The Competition (3)

After I got home, I thought back to the conversation I'd just had with Nari and sat down at my computer right away, powering it on.

Not that I wouldn't have ended up here anyway — I was going to work regardless — but this way I could kill two birds with one stone.

When I logged into the messenger, Nari was already online.

I still couldn't get used to Nari's online speech. Wasn't it a little too different from how she came across in real life?

It didn't take long before the image arrived.

I was just shifting in my seat, settling in to study it properly, when a call came through on the messenger app. The sound rang out at a timing I hadn't expected at all, and it was more than enough to make me jump.

Nari… was calling me. Over the messenger app, no less. We'd only ever talked through text. She'd never called me like this before.

A little puzzled, I moved to answer — but first I cleared my throat. I didn't really know why I did that. It just came out naturally.

"Yeah…"

"Ah — right. But why the sudden call?"

"Fair enough. That does make sense. But have you always done voice calls with other people like this? On this messenger?"

Right… no matter where you went, the place was full of people fishing for women. More than that — how could anyone look at that typing style and still ask if she was a girl?

"N-no, it's not like that… I was just curious."

"I said no… Why would I be jealous of you. Just work. I'm about to start too."

Jealous… When she asked it in that sly, teasing tone, it was obvious she was just messing with me.

And it wasn't like I'd asked out of actual jealousy… I'd only been curious. If she could call me this casually, maybe she'd been doing the same with other people all along. That kind of curiosity.

Was this… what jealousy felt like? I didn't know.

For a while after that, we both seemed to sink into our work, and only a quiet stillness filled the line. Probably nothing but the clumsy clack of my keyboard occupied the empty space of the connected call.

Nari was drawing, so there wasn't much in the way of distinctive sound from her end. Aside from the occasional muttered curse under her breath…

That much I could understand perfectly well. When you hit a wall mid-work, swearing just slipped out on its own — it was a natural phenomenon. The problem was how vividly it came through.

What was that? Right in the middle of the quiet stretch, a little hum drifted over from Nari's side. It didn't sound deliberate at all. If anything, she seemed so completely absorbed that she probably didn't even realize she was making noise.

I held my breath and kept listening. It wasn't like I'd done anything wrong… She was the one humming on her own, and it just so happened that the call was still connected. I was only listening.

Hearing that little tune, I found it kind of cute. I had no idea what song it was, but she was really belting it out.

"Work going well, huh?"

"You've been humming this whole time."

"Yeah…"

"What? How am I the pervert here? You're the one who got excited and started humming!!"

Well, people who drew for a living did tend to get wrist pain a lot. Thinking that, I found myself typing wrist guard into a search bar without really meaning to.

Maybe… I should buy her one.

It wasn't like I was trying to show affection or anything. This much was fine, right? It wasn't even an expensive gift… Yeah. This was the kind of thing you could just give as a present. It wasn't some random, out-of-nowhere gift either — she'd said her wrist hurt.

And we were a team, weren't we? If I bought this with our project's quality in mind, there was nothing awkward about it at all. I had a perfectly good reason.

I browsed through wrist guards, rationalizing it to myself like that. The way I looked right then was already the look of someone who'd decided to give a gift.

In the end, I went ahead and paid for it without hesitation. Now I just had to figure out how to hand it over without making things weird.

"How late are you working tonight?"

"Yeah? Then should we call it for today?"

The moment I said it, a small twinge of guilt hit me — like we were leaving Sebin-noona out and doing this just between the two of us.

If anyone should have been on a live call trading ideas in real time, maybe it wasn't Nari. It was Sebin-noona. At least for now.

"Next time, should I teach Sebin-noona ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠how to do this and invite her too?"

Something about that response felt off. I wasn't sure why… but for the sake of the project, inviting Sebin-noona was the right call.

And with that, the day's work came to an end.

After class, I was on my way to the club room.

For some reason, Nari hadn't come to find me, and it left me with a strange feeling. She always finished her classes first, so she'd wait outside my lecture hall and we'd walk to the club room together.

But today, there was no Nari waiting outside the classroom.

I pulled out my phone, thinking I should at least get in touch. Going to the club room alone wasn't a problem, but the break in our usual pattern made me wonder if something had happened, so I called her.

She didn't pick up.

Well… nothing I could do about it. I'd just head to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠club room on my own.

I started walking.

"Hey, Nari. Why don't you join our team for the competition too? We've got a full elite roster right now. You could just put your name down and we'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠basically hand you an award."

"Yeah? Who's on it?"

On the path to the club room, I overheard that conversation. Apparently Nari had been stopped by some other senior on her way to my lecture hall and gotten pulled into this talk.

Hold on… wasn't this pretty dangerous? This was basically someone trying to steal Nari away. But nobody even knew she was an illustrator… so was he just trying to put a girl on his team?

And why wasn't Nari shutting him down cold? Why was she even asking?

My heart started pounding.

"You know — those third-year guys with the glasses."

"Ah… yeah, those guys would definitely be solid at coding."

"Obviously. And I'm on it too. So just come put your name down. I'm asking you specially. Where else are you gonna get free credentials like this?"

"But… I don't think I can. I've already got something going…"

"Huh? For real? With who?"

"Someone. A first-year."

"Dude… you really think anything's gonna come of that first-year? What a waste of time…"

"You don't know that."

"What's there to not know… You can tell just by looking. Come on, just do it with us. Or we could grab a drink first and talk it over? You might change your mind."

What… this guy didn't even know Nari was already entered in the competition with other people. Still — at least it didn't sound like she was planning to betray me. That was a relief.

And whoever this guy was, Nari already said no. Could he stop clinging and just give up already?!

No… wait. I shouldn't just stand here listening. This was the exact same pattern I always fell into — just taking whatever happened to me without doing a thing about it. That bad habit I could never shake.

And then I'd just complain about it afterward. When I hadn't even tried to change anything myself.

Alright. This time, at least, I'd try to be brave. I couldn't let them take Nari too.

"Yu Nari!"

From the corner of the path where I'd been eavesdropping, I gathered every scrap of courage I had and called her name. Both Nari and the guy turned to look at me.

I flinched a little under their eyes… but I managed to walk all the way over to her side.

"What are you talking about? We've got to get to the club room."

"Ah… well."

"This the kid? The one you're working with?"

I'd never seen the guy before, but from the vibe alone he was clearly a senior. The way he looked down on me for being a first-year only confirmed it.

"We've already agreed to do the competition together. And we already submitted the entry form."

"That so? You do know seniors need to stack credentials fast so they can land jobs, right?"

"Yes."

"You can walk away thinking it was a good challenge, a good experience — but seniors don't get to laugh it off like that. You get what I'm saying? So… think it over carefully."

"I'm planning to place, at the very least."

"……."

If you're going to look down on someone, at least know when to stop. He seemed to want me to feel guilty with that little speech… but I had absolutely no intention of getting wiped out in the first round of this competition. One way or another, I was going to place. I might even outscore those seniors. Being good at coding didn't automatically mean you were good at making games. I had confidence in my own field too.

"You heard him? Our cute little first-year says so."

"……Fine. Whatever."

As the conversation started to turn heavy, Nari quickly stepped in, lightening the mood and wrapping things up.

Whew… Still, it felt good — like I'd actually managed to protect her. I was satisfied that the person walking away with their back turned this time wasn't me. It was someone else's role for once.

Because that used to always be me.

"Well, well~ Kwon Minjae~"

"Of course I stepped in. Do you know how hard I worked to bring you on… But who was that guy?"

"Someone. Same year as me. He likes me, though. I already turned him down once… and he's still at it."

Hearing that and thinking about the guy, he suddenly felt like someone far more impressive than me. I'd never even managed to tell the person I liked how I felt.

At least that guy… had put it on the line. He was way more impressive than I was. Then again, was there anyone less impressive than me to begin with?

Yeah. From now on, I was never going to make that mistake again. No more suffering alone and emptying myself out in silence.

Once this competition was over — successfully —