Fun at the PC Bang
"Mmm... that's good. I could eat this a hundred times and it still wouldn't get old."
I was on my way home from school, working through a Cheese Cube Steak Burger I'd sneakily stashed away at lunch.
"You're seriously going to eat that and then go in there?"
"Come on, how much could I possibly eat?"
Choi Wooseok stared at me like he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.
Had I maybe eaten a little too much?
Today, about a thousand burgers had been ordered for the entire student body, and they'd arrived at the last possible second before lunch ended. When I later called the marketing team lead to thank them, they told me the stores around the school had been such a madhouse it was practically a disaster zone. Feeling a little guilty, I'd paid for all one thousand burgers in a lump sum—and thrown in extras for myself on top.
The burgers still in my hands had now dwindled to two.
"Didn't you already eat five of those? Combo meals, even."
"Oh, please. A dude eats a measly five burgers and you're gonna be cheap about it?"
"Wow... you just casually dropped the 'combo' part, huh?"
"I don't care! Let's just go!"
I grabbed Choi Wooseok and Kim Woojin by the hands and pulled them along. Our destination today was none other than—
"We're here! The PC bang!"
"What, you never been to a PC bang before?"
Truth be told, in my previous life I'd ducked into PC bangs more than once just to catch a quick nap when overtime made going all the way home too much of a hassle. If there was a sauna or a public bath nearby, I'd go there instead—but when there wasn't, a PC bang made a perfectly decent lodging. The only downside was the noise.
Not that it mattered. The second I hit that chair, I was out cold.
Reminiscing about those days, I said,
"Nope! First time ever! That's why I'm so excited! I heard modern PC bangs are basically restaurants now?"
"Hey... why are you smiling like that?"
Choi Wooseok took a step back at the sight of my sly grin.
Where did he think he was going?
"Grab him."
At my signal, Kim Woojin slipped behind Choi Wooseok and had him locked down in an instant.
"Hey—hey hey! Let go! I don't have any money!"
"That's what you get for making a bet. Pay the price for bombing your exams! Now get in there. Wait—before that."
I pulled out my phone and started an SNS livestream.
"A stream?"
"My manager unnie told me to go live whenever I go somewhere. When I mentioned we were hitting a PC bang today, she insisted I stream it."
Kim Woojin nodded, catching on immediately. My friends Kim Woojin and Choi Wooseok already knew I'd been dealing with a stalker.
"So I'm counting on you two as my bodyguards today."
"This is just... free labor."
"You've got something in it for you, though, right?"
Namely! A chance to get his face out there on my stream. For an aspiring actor like him, even this kind of exposure could land him a featured extra role—if not a speaking part. People actually booked gigs that way more often than you'd think.
"Well... that's not a bad deal."
"Right? And if nobody reaches out, I'll put in a little word with a director!"
"...Are you even allowed to do that?"
Of course not! But if I was already on good terms with a director and they happened to need someone, I wouldn't mind mentioning him.
"Come on, let's go in. And you—start preparing to get your wallet cleaned out. Heh heh."
"Whoa... what's with that villain laugh? That's seriously nasty."
"Hmm? What are you talking about? Jiwoo doesn't know anything about that~"
"...Blegh!"
"You little shit?"
Ji_Woo has started streaming.
The moment the now-streaming alert went out, viewers poured in. We'd already blown past a hundred and were racing toward two hundred. And judging by a couple of familiar nicknames in the chat, Hoyeon unnie at the company and Tsuki over in Japan were both watching.
"Everyone! Settle down. The reason I went live today is... because report cards came out! And I came to a PC bang with my friends!"
The real reason—and the biggest purpose—of today's stream was to show people that my school life was going just fine. After the recent stalker incident, I'd gotten a flood of emails. Was I mentally okay? Why wasn't I streaming? People were worried. I needed today's broadcast to put all of that to rest in one shot.
"So, you two wanna be on camera?"
"Pass. I don't want my face out there."
"Suit yourself. You're coming on, though, right?"
"Obviously."
Choi Wooseok wandered off into the PC bang looking for seats, while Kim Woojin stepped into my camera frame.
Kim Woojin stared at the rapidly scrolling chat, looking stunned.
"How is it this fast? Can you even read all of that?"
"No, I can't read everything either. But the slurs jump right out at you, so... hah—!"
The second another curse popped up, I hit kick without a second thought.
"Everyone~ I want a clean fandom. So please watch the language. I will kick you without hesitation."
"Are you sure you should be talking that tough?"
"Ah... don't worry about that."
When I showed Kim Woojin the chat, he just shook his head, apparently at a loss for words.
"Everyone, quiet! This is a PC bang, a public place. Please keep it down so we don't bother the other customers."
Yep. The training had taken hold. I didn't know who the trainer was, but they'd done a solid job.
Having finished breaking in my viewers, I headed over to the seats Choi Wooseok had claimed. Three machines in a row. He'd even powered them on already—the monitors were showing the clock.
"Let's just do a light two hours."
"Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this. Nothing beats gaming on someone else's dime."
"Dude, you make plenty of money. You can't even cover your friend's PC bang fee?"
"...I'm sorry, who are you? Who are you to ask me to pay the PC bang fee... wait. Are you a mugger?"
"Haaah... forget it. So what are we playing?"
Good question. I hadn't thought that far.
"Let's see what they've got first. The games I can actually play are pretty limited anyway. But before that—ta-da!"
I pulled my exam report card out of my bag.
That's not true? I'm good at League of Fantasy too!
Looks like I need to show off my skills.
"I've decided what we're playing."
"Oh? What?"
"Obviously!"
You Have Been Defeated
A screen painted entirely in red filled my vision.
Trembling...
This was impossible. How. How could I not win a single game?!
"This is... rigged!"
Grinning... twitching...
I spotted the one comment that was really getting under my skin.
"You're out!"
And kicked them on the spot.
Hoyeon unnie, sensing my rage, scrambled to change the subject.
A drink...? Yeah. Let's get a drink.
"Hey."
"What?"
"Buy me a drink."
"Are you—what the hell? Did I leave my money with you? I already paid for the PC bang. I bought the ramen. And now a drink too? Have some shame."
"Yeah. That kind of thing got digested in my stomach seventeen years ago. Come on, hurry up!"
Ugh... I was getting dizzy.
"The bet was ramen AND drinks AND the PC bang fee~ Come on! Do it!"
"Haaah... I'm winning next time."
"Sure~ next time, rank 8."
"I'm rank 7!"
Weren't 7 and 8 basically the same thing? I'm rank 2, after all~
Seeing my teasing face, Choi Wooseok furrowed his brow hard and silently moved his mouse. A moment later, a PC bang part-timer came over and set a drink down at Choi Wooseok's station.
"Oh~ look at that service."
"It was the cheapest one."
The drink Choi Wooseok handed me was a Welch's grape soda. Yeah. That's the golden rule of PC bangs. I used to drink these all the time. These days I mostly go for zero-sugar stuff, but in a PC bang, zero-sugar is basically a luxury.
Pssht.
I cracked the can and dumped it down my throat in one go. Gulp, gulp. The sharp fizz lighting up my throat felt incredible.
"Kahhh~ that's the stuff. Nothing beats carbonation."
I was stuck on how to answer the viewers' question. This was a livestream. One wrong word and I'd be in hell in a heartbeat.
Yeah... better to mix half-truth with half-lie.
"I checked the summer uniform notice too late, so they were out of my size. Wearing the boys' uniform was honestly out of my hands."
Being out of stock in my size was true. Having no choice but to wear it was a lie. If I'd put on the girls' uniform, I'd have been flashing underboob, so I simply couldn't wear it. If I said that out loud...
Comments like that would flood in. Obviously.