Ace07
Pairing: lee heeseung x fem!reader
Genre: fluff, romance, high school au, gamer au, online friends to lovers, classmates au, esports au, identity reveal, happy ending
Synopsis: One online best friend. One school crush. Unfortunately for Y/N, they're the same person.
WC: 3.16k!
The hum of the computer fan was the only sound keeping Y/N company at three in the morning. Her room was completely dark, save for the neon-blue glow cast by her monitor and reflected in her eyes.
She adjusted her headset, her fingers hovering over her mechanical keyboard as the loading screen finally flashed.
It had started out as just another sleepless night eight months ago.
She had queued into a high-tier ranked lobby, fully expecting the usual toxic teammates who blamed everyone else for their mistakes. Instead, she got paired with a player whose username read Ace07.
They had lost that first game terribly because their third teammate went completely inactive. But midway through the match, Ace07 cracked a joke about the enemy team's terrible positioning that made Y/N laugh so hard she missed her shot.
After the defeat screen popped up, a small notification blinked in the corner of her screen.
Ace07 had invited her to a party.
She clicked accept, and a deep, slightly static-filled voice echoed through her headphones.
"You completely botched that last ultimate ability, you know," he said, sounding entirely too amused.
Y/N scoffed, leaning closer to her microphone.
"Excuse me? I was trying to save your sorry ass from getting flanked. You owe me an apology."
He just laughed, a low, melodic sound that instantly eased the tension of her long day.
"Alright, alright. Let's go again. I'll actually carry this time."
From that night on, it became a ritual.
It didn't matter if Y/N had a mountain of homework or if he had basketball practice; by eleven o'clock, they were both logged in.
At first, their conversations were strictly limited to the game.
They argued over strategies, callouts, and who deserved the MVP title at the end of a match.
"Go left, go left! What are you doing?" Y/N would yell, her mouse clicking furiously.
"I am left! You're looking at the wrong map marker!" Heeseung—though she only knew him as Ace—would fire back, his tone a mix of frustration and amusement.
But as the weeks melted into months, the game became more of a background noise to their lives.
The late-night gaming sessions turned into late-night everything talks.
They talked about their favorite comfort foods, the music that made them feel alive, and the sheer exhaustion of being high school students.
"I think my brain is actually melting," Y/N groaned one evening, letting her character idle safely inside a digital building.
"I spent four hours staring at math problems today, and I still don't understand why X needs to be found. Let X find themselves."
Ace chuckled, the sound warm against her ears.
"Math is easy. You just overthink it. Next time, bring your homework to the lobby and I'll explain it to you."
Y/N rolled her eyes, smiling at her screen.
"No way. This is my escape from reality. Don't ruin it with calculus."
They never exchanged pictures, real names, or social media handles.
It was an unspoken rule that grew out of a silly joke during their second month of playing together.
Y/N had jokingly asked, "So, are you ever going to do a face reveal, or am I just talking to a sentient computer?"
Ace paused for a second before replying smoothly.
"No face reveal. What if you're ugly? I have an image to maintain."
Y/N gasped loudly, offended.
"Ace! I am a delight! What if you're the ugly one?"
He laughed, that genuine, chest-deep laugh she was quickly growing addicted to.
"Exactly. I'm protecting myself. Let's just keep it like this. It's mysterious."
And so, they did.
They became each other's safest harbor without ever knowing what the other looked like.
Meanwhile, daytime was a completely different story.
Real life for Y/N consisted of navigating the crowded hallways of her high school, trying to survive chemistry, and pretending she didn't notice Lee Heeseung.
Heeseung was the school's golden boy.
He was the varsity basketball ace, held a near-perfect GPA, and had a smile that could quite literally make people stop in their tracks.
He was effortlessly popular, yet somehow remained incredibly kind to everyone, which Y/N found deeply suspicious.
"Nobody is that perfect," she whispered to her best friend, Mina, one Tuesday morning during homeroom.
She was staring across the classroom at Heeseung, who was laughing with Jake and Jay, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
Mina followed her gaze and smirked.
"You have a crush."
Y/N snapped her head back around, her cheeks burning.
"I absolutely do not. I was just analyzing him."
Mina rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair.
"Right. You've been analyzing him for three minutes straight.Y/N. At least make your excuses believable."
Y/N bit her lip, looking down at her notebook.
The truth was, she did have a crush.
It was impossible not to.
Every time she had to exchange worksheets with him, or whenever he politely held the library door open for her, her heart did a stupid, erratic flip.
She hated how easily he affected her.
And somehow, that only made it worse.
One Friday night, after a particularly stressful week, Y/N collapsed onto her bed and immediately put on her headset.
"Ace, I'm losing my mind," she sighed as soon as he joined the voice channel.
"Did you fail another history quiz?" he teased instantly.
"No! I got a ninety-two, thank you very much," she shot back.
"Oh, wow. Look at you, a certified genius."
She could practically hear the grin in his voice.
"What's the issue, then?"
Y/N hesitated, twisting the cord of her headset around her finger.
"There's this guy in my class," she murmured, her voice dropping to a shy whisper.
The line went unusually quiet.
The clicking of his keyboard stopped.
"Oh? A guy?" Ace asked, his voice suddenly sounding a little deeper, more guarded.
"Yeah. His name is Heeseung. He's just... really annoying because he's good at everything."
Another long pause followed.
"What about him?" Ace finally asked.
"Do you like him?"
Y/N buried her face in her free hand, even though he couldn't see her.
"I don't know. Maybe."
A groan escaped her lips.
"He smiled at me today when we handed in our lab reports, and I forgot how to breathe for a second. It's embarrassing."
Ace let out a breath that sounded suspiciously like a forced laugh.
"You're blushing right now, aren't you?"
Y/N grabbed a stray pillow and threw it against her bedroom wall.
"Shut up! You can't see me!"
He chuckled softly, but the teasing edge was gone from his voice.
"I can hear it in your voice."
His voice softened.
"You like him a lot."
For the rest of the night, Ace was unusually quiet.
He let Y/N do most of the talking, his responses shorter than usual.
Y/N assumed she had bored him with her school drama.
She completely missed the subtle strain in his tone.
Everything shifted when the school principal announced the upcoming interschool esports tournament during assembly.
The student body went wild.
Gaming was huge at their school, and the prize pool was massive.
As soon as the announcement ended, Mina practically grabbed Y/N by the shoulders.
"You are entering. You're literally a god at that game. You have to."
Y/N didn't need much convincing.
She signed up for the tryouts the very next afternoon.
When she walked into the computer lab for tryouts, she expected to see the usual crowd of hardcore gamers.
What she didn't expect was to see Lee Heeseung sitting at one of the setups, adjusting his gaming mouse.
He looked up when the door opened, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw her.
"You play?" he asked, genuine shock flashing across his features.
Y/N blinked, tightening her grip on her backpack strap.
"Yeah, I do. You play?"
Heeseung rubbed the back of his neck, a boyish grin spreading across his face.
"Seriously. I play a lot."
For a moment, they simply stared at each other.
Then both of them burst into surprised, awkward laughter.
"Didn't expect that from the golden boy," Y/N teased, finding a sudden burst of courage.
Heeseung chuckled and pulled out the chair beside him.
"And I didn't expect the quiet girl from chemistry to be a hidden gamer."
He gestured toward the seat.
"Sit here."
That afternoon marked the beginning of a chaotic two weeks.
They both made the official school team alongside Jay, Jake, and Sunoo.
Because of their complementary playstyles, the coach paired Y/N and Heeseung together as the team's core duo.
Practice sessions became a wild mix of intense focus and absolute nonsense.
Jay was constantly yelling at Jake for running straight into sniper lines, while Sunoo somehow spent more time customizing his character's outfits than actually practicing.
But between Y/N and Heeseung, a strange, electric synergy formed.
They moved together perfectly on the virtual battlefield.
"Cover my left, Heeseung! They're pushing!" Y/N called, her fingers flying across the keyboard.
"I'm already there. Look up," Heeseung replied, his voice calm and steady from the seat beside her.
Y/N glanced at his screen and immediately spotted his character dropping down to shield hers.
Just in time.
"Nice."
A grin spread across her face.
"Okay, now move forward."
"Yes, captain," he teased.
He shot her a quick side glance and smirked.
The look made her stomach do an embarrassing number of backflips.
Over the following days, she found herself looking forward to those loud, chaotic practice sessions more than anything else.
Heeseung wasn't just the perfect statue she'd imagined from afar anymore.
He was funny.
Loud.
A little stubborn.
And ridiculously easy to talk to.
Every practice revealed another side of him.
The way he celebrated even the smallest victories.
The way he laughed when things went wrong.
The way he always made sure everyone on the team felt included.
And with every passing day, Y/N found herself falling harder.
Fast enough to scare her.
Because no matter how much she enjoyed being around Heeseung, every night still belonged to Ace.
Every night, she logged on and slipped back into hours of conversations with the person who knew her better than anyone else.
The person she trusted with her thoughts, her worries, and the parts of herself she rarely shared.
She cared about Ace.
She cared about Heeseung.
And the more those feelings grew, the more confused she became.
The night before the tournament, Y/N logged on to talk to Ace.
"Tomorrow's the big day," she said, leaning back in her chair.
"The school tournament?" Ace asked.
"Yeah."
She let out a slow breath.
"I'm really nervous. I don't want to let the team down."
Ace's voice softened, filling her headset with a familiar warmth.
"You won't."
The certainty in his voice made her smile.
"You're the best player I know, Y/N. Just play like you always do. Whoever your partner is tomorrow, they're lucky to have you."
A soft smile spread across her face.
"Thanks, Ace."
She stared at the glow of her monitor.
"I wish you could watch."
───
Tournament day was pure adrenaline.
The school auditorium was packed to capacity, the stage lined with glowing computers and massive projector screens displaying the live gameplay.
The crowd erupted into cheers as the team took their seats.
Y/N sat beside Heeseung.
Her hands trembled slightly as she plugged in her headset.
"Hey."
She looked up.
Heeseung was already watching her.
He reached over and lightly tapped her shoulder.
"We've got this."
His smile was calm and reassuring.
"Just like practice."
Y/N looked into his dark eyes and nodded.
"Yeah."
A small smile tugged at her lips.
"Just like practice."
The players logged into the tournament client and waited for the custom lobby to load.
Y/N absentmindedly clicked her mouse, her gaze drifting across the list of participants.
Then she froze.
Her breath caught.
Her heart slammed violently against her ribs.
Beside Heeseung's assigned seat number, his in-game tournament profile loaded onto the screen.
Ace07.
For a moment, her mind went completely blank.
No.
No way.
Slowly, almost mechanically, she turned her head toward Heeseung.
He was already staring at her.
His jaw was slightly slack.
His eyes were wide with the exact same realization.
On his screen, her registered tournament username glowed back at him.
Y/NStar.
The auditorium roared around them.
The shoutcasters tested their microphones.
Jay was loudly complaining about his settings.
Someone in the audience screamed.
But for Y/N and Heeseung, the world had stopped.
Eight months.
Eight months of conversations.
Eight months of laughter.
Eight months of secrets.
"You?" Y/N whispered.
The word barely made it past her lips.
Heeseung blinked once.
Then a slow, disbelieving grin spread across his face.
"No freaking way," he breathed.
He shook his head as if he still couldn't process it.
"What?" Jake asked, looking between them.
"Why do you both look like you've seen a ghost? The game's starting!"
Neither of them answered.
Heeseung suddenly let out a breathless laugh and dragged a hand down his face.
When he looked back at her, his eyes were shining.
"We are definitely talking about this later."
Something in his voice sent a spark racing through her chest.
"But right now?"
His grin widened.
"Let's win this."
A shaky laugh escaped Y/N.
Every trace of her nerves had vanished.
In their place was something bright and exhilarating.
"We're going to crush them."
And they did.
The moment the match began, everything clicked into place.
Their already perfect synergy felt effortless now.
Heeseung anticipated every move before she made it.
Y/N covered every one of his blind spots.
They played as though they had spent years on the same team.
Maybe, in a way, they had.
When the final victory screen exploded across the massive projectors, the auditorium erupted.
Cheers echoed from every corner of the room.
The team shot to their feet.
Jake was yelling.
Jay was celebrating like they'd won a world championship.
Sunoo looked seconds away from crying.
In the middle of the chaos, Heeseung found Y/N.
For a brief moment, everything else faded away.
He pulled her into a tight hug.
Y/N's heart nearly stopped.
"You carried," he whispered against her ear.
Then Jay dragged him away before she could respond.
───
An hour later, after the crowds had dispersed and the excitement had finally settled, Y/N stepped out through the back exit of the gym.
The evening sky was painted in shades of orange and purple.
She spotted the courtyard bench immediately.
And standing beside it—
Heeseung.
Her heart started racing all over again.
"So," he called out.
Y/N laughed nervously.
"So."
He walked toward her, hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket.
For the first time, he looked genuinely nervous.
Not like the confident golden boy everyone knew.
Just Heeseung.
Just Ace.
Just the boy she'd spent eight months talking to.
"I can't believe it was you this whole time," he said.
"I've been talking to my classmate for eight months and had absolutely no idea."
Y/N crossed her arms.
"I can't believe it was you."
She pointed accusingly.
"You told me you couldn't do a face reveal because you might be ugly."
Heeseung immediately burst out laughing.
The sound was exactly the same as it had always been through her headset.
Warm.
Genuine.
Familiar.
"Hey, I had to maintain the mystery."
His grin widened.
"Besides, you told me you thought I was perfect and suspicious."
Y/N's entire face turned red.
"I did not use the word perfect."
"You basically did."
"I absolutely did not."
"You forgot how to breathe because I smiled at you."
Y/N immediately covered her face with both hands.
"Oh my God."
A groan escaped her.
"Please forget I ever said that."
"I'd really like to pass away now."
Heeseung laughed softly.
Then he gently reached forward and pulled her hands away from her face.
His fingers were warm against hers.
The laughter faded.
Something softer settled between them.
"Don't pass away just yet," he murmured.
His voice dropped into that familiar late-night tone she'd heard hundreds of times before.
"Because I have a confession too."
Y/N's breath caught.
Heeseung's gaze softened.
"I liked you before the tournament."
The words hit her harder than she expected.
"Not just as Ace."
His eyes never left hers.
"As Heeseung, too."
A nervous smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Every time you talked about your day, got excited over something small, or laughed at one of my stupid jokes..."
He shook his head.
"I kept wishing I knew who you were."
His voice grew quieter.
"And when I found out it was you today..."
A smile spread across his face.
"I've never been happier."
Warmth bloomed through Y/N's chest.
The boy from her screen.
The boy from her classroom.
They had always been the same person.
And now he was standing right in front of her.
Looking at her like she was the only thing that mattered.
"So..." Heeseung said.
He took a small step closer.
"Would it be weird if I asked my online best friend out on a real date?"
Y/N smiled.
"Depends."
His eyebrow lifted.
"On what?"
She tilted her head.
"Whether you're still planning to steal my kills in-game."
Heeseung laughed.
"I make no promises."
Their smiles lingered.
The distance between them felt impossibly small.
"Fair enough," Y/N whispered.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then Heeseung reached up and gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
His gaze flickered to her lips before returning to her eyes.
A silent question.
A request for permission.
Y/N answered by leaning slightly closer.
That was all the encouragement he needed.
Heeseung cupped her cheek and leaned in.
The kiss was soft.
Sweet.
Unhurried.
Eight months of late-night conversations, laughter, and unspoken feelings melted into a single moment.
When he finally pulled away, his forehead rested lightly against hers.
A smile tugged at his lips.
"Hi, girlfriend."
Y/N laughed softly.
Her cheeks hurt from smiling.
"Hi, boyfriend."
───
Later that night, Y/N sat in her room.
The familiar blue glow of her monitor illuminated the darkness.
Her headset sat abandoned on her desk.
This time, her phone buzzed instead.
She glanced down and smiled when she saw the notification.
Ace07: I'm still the better player, just so you know.
Y/N rolled her eyes and quickly typed back.
Y/NStar: We literally just started dating and you're already trying to start an argument.
Ace07: It's my duty to keep you humble.
Y/NStar: You are impossible.
A reply appeared almost instantly.
Ace07: But you love me.
Y/N looked out her bedroom window.
Above her, stars glittered across the night sky.
And somewhere a few blocks away, she knew Heeseung was smiling at his screen the exact same way she was.
Her heart felt impossibly full.
She typed one final message.
Y/NStar: Yeah.
Y/NStar: I really do.
This time, when she hit send, she knew he could finally hear the smile behind the words.
