Life's Breakthrough (3)
You have been slain.
Enemy Triple Kill!
"Aigoo."
"Ah…"
"You two can go ahead and lose your minds."
"…"
What arrived was not the familiar taste of victory but defeat, and Yu Dahye let her irritation show.
DEFEAT
"Ugh, I hate this so much."
"Good game."
"You too."
At least she still had the presence of mind to speak gently to Park Jimin.
"Seriously, that was ridiculous."
Dahye stretched as she spoke. They had torn through the Rift with a Renekton–Nidalee combo, and somehow still failed to bring home a win.
"Oh, the tteokbokki's here."
She vanished from the screen for a moment, then was back before long.
"Should I eat first, or is it okay if we queue up right away?"
"Just eat while we play. Time's precious."
"Ah…"
"Ah, crap, Nidalee's banned?"
Dahye tore open the packaging roughly and chewed through the rice cakes with a determined grind of her jaw as she hovered over her champion select.
"…"
He looked over the texts from a little while ago again. A ten-thousand-won bill still sat on the table. Jimin hadn't touched it.
Is she coming back at the same time as yesterday?
He ran the numbers on when his mother would return. Today, there was something he needed to do before then.
"Can I take Graves?"
"Graves?"
"Yeah."
"…"
Still not fully fluent in the shorthand, Jimin hurriedly searched the champion's name. He knew the champ, but the abbreviation never snapped into place right away.
"Yeah, go ahead."
"Oki."
Better finish these as fast as I can, right?
Jimin's mission was to climb Dahye's rank. He was enjoying himself plenty, but he kept telling himself that this was still the real purpose. On top of that, he had his own things to take care of, so stacking as many games as possible into the shortest window made the most sense.
Something strong early.
"Runble? Oh, nice."
"…"
Jimin locked in Runble. Strong from the early game, and his ultimate—Equalizer—was a massive asset in jungle skirmishes. Without meaning to, Jimin was drifting further and further into a strangely professional mindset.
"Want me to path top first?"
"I'm fine."
"Kay."
Dahye, who hadn't even been looking at top, took the answer and threw herself even harder into clearing her jungle camps.
Jimin's Runble was matched into Maokai, a tank. From the first wave he was landing harpoons into Maokai's body and seizing a massive lane lead.
"Almost."
Startled by the sudden burst, Maokai flashed away. With the turret right there, Jimin didn't force it.
"Huh?"
Heading riverward to plant a ward, Jimin spotted the enemy jungler Viego eating a scuttle crab. Enemy Maokai was already glued under turret—no help coming.
"Oh! Oh! Kill him!"
Jimin even burned his ult and hammered Viego down.
FIRST BLOOD!
You have slain an enemy.
"Jimin!"
Dahye, a little far off on her pathing, beamed as she called out. Sniping the enemy jungler meant even more food on the table for her.
"Did my baby do another pretty little thing?"
"Haha…"
Startled by Dahye's choice of words, Jimin just laughed along to match her energy.
"Jimin, come here."
"Okay."
"Where does this guy get the confidence?"
Even with the crushing top lead, Viego still wouldn't give up the Voidgrubs—so Dahye called Jimin over to punish him.
"Huh? Watch out."
"…"
Right before top and jungle could collapse, Maokai lunged in on Runble out of nowhere, and Viego charged with him. But Jimin's lightning-fast reaction meant their CC never fully connected, and Runble's ult went down instead.
DOUBLE KILL!
You have slain an enemy.
"Nice!"
"Whew."
Unlike Dahye, who was cheering, Jimin exhaled in relief—he had been fairly sure he might die.
Your team has slain the Voidgrubs.
They claimed the Voidgrubs on the spot. And Dahye, already snowballing hard in the jungle, walked straight into the enemy camps.
"Oh no, I'm too happy."
Sitting on Graves and munching through the enemy's raptors, Dahye couldn't have asked for more.
You have slain an enemy.
"Oh?"
Jimin shoved the top wave and roamed mid. Equalizer shredded a huge chunk of the enemy Orianna's health, and Azir tossed her for the kill.
"Oh, Viego just showed top!"
"Got it."
Jimin answered calmly. Checking his cooldowns, ult was about seven seconds away. Enemy Maokai ulted, trying to pin Runble's feet.
You have slain an enemy.
"Whoa."
A W-boost dash slipped past Viego's skill. The moment ult came back up, Jimin turned and counterattacked.
You have slain an enemy.
DOUBLE KILL!
"Insane."
He blew up Viego first, and Maokai—already short on damage—threw a few meaningless punches before dying to Runble as well. Dahye let out a sound of pure admiration and went hunting for any blue buff the enemy might not have claimed yet.
Turret destroyed.
Runble smashed the top tier-two turret. The snowball had no brakes left.
"That Equalizer was beautiful!"
An allied Thresh grab opened a teamfight over an objective. Jimin's Equalizer landed perfectly, and Dahye dove in from the front with zero hesitation.
"Die!"
You have slain an enemy.
The enemy ADC Abelius had been crushed in lane, and past the twenty-minute mark that early power simply wasn't there anymore. Even fighting hard through the shock of Jimin's ultimate damage, he couldn't overturn a team that had lost the upper half of the map.
QUADRA KILL!
In the teamfight by the enemy inhibitor turret, Jinx—who had been smothered all game in bot lane—finally did her job, then turned around and taunted the other team.
VICTORY
"Ah, that felt good."
"Good game."
Dahye, who had feasted on every jungle camp the Rift had to offer, wore a thoroughly satisfied smile. Jimin, who had carried the game, looked rather calm about the whole thing.
You have slain an enemy.
"Whoa, what even is this?"
"They're dying easier than I expected."
On Yohone this time, Jimin's early game went smoother than before, and every time he ran into enemy champions he carved them apart with his dual blades. Soul Unbound into ultimate, a few more skills, and the other person simply wasn't there anymore.
You have slain an enemy.
TRIPLE KILL!
"This game's way too easy, right?"
"Yeah, it is."
Jimin landed his ultimate on the enemy damage dealers and steamrolled the dragon fight. Last game Dahye had believed her own growth was the team's gain; on Nidalee this game, she felt like she barely had anything to do.
VICTORY
"Nice—let's keep the streak going."
"…"
Jimin, who had closed the game so quickly, let out a quiet little laugh.
VICTORY
"We won again!"
Three in a row. After staring at the victory screen, Dahye pressed the leave button with bright, sparkling eyes.
"Kyaa!"
She clapped a hand over her mouth, practically vibrating with joy. There it was on the monitor—the line that never failed to make her day.
Promoted to Diamond 1
Diamond was Diamond, sure—but Diamond 1 was a whole different animal from the Diamond 4 crowd, a tier that refused comparison.
"Thank you for the 50,000 won! Thank you so much!"
The moment Dahye hit the Diamond 1 tier she had always wanted, donations poured in. Just like yesterday, a huge crowd was watching the stream today.
"I just found my rightful rank, okay?"
Dahye said it with a completely straight face.
"Hold on, did I play badly on any of the games climbing to Diamond 1? I was playing great."
To be fair, she did have a point.
"Thank you!"
"…"
Now it's for real.
Thanks to Dahye's mild stretch of the truth, their connection had gone on longer. In the end, he hadn't just restored her LP—he'd carried her higher than she'd ever been.
"Thank you!"
The big donations were all begging for one thing: that this duo keep going.
"Jimin, you've worked so hard through all this."
"Yeah…"
Jimin answered without even trying to hide the disappointment in his voice.
"But look how badly they want it. Want to just take me all the way to Master?"
"Huh?"
"Once you hit Master you can't duo anyway."
"…"
And just like that, the offer landed.
There were negative reactions, but most of the viewers were hungry for an even stronger high.
"Yeah. I want to keep going."
"Permission granted. Everyone—we're challenging Master starting next time, so that's all for today."
The second the words left her mouth, Dahye waved goodbye.
Stream has ended.
"Ah…"
Dahye really was a woman who moved fast.
"…"
Dahye had ended the stream sooner than expected, which left Jimin with time to spare before his mother got home. Setting aside for a moment the huge joy of getting to keep playing with her, he made his way somewhere he still had a connection to.
"Hello."
A privately run hof that specialized in chicken. The rich smell of frying oil. People talking too loud. Nothing ever changed.
"Welcome! Oh my!"
A middle-aged woman greeted Jimin with bright warmth.
"Is that Jimin?"
"Have you been well?"
Unlike a boy who grew a little every single day, a few years left almost no mark on an ajumma. Jimin just offered a polite greeting.
"Your mom send you on an errand? What can I get you?"
"Half-and-half chicken and spicy whelk noodles, please."
"For your mom? Can the two of you finish all that?"
"Yes."
"Must be a good day. Sit and wait."
"Thank you."
"Aigoo, every time I see our Jimin he looks taller."
"Hehe."
Strictly speaking it wasn't an errand, but what did that matter? Half a fried chicken and spicy whelk noodles were his mother's favorites—the kind of meal she shared with her son on the occasional good day.
"Here you go."
"Thank you."
The ajumma kindly pointed him to a seat. Friends were great, and Dahye-nuna was really great—but people he'd known for a long time were still the most comfortable for Jimin.
"Oh? Jimin?"
A man in an apron appeared.
"You been good?"
"Yeah."
He set a complimentary snack on the table where Jimin was waiting.
"We've got customers—why aren't you moving faster?"
"Mom, I just swapped out the beer keg."
Twenty-three-year-old Seok Woojin, back at school only recently, was helping at his parents' place instead of working a regular part-time job.
"Beer keg my foot—you were just sitting there watching some weird game."
"Ah…"
He was diligent when it was busy and unreliable when it wasn't.
"You watching the SOL league?"
"Huh? You watch SCK too, Jimin?"
"Just because my friends do. Guess it's pretty popular."
"Of course it's popular. I stopped after Maker retired, but I've been watching again lately."
"Ah…"
Even back when Jimin barely knew anything about SOL and only dabbled in bot games, that was a name he'd recognized.
"Where's Uncle?"
"Out on a delivery."
"I noticed your place doesn't show up on the apps earlier—you guys don't do delivery apps?"
"We're a neighborhood shop. Adding delivery apps on top of that would kill us."
"Ah…"
"One five-hundred-cc beer over here."
"Coming!"
Seok Woojin poured another beer and got ready to head to a customer.
"…"
Jimin glanced over. The ajumma in the kitchen, prepping food. His hyung hustling beers and clearing tables. Things he hadn't noticed before. Things no one scolded a high schooler for not caring about. This was the real front line of living.
"All done."
This place got pretty busy in the evenings; without that quick-handed ajumma, it probably wouldn't run at all.
"Carry it carefully."
"Thank you. Here you go."
Jimin paid with his own card. He still flinched at the thought that the balance might not be there.
"Oh? Take care getting home."
"Yeah!"
"Wow, this kid's not even comparable to me anymore. How tall are you?"
"Last time I measured, 182?"
"You used to be shorter than me."
Seok Woojin looked fondly at the neighborhood little brother who had grown up. Tall as he was, though, there was still something endearing about him.
"What? Is that Jimin?"
"Ah…"
The shop door opened, and a girl dressed up nicely called out to him.
"What are you doing here?"
"I left something at the shop."
"Can't you even wear your clothes properly?"
"Ugh, even Oppa's nagging now!"
Outside it wouldn't have shocked anyone, but from a brother's point of view the short skirt was worth a comment. Twenty-year-old Seok Bora grumbled.
"You been well?"
"Huh?"
Bora smiled the second she saw Jimin.
"It's been so long—you've gotten even taller."
"Yeah."
Bora brushed her hand along Jimin's shoulder. Not a jaw-dropping beauty, but a pretty, well-put-together girl in her own right.
"…"
"Errand run? Enjoy the food."
"Yeah…"
Jimin dipped his head in a small bow to the noona two years his senior as she waved.
"This girl and her skirts—oh! Take care!"
"Yes, see you next time."
He said goodbye to the ajumma last, and bowed to hyung when their eyes met from across the room. Chicken in one hand, the spicy whelk noodles his mother especially loved in the other—he felt pretty proud of himself.
"Hmm…"
But something felt off. A strange, awkward feeling he couldn't place.
The truth was, the first time he ever saw Seok Bora, Jimin hadn't even been able to look her in the eye. She was better at makeup than the girls his age, and she had no problem casually poking and patting a boy's body—which had only made her more lethal. The last time they'd met hadn't been all that different.
But today was different.
"I should hurry."
Thinking of his mother, who would be home any minute, Jimin smiled and shook off the odd feeling with ease. The girl who could still get a reaction out of him had already been replaced by someone far greater.