you all will have a fantastic day tomorrow. I know I will!”
@blackcat: bye, mask boy!
Mask Boy waved at the camera, putting his controller down. “Bye, everyone! Oh, and bye, blackcat!” The stream abruptly cut off and everyone left the chat room.
show off!!! 
After Mask Boy’s live streams, Brett gets ready to go to bed and start another depressing day at his work.
Brett was waiting at the entrance, looking for the company’s black cat. He named it himself, called him, ‘Kuro’ and even Sophie was calling it ‘Kuro’ because of him. He had a can of cat food on his hand, crouched.
After a while, Kuro came, rubbing its whole body on Brett’s leg. Kuro ate the food generously and leapt away. Brett took it as his cue to finally enter the office.
“Brett! Good morning!” Sophie greeted, in all smiles. “You don’t look too good. Sick?”
He brought his backpack down, plugging his computer on. “Morning. And no, just tired.”
“Didn’t sleep well, then? But you went home early, didn’t you?”
He shrugged, “Was up doing something else.”
Sophie nodded, turning her office chair back. “I hope you’re ready though, intern’s coming today.”
Brett almost cursed. He forgot about that. He even forgot to write it down on his calendar. He quickly calmed himself down internally and opened his emails.
“It’s gonna be fine, I think. If he's as good as you say he is."
Moments later, after Brett was finished with answering all the emails, Mr. Shimamoto came strutting down, all in his full suit glory. He was the big boss of the company but he certainly didn’t feel like it. Mr. Shimamoto was an outgoing person and always cared about his subordinates.
Behind him was a tall and handsome guy. The man was practically shining through out the room. Everyone stopped on their tracks to look at him.
“Everyone! Listen up!”
Sophie whispered-yelled at him. “That’s your intern!”
“I hope we all welcome Mr. Edward Chen with open arms in our company. He begins working with us today and he’s an exemplary staff!” their boss introduced. If Edward Chen was nervous, he certainly showed no signs of it.
He confidently bowed to all of them with a charming smile, “I am pleased to be working with everyone starting from now.” Then, there were murmurs amongst them.
“Mr. Yang!”
Brett froze instantly, his head peeking through the computer. “Yes, Mr. Shimamoto?” Sophie gave him a thumbs-up and went back to her computer.
“I expect you to take care of Mr. Chen and show him the ways. He’ll be working under your department.” Both the manager and the intern walked towards his desk.
He nodded and stood up to greet him.
“Please take care of me, Mr. Yang,” he said. It was probably no good that he was too kind, Brett thought. He’d been expecting an equally depressed person in their 20’s but he’s met with a bright sunshine.
“Please, feel free to call me Eddy,” the intern extended his hand for Brett to shake as a sign of courtesy.
“It’s my pleasure, Eddy.” Brett took his hand without thinking. From a split second, he managed to look at their hands, touching.
Immediately, he felt his heart drop to his stomach. There on Eddy’s wrist was a diamond tattoo. Brett looked up to finally meet his eyes for the first time.
He was smiling at him, then, it faltered. “Are you okay, Mr. Yang?”
“No… I am fine…” he stuttered. But inside his head, he wanted to scream.
“Mask Boy????!!!!!” Brett gulped, forcing a smile. There was no doubt. It was really him right there in the flesh.
Mask Boy.