Chapter Text
If you told Bojan a year ago that in the near future he'd not only live in London but also run an ASMR channel on the side, he probably would've burst into laughter right then and there. And afterwards probably freak the fuck out. Because what the fuck?
But alas. Life is unpredictable. It's something Bojan has finally come more or less to terms with. He never imagined that he'd find himself signing up for an exchange student program that would take him to London for a school year but he's honestly glad that he took that leap of faith. He was honestly terrified of coming here. Even though he's been in England before it's still way different from Slovenia and being so far away from his friends and family was understandably a scary thought. Especially after the mess of a school year he's had before.
But Bojan has been here for two months now and things haven't been bad at all. Other students are kind to him and seem to like him enough to want to invite him to come hang out after class often. Though Bojan must admit that most of all he still prefers to spend time with fellow exchange students. It's just different. The near instant connection between people that are far away from home and whose voices stand out from a crowd full of British accents. There's even a Serbian girl in his course too and speaking the familiar language with her always gives Bojan that sense of home.
And his YouTube channel is pretty cool too, he supposes.
Bojan can't exactly pinpoint the moment he started to listen to ASMR and watch YouTube videos from experienced ASMRtists but it must've been somewhere around the time he really started to struggle with school back in Slovenia. Kris seemed unimpressed and weirded out by the concept when Bojan had introduced him to it. And, yeah, okay, he can definitely understand that it isn't for everyone. The close whispering and the tapping on random objects and all the little sounds is heaven to some but hell to others.
But something about it just hits right for Bojan. Where others are intimidated by the inherent intimacy of ASMR, Bojan finds comfort in the closeness. Every now and then he'll even feel some butterflies in his stomach while watching a beautiful YouTuber whispering kind words to him. Now mind you, he's not in love with them or anything. Bojan is sane enough to recognize the difference between real intimacy and a YouTuber doing a roleplay where they're purposely being honey sweet to the audience.
Still, at some point Bojan's appreciation for ASMRtists grew into something a little more. He wanted to be like them. Make videos of the most random stuff that makes nice sounds and get to bring relaxation and possibly even sleep to his potential audience. The desire had grown so strong that by the time summer break rolled around, Bojan had made his mind up.
He made a YouTube channel.
Currently, Carpe_DiemASMR sits at 20K subscribers. Not at all bad for something niche like ASMR. And it's not really about the amount of views or subscribers anyways. If Bojan's videos are enough to even brighten one person's day, he's more than happy. And they definitely do. His first few videos aren't that great, looking back on them, his microphone at the time quite low quality and his conversation with the camera a bit stiff and awkward. But Bojan has become more confident overtime and even bought himself a better microphone for improved sound.
His most popular videos tend to be the ones where he shows off the things he's bought that week and the roleplay ones. He doesn't do the latter that often but they're fun and really make him practice his improvisation skills. People seem especially crazy about the ones where he pretends to be some asshole highschool jock that's only sweet to the viewer. Bojan finds it to be incredibly funny how his subscribers eat those corny scenarios up, though most of all he's just grateful that his acting isn't cheesy enough to the point it becomes cringe. Not to his fans, at least.
And boy does Bojan have some loyal fans.
It's easy to lose track of who is who the more subscribers you gain. Not everyone comments regularly or has a notable profile picture or anything like that. But there are some people that Bojan recognizes that frequent his channel.
Guitarmaster3000, a profile with a blurry picture of a black and white cat as its photo. The person doesn't comment often but when they do it's usually to answer a question that Bojan might ask during his random chattering or to leave a string of hilarious backhanded compliments aimed towards the various characters Bojan portrays in his role plays. He feels especially fond of this subscriber for having been one of his original followers and perhaps even his first comment on the channel.
Veronika-ah-ah is another one that stands out. Her profile picture is that of a beautiful pale woman with platinum blonde hair, presumably the face of the person commenting. She's a pretty recent subscriber that usually leaves comments complimenting his outfits and creativity in each video. More notably, she tends to leave her comments in Slovenian. Bojan has to admit that he finds it impressive that she managed to remember his nationality considering he's only mentioned it briefly a handful of times in between his usual yapping.
He could name at least 10 more subscribers that he finds entertaining and memorable. And even if he can't remember certain usernames, he's grateful for every single person that comments or leaves a like. That being said, Bojan does secretly have a favorite subscriber. He'd never say it publicly on the channel but he can't deny that there's one profile in particular he always looks forward to seeing in his comment section.
Hotrider99 🇫🇮
Silly name aside, seeing this account in his notifications always immediately brightens Bojan's day. He can't recall the exact moment he started noticing the profile but at some point it was impossible not to notice the fan. Hotrider99 comments on pretty much all of his videos. Lengthy paragraphs and sweet words. Sometimes the comments are really funny too, the guy's broken English so endearing that Bojan can't help but smile every time. The Slovene never imagined that he could feel cuteness aggression towards an anonymous account but something about the way Hotrider99 expresses himself online is just cute.
And speaking of cute.....
Bojan perks up at the small noise coming from his phone indicating that he has a notification. He needs to leave for school in 5 minutes but he's unable to resist the temptation of tapping on the bell icon to see what his favorite fan has commented this time. The notification takes him to the comment section on his newest video from yesterday. He'd done a grocery haul by popular demand, tapping on various packages and talking a little about why he likes each food and what ingredients he uses to make his favorite meals. And every time without fail, Hotrider99 manages to find things to comment on no matter the subject of the video.
Hotrider99 🇫🇮
I am so happy I see Carpe_Diem video!!🤩🥰 You are healthy man! I only buy Pina Colada and chocolate 🤯 Maybe I try some of your food :) Have a good day beautiful guy!!
It's so endearing. Everything this guy comments just melts Bojan's heart. He's noticed a recent trend of complimentary words like beautiful and handsome in Hotrider99's comments which is a little funny considering Bojan never shows his face past his lips. If anyone knowing him in real life would stumble upon his YouTube channel it's probably still enough to recognize him but Bojan wants to keep at least some anonymity. But apparently seeing just his lower half is enough for Hotrider99 to determine that he's a beautiful guy.
Bojan quickly types out a response. He replies to comments often enough to keep his fans feeling appreciated but it is true that Hotrider99 always gets a response no matter what. Just a little favoritism. Can't hurt, right? The guy never comments anything too creepy so Bojan isn't that worried about possibly feeding into a parasocial relationship.
Carpe_DiemASMR
Pina coladas are delicious, I don't blame you for buying those 👀 What kind of chocolate brand do you like? :) Any recommendations? Maybe I could try some Finnish chocolate if they have it in England too! And you're not too bad yourself, Hotrider99 😘
Bojan has no qualms about flirting back even if it's nonsensical. The man's profile picture does not depict a human but rather a logo that Bojan has found out some time ago is of the German band Rammstein. It's just fun. Getting to interact with people that love his content is definitely the most rewarding part of running a YouTube channel. Bojan turns off his phone, grabs his backpack and finally makes his way out the door.
Thankfully on Friday he only has 3 subjects. 3 pretty big subjects, yes, but at least he finishes school early today. He's already looking forward to the end of the day by the time his first lecture comes to an end. Not because Friday represents the start of the weekend but because of what he always does at the end of the school week. Bojan's only been doing it for 3 weeks but it's a lot of fun and valuable on top of that.
Still, despite his excitement he tries to stay focused throughout his classes. He jots down every possibly important detail of his current lecture in his notebook and marks down a homework assignment that he needs to complete by Tuesday. Bojan is a little bit stressed about it but it should be doable if he does enough over the weekend. He's been trying to get better at managing his school work without putting too much pressure on himself. Bojan likes to think that there is improvement there. He knows he'll definitely be an anxious mess by the time exam season rolls around but he's intent on dealing with it much more efficiently than he did last year.
Eventually the final bell rings and Bojan has packed all of his stuff within seconds. He says his goodbye to his classmates and professors before practically rushing out of the classroom. By now everyone has grown used to this behavior from him every Friday afternoon. His fellow peers don't seem to understand why he enjoys his chosen activity so much but Bojan has his reasons.
1, he really loves learning new languages. Trying to consistently keep up with them is something else but Bojan is still proud of the several languages that he can at least communicate a little bit in.
2, Kris might finally be impressed with him.
That's right. The thing Bojan always does every Friday after college is attend a class centered around learning Dutch. The idea came to him late September after Kris had yet again laughed at him over the phone for mispronouncing a Dutch word. And while Bojan knows that his friend is just teasing, it'd left him feeling frustrated and with a wounded ego considering he likes to think of himself as Mr. Worldwide when it comes to languages. But it is true that he barely knows any Dutch aside from a handful of words. Mostly swear words he's picked up on from Kris.
But Bojan wants to be able to say more than just kanker and stroopwafel. He's sure that even if it's just a few full sentences, Kris will be impressed with him. And considering that the man himself is going to be visiting him in January, he figured that this class would be perfect to learn some extra stuff before his friend's visit. It's only 1 hour a week but Bojan has already noticed some great improvement after just 4 sessions. Plus, he also does a little Duolingo on the side.
Oh. That might be a fun idea for a video. Whispering Dutch words into his microphone. Maybe he could also tap on objects at the same time to visually show what each word means.
Bojan gets a little lost in his own head, not really paying attention to where he's going, hands coming up behind his head to fix the short ponytail he's sporting. He should probably cut his hair soon but so far he's really digging the longer hair. Enjoying it a little too much perhaps, because a wavy strand of hair flicks over his eye and the temporary lack of proper vision causes him to bump right into someone.
"Oh! I'm sorry!" He immediately apologizes. Bojan already braces himself for potential anger. Not everyone in London is very friendly.
The man he bumped into is wearing neon green headphones with little pink stars on the side. Compared to the guy's dark and baggy clothes, the headphones are a rather cute choice that involuntarily make Bojan smile. The stranger looks a little unsure until eventually offering a shy smile of his own, expression noticeably softening now that he knows Bojan isn't a threat.
"Hello." The short man pipes up, slipping his headphones off his ears, demeanor still a bit timid but equally enthusiastic as well.
"Hello!" Bojan greets back, happy to socialize. "I'm sorry again for bumping into you! My hair got in my face."
"It's okei!" The blonde stranger speaks with a rather thick accent. A spark of curiosity is of course immediately ignited within Bojan. Where is this man from? He's certainly not British. "You have good hair."
The nonchalance of the compliment catches Bojan pleasantly off-guard. He grows a bit flustered, self-consciously fixing his hair, cheeks going a little red and not just because of the cold. "Oh....thank you! I like yours too. Blonde suits you!"
Bojan can tell that the man's blonde hair is dyed given the slightly washed out almost yellow color. Plus the eyebrows are practically pitch black. But it looks good in Bojan's opinion, the slicked back hair giving the man a masculine edge that has the Slovene feeling much warmer all of a sudden.
Ahem.
"Are you here for Dutch class?" Bojan inquires, finally coming to the realization that they're standing in front of the building where the class is being held. He watches the stranger's (noticeably beautiful) blue eyes grow wide at the question.
"Are you???" The man retaliates with sudden enthusiasm. Bojan tries not to laugh at the wrongful insistence on are instead of you, impossibly endeared by the blonde before him.
"Yes!"
"Me also!!"
Bojan is feeling properly giddy by now. What a lucky coincidence that the cute stranger he bumped into is going to the same place as him. It's like a fated meeting, almost. But that might be him getting in a little over his head.
The Slovene reaches out to hold open the door for his companion, inviting him to go in. "Is this your first time here? I've never seen you before."
The other man nods, a sharp canine popping out as he smiles wide, just as eager to talk as Bojan is. "Yes! Is my first time today. I hope I can still learn. I speak only, like, 4 Dutch words. I think...."
"Which ones?" Bojan already has an inkling as to what they might be but he's still curious.
"Kanker." The stranger's pronunciation is a little off, the word forming awkwardly around his mouth.
"Of course." Bojan nods in agreement.
"Stroopwafel." That word is butchered even more but it's impossible to misunderstand regardless. Perhaps this guy has a Kris in his life too.
"Kaas." Well....perhaps it's good that the both of them are in this class. Their shared vocabulary is a bit on the stereotypical side.
"And....." The blonde pauses for a moment, trying to remember. Bojan half expects the next word to be fiets or something but instead he's taken off guard with a: "Eenhoorn!"
"Een....hoorn?" Bojan parrots curiously. He doesn't know that one. "What does that mean?"
"It's the....eh...." His companion makes an L shape with his fingers and puts his hand up to his forehead, as if miming a horn.
"A unicorn?"
"Yes! Eenhoorn is unicorn."
Huh. Fascinating. Bojan will have to write that down somewhere. Smiling, he cocks his head at the other man. "What's your name?"
"Jere!" A moment of hesitation before Jere puts out his hand for Bojan to shake. "What is your name?"
"I'm Bojan!" Bojan firmly takes the man's soft hand in his, giving it a little shake. "Where are you from?"
"I am from Finland!" Jere announces, beaming. Aha. Very interesting indeed. Maybe Bojan should also start a Duolingo streak for Finnish.
Before he can ask any more burning questions, the teacher makes her presence known, ushering the loitering students into her classroom. Bojan beckons Jere to sit next to him and barely suppresses a happy squeal when the other man enthusiastically does so. It's not that Bojan didn't already enjoy this class but meeting such an interesting person and getting along with them right away definitely makes everything even more fun.
Though Jere's 4 words of Dutch don't get him far once he's asked to introduce himself. The poor Finn has to meekly confess that he doesn't speak a lick of the language, cheeks dusting a light pink as he fiddles with the headphones around his neck. The teacher, to her credit, doesn't shame him for it. This is a learning class, after all. Even if Jere being noticeably behind compared to other students might make things a little more complicated.
"Well, nothing to be done about it." The woman shrugs before directing her gaze towards Bojan. "Bojan, do you mind helping our new friend catch up when you have the time? If not I'll try to find some time for tutoring after class."
"No need! I'll get him caught up, no problem." The Slovene grins wide at the knowledge that he now has even more opportunity to talk to Jere. The Finn appears to share his excitement, beaming beside Bojan.
Friday is now officially Bojan's favorite day of the week.
The hour goes by in a flash. Jere tries to just follow along for now, jotting down some translations and joining in with everyone else when the teacher makes them pronounce things. The more theoretical grammar side of things don't seem to go as smoothly for him but Bojan struggles with that as well. He really does admire this guy for learning another language while, respectfully, still struggling a bit with English. Though honestly, the slightly broken English only adds to this guy's strange charm.
"Hey, can I get your number?" Bojan asks once class is over, packing up his notebooks and pens. "If you want, maybe we can meet up this weekend and I can teach you some stuff you haven't seen yet."
Pointy canines dig into a plush bottom lip as Jere nervously taps his fingers against his headphones. "I love to but.....are you sure is okay that you teaching me things? I don't want to be....eh....what is the word-"
"A burden?" Bojan offers.
"Yes, yes. Bur-den. I not want to be annoying you....." Jere expresses self-consciously. Aww, poor guy. Isn't it obvious that it's Bojan's absolute pleasure to spend more time with him?
"You're not annoying me at all." The Slovene insists. Jere still looks a little unsure so Bojan decides to lean in close, whispering to Jere in a low voice. "If anything, you're making this class much more interesting....."
He pulls back smiling, feeling like a child that just shared a dirty little secret with his classmate. But much to his confusion, Jere looks.....shocked? His eyebrows are up to his hairline and his lips are slightly parted in an almost comedically surprised expression. Before he can ask what's wrong, though, the other man snaps out of his trance, digging around his hoodie pocket until he pulls out his phone.
"I-I give you number now!"
"Oh, okay!"
They exchange numbers, Bojan saving Jere's name in his phone with a little headphones emoji behind it. Jere practically dashes out of the classroom after saying his goodbye, however, which does leave Bojan to wonder if he perhaps overstepped a little with what he whispered to him. Oh well. The Slovene decides not to overthink it too much. Maybe Jere just really needed to catch his bus or something. All in all he's had a lovely day so why ruin it by looking too deeply into something that probably doesn't mean anything anyways?
That evening Bojan decides to postpone his homework until later in favor of recording himself pronouncing Dutch words instead. He even draws small doodles to accompany some more obscure words like eenhoorn. It's not that Bojan is even planning to post it right now but the mood for ASMR suddenly struck and it'd be good to have an extra video sitting in his camera roll in case he's out of inspiration or time for new videos the upcoming week.
Just as Bojan takes a break from doodling to check his phone, a notification pops up on his screen.
Hotrider99 🇫🇮 replied to your comment.
Awesome.
He immediately taps on it as he always does when it comes to his favorite subscriber.
Hotrider99 🇫🇮
Fazer milk chocolate is my favorite💖💖
Hmm. Bojan will keep an eye out for it next time he goes grocery shopping. He gives the comment a like before remembering that he should text Jere in regards to meeting up. Most of all he's just looking forward to get to know his new classmate better but Jere really does have a lot of catching up to do so it's best that they get started as soon as possible.
You: hey, Jere!! Bojan here :) Are you free this weekend to meet up?
You: ofc we don't have to study the whole time but I just wanna help you catch up quickly!
It takes a few minutes but eventually there's a response.
Jere🎧: hello!! ^_^ I am free Saturday! Is that ok?
Pfft. He even types cute. Bojan involuntarily starts swinging his legs back and forth on the bed while he crafts a reply.
You: yes, perfect! If it's ok for you, maybe we can meet up in front of the building where we have class? There's a really nice cafe close by where we can chill while we study 😊
Jere🎧: is good for me!!
Jere🎧: thank you so much for helping me❤️❤️
You: it's not a problem at all💖
If Bojan grins ear to ear while typing the message, that's no one's business but his own.
"Jere!" Bojan enthusiastically greets once he spots the blonde loitering by a lamp post. Jere doesn't turn around, headphones on, oblivious to the outside world.
"Hey." He puts a gentle hand on Jere's arm as to not spook him. The other man doesn't startle, calmly turning around only to somehow jump anyways when he sees Bojan. Strange....
"O-oh! Hello." Jere takes his green headphones off and smiles up at Bojan a little tight-lipped. Something about his demeanor is noticeably different compared to yesterday. He seems kind of on edge. Still friendly but with a tad of uncertainty to him.
Bojan tries not to let it affect him too much, though the change in behavior does make him feel a bit self-conscious. Whatever. He shakes his head before offering Jere a bright smile. "Our cafe awaits, kind sir!"
Jere playfully rolls his eyes at the exagarated British accent Bojan has put on but does seem to loosen up a little at the other man's playful attitude. "Yes, yes. We go study."
They end up sitting in a cozy booth in the back of the cafe. Rain clatters softly against the big windows and steam steadily rises from Bojan's cup of tea. He's feeling completely in his element, patiently trying to teach Jere how to have a basic conversation in Dutch. The poor guy is struggling, dark eyebrows furrowing together, unable to make sense of the letters inked onto the paper Bojan gave him.
"Hoe.....hoe gaat.....het...." Jere slowly stutters out. His face is starting to grow red in embarrassment but, admirably, he does finish the question. "Met.....jou?"
"That last part was great!" Bojan praises right away. Positive encouragement is probably the best teaching method. At least when it comes to struggling students. "Just, when you say hoe, it sounds like how. Like, in English. You need to pronounce it like h-oo. Uhm....like an owl!"
"Hoe-hoe." The Finn deadpans.
They both burst out laughing, Jere's impression of an owl so spot on and unexpected that it's impossible not to giggle over it. Once the laughter dies down, Jere settles back in his seat with a soft sigh. Bojan watches him play with the various rings on his fingers and figures that now is a good time for a break.
"Why are you learning Dutch, anyways?" He asks curiously, resting his chin on his palm and regarding Jere with an attentive gaze. Jere grows just a tad shy under the attention, eyes fleeting towards the table as he shrugs.
"I have Dutch friend. I like to know what he saying." Jere confesses with an undeniably fond smile playing at his lips. Bojan perks up immediately at that. What a lovely coincidence.
"Shut up, me too!" Bojan informs giddily before clearing his throat when Jere appears confused. "Ah, I mean, I'm also learning Dutch for a friend. He's half Dutch but he's fluent and I wanna say more than just kanker to him, you know?"
Jere seems to feel understood, blue eyes sparking with something bright and lively at the knowledge that he isn't alone in this journey of learning a new language just to impress his friend. "I feel same!!"
They chatter some more in between actual attempts to get some studying done. Bojan learns that Jere is following an interior design course and that his own Kris is called Joost. A proper Dutch name. Bojan shares some basic personal details as well, finding it rather cute how Jere seems to hang off of his every word. The time just flies by when he's talking to this guy. Maybe he was just imagining Jere's previous shift in behavior.
Except that his odd demeanor makes a comeback again once they're about to say goodbye. Bojan leans in to whisper a lame joke into Jere's ear, pointing at one of the items on the menu that has a name that could easily be interpreted as something sexual. Just something silly, really. But just like yesterday, once Bojan pulls back, Jere appears as though he's heard something absolutely incomprehensible. The way he's staring at Bojan is almost reminiscent of a deer in the headlights.
"Was my joke that bad?" The Slovene chuckles, amused up until Jere keeps silently staring at him. He furrows his eyebrows in concern for his classmate. "Jere, are you oka-"
"Ah!" Jere wildly shakes his head as if trying to physically keep himself from zoning out again. "I just remember I bring you some thing!"
"Oh?" Bojan blinks stupidly while Jere fishes around his backpack. "You didn't have to-"
"Here!" The Finn squeaks out, cheeks appearing a little more red than before. He seems....oddly flustered. Bojan averts his gaze to the paper bag Jere is holding out towards him instead, confused, taking it with some hesitance. "T-they are....eh. What's the word? Ah, yes, candy! From Finland."
Bojan's eyes widen in delight. He looks up at Jere with wonder, heart genuinely melting at the sweet gesture. "What? Jere!"
"I-I must go now." Before Bojan can properly thank the Finn, his classmate is already one foot out the door. He sticks around for only one more second to turn his head and add: "Tot.....ziens."
And just like that, Jere is gone again. Bojan stands there a little flabbergasted. Seriously, that guy.....he's like a hurricane or something. He silently peers into the bag of goodies that's been gifted to him, face blank. But it doesn't take long before Bojan is smiling so wide that he rushes out of the cafe to avoid creeping out fellow customers. He barely suppresses a giggle, chest growing warm with a strong feeling of affection. Not only did the Finn gift him treats from his home country, but he also remembered to say goodbye speaking a sentence Bojan only just taught him 30 minutes ago.
Jere is too cute!