Chapter 17
Chapter 17
Episode 17 The Golden-Sun of the Yuri Game Really Was a Golden Sun.
“Today was seriously amazing too. Taeyang, your gank timing is insane! The way you even devour the enemy jungle with counterganks, seriously the best!”
“If you’re going to praise me, could you at least manage your lane properly? Aren’t you getting ganked because you keep pushing too far up?”
“It’s fine because Taeyang’s here.”
“Says the bus-rider who only relies on Yangyang for carries.”
“What? Like you’re any different. How many times did you fail mid and drag other lanes down with you?”
“Says the top-lane addict who can’t even secure solo kills properly!”
Seriously, these two always got along as badly as cats and dogs.
Honestly, I wanted to say something to Jinhyuk for bringing Kim Jaehan along, but since we’d already met up, there was no point complaining now.
Still, there was one thing that absolutely needed to be said.
“What are you even talking about? You two are equally bad anyway. Stop fighting over who sucked more. It just looks pathetic.”
“What!?”
“You’re saying I’m on the same level as this bastard!? Absolutely not!”
“Yeah! Yangyang, open your eyes properly! Do I seriously look equal to this guy!?”
“I’m obviously way better! Match people with the proper level!”
That was exactly what people meant by “same dog, same litter.”
“Anyway, I’m hungry. Want to grab something? How about Mc○nald’s?”
“Don’t ignore us!”
“Yeah, take that back! Even from you, Taeyang, I can’t accept that!”
And what exactly would you do if you couldn’t accept it?
At the end of the day, both of you were just passengers riding my bus.
More importantly, buying something for the juniors was way more worthwhile.
“Want burgers? I’ll treat today.”
“No, Taeyang Hyung, you really don’t have to. I was planning to treat everyone instead. I always end up getting treated by you, so I feel guilty.”
“I haven’t fallen far enough to let juniors pay for me. Besides, after showing them something that ugly, I need to spend a little as a senior to save face.”
“Who’s ugly!?”
“You’re saying we’re pathetic!”
You two really are like some ridiculous Dumb-and-Dumber duo.
“S-Still, is it really okay…? You’re our senior.”
“That’s exactly why I should step up. Look at those two. If people thought all seniors were like them, our reputation would be doomed.”
“Ah, ahahaha.”
Seong Jihyuk really was a kind kid.
Even though I was offering free food, he genuinely sounded apologetic about it.
Seriously, the juniors at our school were all such good kids. That just made me want them to keep growing up properly.
“Perfect timing, honestly. I was getting hungry too.”
“Just so we’re clear, I’m only buying for the juniors. You two can pay for yourselves.”
“That wasn’t part of the deal!”
“That’s discrimination!”
“Why would I buy food for you two just because I’m pretty? Be satisfied with getting carried.”
The fact these guys were actually dissatisfied really showed how shameless they’d become.
“Oppression! This is dictatorship!”
“Give us our rightful rights too!”
Calling free food a “right” really proved they’d become human trash.
“I’m never carrying you again.”
“We’re sorry.”
“We’re just idiots. Please exploit us however you want.”
Was this some new form of harassment?
Without caring at all about the weird looks from people around us, they bent at perfect ninety-degree angles and stared at the floor.
If their goal was to embarrass me, then honestly it was incredibly effective.
“Hurry up and raise your heads. People are staring.”
“Yes sir!”
“Please continue providing transportation services next time too.”
“Don’t you think you’re moving way too fast already? You’re already talking about next time?”
Seriously, where did this shamelessness even come from?
Every time I played games with these idiots, I felt my mental energy draining away.
And since I was stuck between two people fundamentally incapable of coexisting, the exhaustion felt even worse.
Honestly, if they were merely like oil and water, it’d be easier.
These guys were hazardous materials that exploded just from touching each other, meaning they required constant careful attention.
“Let’s go already.”
“Yes, boss!”
“Understood, Hyungnim!”
“……Haaah.”
Seriously, they were such difficult idiots to deal with.
“……You’re amazing, Sunbae.”
“Huh?”
What exactly was Seong Jihyuk talking about?
For some reason, he was looking at me with admiration, which honestly felt unfamiliar enough to catch me off guard.
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
“You shut both of those Sunbaes up instantly. I just thought you looked really charismatic and cool, Taeyang Sunbae.”
“You think I actually silenced them?”
“Not exactly.”
Thank goodness.
At least he wasn’t completely blinded by delusion.
“Still, I feel like you’re the one holding Daeji Sunbae and Jaehan Sunbae together. Those two clearly don’t get along at all, but maybe the reason they can still gather together like this is because of you?”
“Meanwhile, I’m the one suffering in the middle of them.”
“That’s way too harsh!”
“If the junior’s saying something nice, just agree with it!”
The fact these two synced up perfectly at moments like this despite hating each other only made them even more irritating.
“I’m not as comfortable handling them as you think. Like you’ve already seen, getting involved with them is exhausting.”
“I think I understand.”
“Want me to give them to you?”
“No thanks. I’ll pass.”
I only meant it as a light joke, but he rejected it immediately.
He got so serious over something said jokingly that it honestly made me want to tease him more.
Was my personality twisted or something?
Still, chatting like this wasn’t bad.
During morning jogs, we only exchanged a few words at most, so getting to properly talk felt nice.
“Come on, let’s go already. This great senior shall present delicious burgers to the juniors!”
“You’re only taking the juniors!?”
“Taeyang, let us come too.”
“Thanks, Sunbae!”
“See you later.”
“Yeah, don’t stay out too late.”
After giving the juniors a casual goodbye, I started heading home alone.
Baek Daeji and Go Jinhyuk had already split off at Mc○nald’s, leaving me to walk home by myself.
‘Noisy times are fun too, but honestly, time alone is valuable as well.’
At first, when In Yuna transferred in, I’d worried slightly about how much my daily life would change.
But looking back, not that much had actually changed.
In Yuna’s existence had definitely invaded my daily life somewhat and established a new presence within it.
Still, if I just thought of it as gaining one more friend, then it really wasn’t a huge problem.
The anxiety I felt when realizing this world was actually a yuri game now felt unnecessary.
“Meow.”
“Is it tasty? Here, have more.”
‘Hm?’
The sound was so faint I could’ve easily missed it while walking, yet my ears still caught both the cat’s cry and the cold voice tinged with faint excitement.
For a moment, I wondered if I’d imagined it and stopped walking to listen carefully.
But the faint humming of a slightly excited girl lingered in my ears.
‘What a coincidence.’
Starting from running into her at the resting area during lunch, then the weekend encounter, and now this too—
At this point, I could no longer think of it as mere coincidence.
Was some kind of world force secretly trying to push the story forward?
Leaving that ridiculous thought buried in a corner of my mind, my feet naturally veered away from the path home.
Between two houses I’d just passed was a narrow alley—not particularly dark or suspicious enough for anyone to think twice about passing by—and there, crouched down while playing with a cat, was a familiar figure.
“Meow~”
“Good kitty, good kitty.”
The cat rubbing its head against In Yuna’s pale white hand was small yet overwhelmingly adorable.
Though it was clearly a stray with messy fur, that barely mattered in front of such lethal cuteness, and a smile naturally spread across my face.
Even on In Yuna’s expressionless side profile, the cat’s cuteness clearly had an effect.
Her face still looked blank and emotionless like untouched white paper, yet the soft humming and gentle atmosphere around her revealed how happy she was.
‘She really loves cats.’
I already knew she liked cats from how much she petted Shami when she visited before, but I never imagined she liked them enough to casually touch strays too.
Stray cats might look cute and pitiful, but because they carry all kinds of germs from outside, most people nowadays avoid touching them directly no matter how adorable they are.
‘Maybe I should quietly leave.’
It felt awkward continuing to watch secretly, so I slowly tried stepping away, planning to pretend I’d never seen anything.
Then the cat that had been playing in In Yuna’s hands suddenly turned its head.
Our eyes met directly.
Surely it was just an ordinary stray cat wandering the streets, so why did it feel like there was intelligence in its eyes?
Must’ve been my imagination.
Still, the cat suddenly hopped lightly toward me.
“Meow.”
“Geum Taeyang?”
“S-Sorry…… I really wasn’t trying to spy on you. Seriously, believe me.”
“…….”
Had things ever felt this awkward between In Yuna and me before?
For some reason, the gaze that always carried goodwill toward me now felt sharp like icicles.
But rather than anger or resentment—
‘Is she embarrassed?’
She’d already shown me herself playing with our Shami before, so there was no reason to feel embarrassed now.
Sometimes girls’ feelings were really difficult to understand.
“You sing well.”
“!”
Her shoulders jerked violently, and I burst out laughing without thinking.
Seeing her react so sensitively made my mischievous side flare up despite knowing it was bad.
Watching the cold In Yuna react so strongly to just one sentence from me somehow felt special, filling me with strange satisfaction.
“Meow.”
“Yeah, kitty. What’s wrong? Hm…… you’re male?”
“Meow?”
“Hahaha, right. Like you’d understand. What do you want?”
“Meow!”
“Ah, this?”
The cat circling around my feet kept staring with sparkling eyes at the Churu stick poking out from the black plastic bag I carried.
Did it want this?
“So you already know the taste of Churu. Did someone feed you before?”
“…….”
“It’s technically Shami’s…… but whatever.”
Recently Shami had been overeating anyway and needed a diet.
“Meow~”
The moment I opened the Churu and held it out, the cat began wagging its tail happily before cautiously licking it, then immediately started greedily sucking it down.
“Slow down.”
“…….”
“In Yuna, what’s wrong?”
“……It got stolen.”
“Huh?”
“I got NTR’d.”
“What?”
“Geum Taeyang really is Geum Taeyang.”
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
Calling it NTR just because I gave the cat Churu felt way too exaggerated.
“I spent a long time getting close to this cat. So how did Geum Taeyang become close so quickly?”
“It’s not that it got close to me. It just knows the taste of Churu and got tempted by it. Don’t feel too down. You’re the one who fed it Churu before too, right?”
“…….”
She nodded.
“It’s not attached to me. It’s attached to the Churu taste In Yuna introduced it to. Honestly, compared to you—even our difficult Shami follows you way better than he follows me—how could I even compete?”
“……Really?”
“Really.”
Even after hearing my firm answer, In Yuna still looked unconvinced.
But it genuinely was the truth.
Compared to In Yuna, who instantly won over even our difficult Shami, how could I possibly compare?