Arang Moves into the Dorm
Arang showed up at the dorm not long after lunchtime ended. Her mom came along too, but after asking me to take good care of her daughter, she headed right back out.
"She has work."
"Double income, right?"
"Yeah."
With that, we headed straight to the dorm room where Arang would be staying from now on. The moment we opened the door, Seo Seo-hee, who'd been waiting, greeted us.
"Hey."
"Hey! We're roommates starting today."
Like the brief time we'd met before, Arang didn't seem shy around Seo Seo-hee at all—after all, she'd been a fan of Crisu's streams from way back. If anything, she seemed thrilled.
Seo Seo-hee, on the other hand, looked a little awkward around Arang.
"It's kinda hard not to feel weird when I think about how this is the kid who kept pulling aggro in my room whenever she got the chance."
True enough, I could guess what kind of chaos Arang had stirred up on Crisu's streams without even thinking about it.
"It wasn't aggro."
"I even memorized your ID. You popped up way too often."
"Guess that means I shine pretty bright, huh!"
Not wrong there.
"Anyway, let's unpack and go say hi to everyone. I'll help."
"Okay."
"Ah, I'll head out then."
"Huh?"
"Yeah? Why?"
I figured sticking around in a girls' room felt a bit off, so I tried to excuse myself first, but Seo Seo-hee and Arang both shot me puzzled looks. What do you mean, why?
"I used to be a guy, remember? Even just being in a girls' room feels kinda iffy, and helping unpack? No way."
"So you're just gonna slack off by yourself?"
"No! Unpacking means clothes come out."
"So?"
Was she seriously asking, or just trying to make me say it out loud? No clue. I tried to beat around the bush anyway, but...
"You know, that stuff. Seeing that would be awkward."
"What's that?"
"Yeah, what?"
Damn it! Were these two messing with me on purpose?
"Underwear! Underwear, that's what I mean!"
"Jeez, is that all? You're wearing underwear right now too, sis. Don't sweat it."
"Yeah. Pudge's boobs are bigger than mine anyway."
"...You two are high school girls, right?"
No matter how you slice it, high schoolers shouldn't react like this to a former guy. Sure, this was my situation now, but I used to be a perfectly normal guy in my twenties.
"Who'd even think that looking at you now? You look like you were born a girl."
"...That's shocking in its own way."
...Not wrong, which made it worse. But come on, born a girl level? No way.
Anyway, if they were insisting that hard, I couldn't just bail. In the end, I got roped into helping Arang unpack—though I stubbornly refused to touch any clothes.
"But why do you have so many stuffed animals?"
"Collected 'em since I was little."
"There's a ton."
Arang's suitcase was stuffed full of them, but she said this wasn't even all of them—she'd brought just a portion.
Was this what a real high school girl was like? I glanced at Seo Seo-hee's side: no stuffed animals, but her desk was loaded with cosmetics.
"What're you staring at?"
"Just thinking you guys are proper high school girls."
"Kinda sounds like something an old dude would say."
"I'm not an old dude, okay?"
"You do kinda look like one."
Old dude or high school girl—those were some nightmare options.
~
Once we'd finished unpacking and tidying up, we headed straight to the practice room. Our chat on the way was, predictably, all about League of Eternity—after all, the three of us had dedicated our lives to LoE.
"Arang, I saw you hit Challenger."
"Heh heh heh, finally time for that talk."
And the first topic up was, of course, Arang's Challenger climb.
Last night, everyone found out she'd reached Challenger, and we were all floored.
"I saw it yesterday. Everyone was shocked."
Shocked enough that the coach immediately started watching her replays, Yoo Seung-eun and Kim Han-seo followed suit, Jang Seon-ho jumped back into solo queue, and Seo Seo-hee straight-up froze in a mini panic.
By the way, I'd half-expected Kim Han-seo to get a little rattled or upset watching those replays, but nope—not at all.
Me? I called Arang right away. She didn't pick up.
"I went straight to bed. Mom chewed me out."
"More grounded than I expected."
"Anyway! So now I'm officially second in the pecking order, right?"
Hmm, well...
That was...
We arrived at the practice room right on cue. Everyone was mid-game, so only Kim Han-seo—who was queuing up—and the coach, who was dozing at his desk, looked our way.
"Oh, you're here."
"Mm... Huh? Oh, yeah, everyone’s here."
"Hello!"
The coach looked wiped out, barely able to keep his eyes open, while Kim Han-seo was still giving that same naive reaction as yesterday.
Truth be told, this was a situation where Kim Han-seo was the starter and Arang the sub, but Arang's score had now surpassed his.
Sharpness could've hit Challenger anytime, sure, but from a starter's perspective, it might cause some tension or discomfort. Yet yesterday and today, he was reacting so chill—it was a far cry from his usual frowning first impression. Kinda surprising, since he always looked like he had a bad personality.
"Ahem ahem ahem."
Anyway, Arang took one look at him and grinned smugly, all puffed up.
She yelled at Kim Han-seo, who was staring blankly, not getting it.
"I hit Challenger!"
Jang Seon-ho and Yoo Seung-eun glanced at her then turned back to their screens. Seo Seo-hee peeked, made a subtly weird face, and returned to her seat. The coach clapped alone in the void. Oh, I clapped too.
"Now my tier's higher than yours, so you gotta listen to me."
Was she still salty about losing that game and getting teased? Sure, she'd started the trash talk, but clearly she had a grudge against Kim Han-seo.
I doubted he'd put up with it this far, but after giving Arang a quick look, Kim Han-seo just said,
"Ah, queue popped."
And ignored her to play.
"Hey! Why're you ignoring me!"
Arang stormed over, fuming, but Kim Han-seo slapped on his headset and ignored her completely. To me, it was obvious he was just messing with her, but who knew what Arang thought.
While those two bickered, I approached the coach, who was yawning with his mouth wide open.
"Didn't sleep well last night? You look beat."
"Watched some of Arang's replays with Seung-eun and Han-seo. Seung-eun bailed quick, but dunno why that kid's still so perky."
Ah, so he and Kim Han-seo had been reviewing her solo queue replays together? They were definitely planning to coach her. Watching Arang still ranting at Kim Han-seo, I asked the coach,
"How was it?"
"She's starting to think a bit. Not at a level where macro matters yet, though."
Ah, probably thanks to the crash course in basics I crammed into her last time.
"How'd she hit Challenger then? If her macro's the same."
"Luck. But not just luck. Her fundamentals are solidifying, I guess? Above all, her play feels less selfish now."
"Really? That's good news."
"Eh, is it?"
...Huh? What did that mean?
Before I could ask, the coach stood up and announced to everyone,
"No MSC scrims today, and Arang's here, so dinner's on me! Wrap up by 6 and get ready."
"Sure~"
Then he just up and left the practice room without another word. Guy was still marching to his own beat. After he was gone, I went over to Arang, who was fuming from exhaustion, and grabbed her shoulder.
"Alright, alright, calm down now."
"He's totally ignoring me!"
"He's not 'he', he's your oppa for now. Can't call him 'that guy'."
"You call him 'hyung' though, Pudge."
"Wanna call him 'hyung' too?"
"...Nah, hate that."
I led the somewhat calmed Arang to the seat prepped for her.
"Wait, why am I here?"
"Why?"
"That guy—no, uh... anyway, I don't wanna sit next to him!"
Arang's spot was right between the coach and Kim Han-seo. The main five starters' seats lined up along one wall in order, with the coach's and Arang's a bit offset toward the corner wall.
Sandwiched between the dudes? Fair, but we couldn't mess with the standard setup—they'd use this lineup for tournaments too.
I'd expected as much; Arang was picky in all sorts of ways. But now that she was pro, she couldn't throw tantrums forever.
"Arang, come out for a sec?"
"Huh? Okay."
I took her outside the practice room and walked a bit until we were far enough. Putting on a stern face, I started,
"Arang, I get you're pissed and frustrated, but this isn't some chat in a game or online. Shouldn't you watch your words a little?"
"...I didn't say anything weird."
"Still. Han-seo oppa's nice enough to let it slide, but what if he wasn't? What then?"
"But he..."
"No 'he'. He's your oppa. From your side, anyway."
"But you..."
"I'm cool with it 'cause we're close, but Han-seo oppa? Not yet."
The second I started lecturing, Arang deflated visibly.
She was skipping school but still just a first-year high schooler. Honestly, she acted even younger than that—body and mind both.
I might've let it slide before, but as a pro now, she needed some self-control.
"...But."
"Yeah, go on."
"All I'm good at is games. He's the starter, I'm the sub. If he's better than me, I never get to play."
Ah, so that was it. I'd thought she was just thrilled, but she had those worries too.
"Then I'm worthless."
"Why would you be worthless?"
I'd never been a sub myself, but I knew not having guaranteed playtime was stressful as hell. I'd nearly been in that spot once.
"I know I can beat him. In a 1v1? I'd win for sure. But macro, CS... it's weird."
Especially since he'd beaten her in lane fair and square—not some solo kill cheese—which made it sting more from her view.
Pros couldn't think like that, but strictly speaking, Arang wasn't fully pro-minded yet. She lacked that awareness.
But still.
"That's exactly why you can't act like that."
"Why?"
"'Cause Han-seo oppa's the one who's gonna teach you now. You think he'll do a good job if you act like this?"
In that sense, she was in the perfect spot. Learning from the guy she had to surpass.
"He said he'd coach you—don't forget that. Secret? I think your mechanics are already better than his. Absorb everything else he's got over you, and boom—you're better than him."
"...Ah."
"So you know what to do now, right?"
She thought it over, then nodded. Good, she got it. I patted her shoulder and led her back to the practice room.
Back inside, Arang approached Kim Han-seo and spoke up.
"Um..."
"Talk later. After this game."
This time, he didn't ignore her—just asked her to wait till he finished.
Arang obediently sat at her spot and waited. Soon, his game ended.
Kim Han-seo took off his headset and turned to her.
"Okay. What is it?"
Gone was her earlier bravado; she shuffled over hesitantly. I watched silently, cheering her on inside as she hemmed and hawed. Finally, she spoke.
"Pl- pl..."
Yeah, good... wait.
Pl? Not 'sorry', pl?
Sorry, as in apology's 'sorry'? What pl? Hell.
And then Arang said,
"Polish the seat and wait. It'll be mine soon enough."
Arang, please.
As everyone stared at her in shock, Arang beamed at me like, Nailed it, right?
That's not it, Arang...