phase 1

• rekkles - the deft shipper's gateway drug prbly, 'if he was a girl i'd kiss him', long-distance romancing via skype and twitter exchanges, deft shyly saying that it was rekkles's kindness that helped them grow closer
• imp - imp's clinginess and all the skinship he forced onto deft (who gave up and just let him do whatever he wanted), also imp bitterly saying 'all men are the same' when deft complimented rekkles
• bang - actual facebook boyfriends!! the whiny way they'd speak to each other whenever they duoed, the nonsensical fb exchanges and joint trolling of faker, the alpaca plushie that bang gifted deft (which smeb later murdered), the fact that they genuinely supported each other through the lows and bang wishing that they could both play well during skt vs kt matches and that the outcome could simply be decided in the other lanes ;-;
• smeb - smeb being the only 'hyung' that didn't spoil deft rotten but instead bullied/scolded him and teased him for being a noob/crybaby, deft fearlessly laughing at smeb's lower rank and throwing ping pong balls/snack wrappers at smeb (while wearing the jacket smeb lent him). that photo of deft standing with smeb while he smoked even though deft hates smokers, all the drunk shenanigans during kt days! and the way smeb still delights in dragging deft years later but would also drunkenly admit that asides from faker, deft was the only other pro he respected...

phase 2

• faker - the candy-sharing from when they were young vs their current 'divorced but never married' vibes, the way they stubbornly keep each other at a distance despite lck/rito forcing their narratives together, bby faker's ridiculous pigtail pulling in soloque (ulting red buff just to deny deft, who was on his own team!!), deft asking faker to let him win some titles bc faker's won so many already and faker's 'hyukyu-yah, congratulations', faker claiming he doesn't remember accepting deft's fb friend request (even though he definitely uploaded a rare selfie on deft's bday) while deft remembers the exact convo they had in 2012, also 'they have a son!' (shared custody of keria)
• chovy - long kitty who just wants alpaca hyung to pay! attention! to him!, choosing to stay with deft in 2021 despite better offers bc he wanted to win worlds with/for deft T-T, 'every time deft looked over at me he'd start smiling - is my face that funny?', couple pj's during their hle days (and possibly bedsharing too...) and chovy going in and out of deft's worlds hotel room as he pleased
• keria - maybe more unrequited 1st love from keria's side but i'm T_T at keria's clinginess and excited puppy energy and his bold proclamations (win worlds with deft, elope to america etc.), deft indulging him and getting sort of matching dye jobs and eventually telling him to find a better team on his own (instead of limiting his options by sticking with him ;A;)
• rascal - weeb bffs who don't keep track of their running tabs, rascal trying to get everyone he meets to watch deft's 'momoda' video and deft requesting through an interviewer to get rascal to recreate the 'momoda' video, rascal sulking when deft couldn't pick him for the season kick-off event but eventually still buying deft's emote, tall pretty long-limbed model bf's basically
• zeka - this was before i discovered that zegen were soulmates but zeka was such a large and reliable puppy and would sometimes initiate small touches with deft (which he didn't do with his other hyungs). also the way deft leapt into zeka's arms after game 5 still makes me ;-;
• kingen - again, before i fell down the zegen rabbit hole and based mainly on kingen's food diary with deft where kingen was sweetly mindful of deft's health and was very obviously pleased that his menu choices were to deft's taste ;u;
• canyon - their awkward asian games interactions which turned into cute soloqueue interactions which turned into canyon asking deft to join dk which led to the most adorable and silly alpaca/polar bear shenanigans, deft lowering his maturity level to match canyon's and the way canyon looks happier winning a 1v1 against deft than winning an actual match

honourable mentions

• easyhoon - the soft hyung that would get deft to sit on his lap and greeted him warmly when they were in the lpl together (and still keeps in touch with him even now ;-;)
• dandy - the ex-samsung hyung deft's said he was closest to and dandy's calm/lowkey demeanor was probably an oasis for equally calm/lowkey deft amongst all the chaos;; also dandy's '我不爱女人 我爱deft'
• kakao - the chaotic gremlin hyung that plied him with alcohol like a salesman and then laughed at his drunken reactions, also that super cute photo of them where deft's head is on kakao's shoulder
• marin - the way they went to 2022 spring finals dressed as a politician and his trophy husband and marin being so moved by deft's worlds run that he came out of semi retirement
• meiko - they were more like friends than cp to me but their closeness was undeniable ;-; definitely some first love vibes and despite the difference in age, they felt more like friends on equal footing who could joke around and be dumbasses together!
• pawn - again, leans more towards close friend than cp but they spent 6 straight years on the same team! and deft's gentle teasing of slower-witted pawn was very cute, also deft initiating small touches and pawnie either ignoring him or swatting his hand away...

alpaca trainers

• heart - the OG caretaker of baby deft('s fragile-as-glass mental), the first to offer deft hugs when he cried after a loss ;-;
• mata - winner of 'highest number of embarrassing photos of deft kept on his phone' and the veteran support that taught deft the most
• tusin - still hilarious to me that their famed aggression as a bot duo was the result of them thinking the other person wanted to be aggressive and just going along with it
• beryl - maybe less trainer and more companion? whose overzealousness deft sometimes had to curb (but still happily agreed to play bard in g5 of a worlds final at deft's suggestion T-T)
• kellin - a bubbly baby birb who looks out for his deft hyung and is trying hard to become a worthy trainer!

going str8 2 hell goodbye

• shasiyiqie - forbidden gu ke
• c - their shared origins and all the dirtybadwrong power imbalance, 'i'd want my wife to have his personality' and 'would i get his assets if i marry him?'