Game at the PC Bang
Just like how we'd hit the PC bang with friends right after school, the place was packed and noisy.
There were people our age, kids younger than us from school, and even little ones who hadn't even hit puberty yet.
With no empty seats left in such a huge space, I started wondering if we'd even get to play the game we'd originally come for.
Even if we did play, the thought crossed my mind that we'd probably have to sit far apart from each other.
But luckily, there were three empty seats in one corner with what looked like computers that weren't all that great.
The whole place was filled with rigs with transparent cases shooting out flashy lights, but these ones weren't transparent and didn't emit any lights either.
The monitors were smaller and looked older too — probably why the seats were empty.
Still, a seat was a seat, and it wasn't like we could just turn around and leave the PC bang because the setup looked crappy.
So we ended up sitting side by side and turning the computers on.
But now that we'd actually come to the PC bang, I had no idea whether Cheolyong played the game we played or not.
If he didn't play our game, that would be a huge problem.
"Hey, Cheolyong. Do you even play this game?"
I pointed at a game icon and asked Cheolyong, who was sitting next to me.
"That? Of course I do."
"I figured."
The answer came back positive.
Thankfully, Cheolyong did play this game.
Well, not that he had much of a choice.
It was massively popular worldwide, and absolutely huge in Korea too — if you didn't play this game during your school years, you'd be cut out of more than half the conversations with your friends.
So whether you liked it or not, if you wanted to hang with your friends, this was the game you had to play.
"What lane are you?"
"Me? I play top."
"Ugh. A top lane main."
"What do you mean, 'top lane main'? I'll show you how I carry. Get in the game."
I glanced over at Cheolyong's monitor.
He happened to be on his profile page, so I could check his rank.
It was Bronze.
Bronze 2, at that.
That was like... top 80-90%, I think? For someone with such a big, tough-looking build, his rank was adorable.
"You're Bronze?"
"I don't play ranked much, so my rank is Bronze. My skill's actually Platinum."
"Still cute."
When I proudly revealed my rank, Cheolyong's eyes went wide.
"D-D... Diamond?"
The game had been remade and had a lot of changes, so it took me quite a while to adapt, but my game sense hadn't gone anywhere.
My skills hadn't rusted. From where I stood, reaching Diamond in the current game, where the overall skill level had been watered down, was trivially easy.
"This is what top 1% looks like."
The gap between me and Cheolyong was like heaven and earth.
"I'm... Ch-Challenger!"
He'd been quietly listening this whole time, and finally having something to brag about, he hurriedly revealed his rank.
"Holy shit."
Cheolyong was utterly stunned.
For kids our age who were into this game, Challenger was treated like a celebrity.
And Cheolyong had been kind of looking down on Jaehyeon — with his unmanly small stature, tiny frame, and timid personality — but now that he'd revealed his rank, Cheolyong felt like he was seeing a real man for the first time.
Because there was nothing more manly than being good at games.
"Alright, alright. Let's just start the game."
We stopped showing off our ranks and decided to jump right in.
What we were going to play was flex queue.
It was a chaotic mess where low-rank players could easily climb and high-rank players could drop down, but for playing games with friends, there was nothing better.
"What the... we're matched against Diamonds?"
Cheolyong had picked Teemo top and was frowning at the loading screen, seeing that everyone except him had Diamond borders.
He looked uncomfortable being the only one without a border.
"Don't worry. I'll carry you."
Honestly, if I played more, I could probably reach Master, but I just couldn't be bothered.
So no matter how many Diamonds came at us, I was confident I could carry.
Well, Jaehyeon, being Challenger, would probably handle it anyway.
Anyway, the loading screen that felt like it took forever finally finished, and we went in-game.
One minute passed. Five minutes. Then ten.
Thanks to my presence and Jaehyeon's overwhelming skill, the game was leaning heavily in our favor.
But then...
"Ah, fuck. You fucking idiot! What the hell are you doing?!"
The game was already won, so I was just messing around...
And Jaehyeon, sitting next to me, started hurling vicious curses at me.
Well, more accurately, at the character I was playing.
"..."
I blankly tore my eyes away from the screen and looked at Jaehyeon.
With his looks, height, and build all scraping the bottom below average, his self-esteem as a guy was in the gutter, making him timid — that sweet, cute Jaehyeon of ours. I never in a million years expected him to transform like this when gaming.
Look at the expression on his face right now.
It was so vicious that even Cheolyong, who I'd initially doubted was even the same age as me because of his fierce looks, would lose in a glaring contest.
"Ahhh! Seriously!"
His rage boiled over at Cheolyong's repeated mistakes, and he started kicking underneath the table.
Thump, thump. The table rattled, and I could faintly hear people playing in front of us murmuring.
The kid was way too immersed in the game, way too excited.
"Jaehyeon. Jaehyeon."
I hurriedly called out to him.
"Uh, huh?"
The moment his eyes left the screen, he turned timid again, which was just baffling.
Is this why they say gaming is a disease?
"It's just a game. It's flex queue. We've already won this round."
"Ah... S-sorry."
"It's fine. It happens."
I'd been there too.
Back when I was younger, games came before studying, and if I lost a ranked game and got demoted, I'd blow up like a firecracker.
But I was never this bad.
"Calm down. Calm down."
"I know..."
"Aaaagh! Fuck!"
Bang. Thump.
Nope. Not at all.
He had curses in his mouth again and was kicking under the table like he hadn't just been doing it moments ago.
Did the kid even realize he did this when he played games?
Was this why he'd been refusing to go to a PC bang all this time?
That was a pretty solid theory.
"Man... shit."
"That's fucking loud..."
"Why's he kicking the table?"
The people around us were frowning at the excessive noise and murmuring complaints.
They looked like they wanted to say something, but the moment they caught a faint glimpse of Cheolyong's face, they immediately backed off.
"Haah... Jaehyeon..."
I let out a deep sigh and was about to call his name when...
"Hey."
Someone walked up to Jaehyeon and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Y-yes...?"
Jaehyeon turned his head, instantly shrinking into his timid shell.
"I get that things can get loud when you're playing games with friends, I can understand that... but could you stop kicking underneath... please..."
The man had clearly been holding back the urge to hit someone, but the moment he caught Cheolyong's eye, he immediately became polite. He'd come to complain.
"I'm... sorry. I'm sorry. I always get like this when I play games..."
Thankfully, he was self-aware.
I made a mental note never to come to a PC bang with this kid again.
"Haah... please be more careful..."
Thinking he'd calm down now that he'd been directly told off, the man turned around.
But...
"Grrrk...! Urk...! We're losing this? We're losing this?!"
Cheolyong's trash plays, combined with the other two teammates' equally trash plays, kept piling up exponentially until Jaehyeon and I couldn't cover for them anymore.
Jaehyeon was making bizarre, guttural sounds, frothing at the mouth.
Thump. Thump.
"Hey. Knock it off."
Even I was starting to get annoyed now, and my temper was rising.
Who plays a game like their life depends on it?
Was this how you became a Challenger?
"Sorry..."
The moment I said something, he'd quiet down for a bit, but I was certain he'd start raising hell again soon. I fell into deep thought, wondering if I should just end the game and leave.
"Just... hold on."
We'd come to have fun playing games, and instead we were just being a nuisance.
Thinking about the people who must be annoyed because of us — because of Jaehyeon — I couldn't bring myself to leave.
So I got up, headed to the counter, grabbed some snacks from the display, and paid for them.
"Ah... thank you."
"No, we're the ones who should be apologizing."
I handed them out to the people sitting around us.
Their faces brightened as they received the snacks and drinks, and the tension from earlier seemed to ease somewhat.
"Here. Eat."
"Oh. Thanks."
I handed some to Cheolyong and Jaehyeon too, then sat back down.
I was just about to tell them we should call it quits since we couldn't keep causing trouble...
"Hurry up and go."
"...?"
Cheolyong urged me to continue the game.
Play more?
"You don't want to?"
"No, I mean... you want to keep playing?"
"We've only played three rounds?"
He had a point.
We hadn't come to a PC bang just to play three games.
Time-wise, maybe about two hours had passed?
It was almost six o'clock, but he'd said he was buying dinner...
Ah, screw it.
"Fine. Let's go again."
We queued up.
I was first pick, so I locked in my champion first and headed to the bathroom.
I took a leak, then came back to my seat.
"Yo. Welcome back."
Chaeyeon was sitting in my chair, eating my snacks, drinking from my cup.
"What the hell."
I had no idea why she was here.
Or how she even knew we were here in the first place.
"What else?"
To my question, Chaeyeon flashed a beautiful smile and said silently,
Your third girlfriend.
I was the only one who understood her silent words.