Shining Solo Queue Warrior (3)
Rising Sun?
Park Jimin was reading through the email.
"Hey, hey."
Someone was hurrying him to lock in a champion.
He picked Jayce — a solid first-pick choice.
Where have I heard that before?
The name Rising Sun sat clearly somewhere in the back of his mind.
Oh, right.
He'd seen it on YouTube. Hwata had told him to study the know-how of people who were really good at the game, so whenever he wasn't streaming he watched YouTube videos — and that channel had floated up in his algorithm a few times.
Hwata had especially recommended learning from people who went deep on a single champion.
Not that I ever really watched it.
Jimin had a quiet prejudice against "bring a one-trick on stream" content. The constant back-and-forth chatter always felt messy. He preferred videos where the one-tricks explained their own play, step by step, on their own channels.
What do I do?
However he looked at it, they were asking him to come on. A channel with nearly two million subscribers reaching out first — it barely felt real.
He'd collabed with other streamers and even played in a tournament, but this felt different. Above all, the fact that he'd essentially be going alone…
"Alright, enemy Sett."
The opposing top laner locked in Sett. The appearance offer could wait — right now he was a skilled solo queue streamer, and he needed to focus on the game.
"Huh. This guy's pretty good."
Jimin felt a faint discomfort. It wasn't hard, exactly, but from Jayce's side he wasn't getting that feeling of completely stomping the lane.
"Ah…"
Another one-trick? Something about this really did feel off.
"For real?"
A Sett that pros copied. Just hearing it was impressive.
"Hmm."
The top lane trade kept going. He was clearly winning the matchup as Jayce and playing it well enough, but there was this strange, lingering pressure.
"Ah—"
That faintly awkward lane state had been dragging on, and then the enemy jungler Xin Zhao came for a gank. For once, the situation had slipped completely out of his control.
"Aigoo."
He hadn't even shoved the wave all the way into the enemy tower, and still got ganked.
"Hoo…"
Still, the game wasn't over. He made his way back to top slowly.
"Huh?"
The enemy Sett whiffed a skillshot. Jimin didn't miss the opening — he answered with a full combo. After that sudden chunk of health, the opponent didn't even dare contest the wave.
Much better.
The moment he had the lead, he kept hounding Sett relentlessly.
Word came that the bot duo had cleanly taken down the enemy bot lane. In mid, the enemy jungler Xin Zhao showed up, but their mid laner shrugged him off without trouble.
In the end, he'd held the lane advantage. With his teammates fighting hard all the way, they took the win.
"Thank you! Ah, but the other guy was playing really well."
Until Sett made that mistake, the lane had stayed uncomfortably tight. Even if he could win a one-on-one, it always felt like he had to account for a two-on-one.
Before, he'd been the one forcing one-on-ones while still baiting for two-on-ones. Just now had been completely different.
I want to get even better.
He knew he was starting to match into stronger and stronger players. But Jimin always wanted to be better than whoever sat across from him.
In case it didn't work out, Jimin deliberately didn't tell anyone he might be going on something.
Jimin had happened to watch a few of Park Solmi's old videos. They were at least five years old, and back then she'd apparently made a name for herself on looks — she'd been on every kind of channel imaginable. Even something with a slightly shady title like "Can the Beautiful Streamer Resist Temptation."
She was still pretty now, but she often kept her cam off and said she didn't bother dressing up much.
Park Solmi's streamer friend Diyul — real name Song Jiyul. But no matter how Jimin looked at it, she didn't seem connected to the kind of show he'd been invited to.
In the end, he never really managed to get proper advice from anyone around him. Hwata, by his own account, had blown up from the start and never needed that kind of promotion.
"…"
Jimin messaged the person he was meeting tomorrow.
He did his best to explain everything carefully.
A more positive reaction than he'd expected.
"…"
Of course he had no idea.
"Haa…"
This is overwhelming.
His head was a complete mess. Gangnam Station in Seoul was enormous, and packed with people on top of that. But once he made it aboveground, Jimin finally felt like he could breathe again.
His phone rang.
"Hey, Nuna."
"Hey! Found you."
The call cut off immediately.
"Must've been a pain getting here, right?"
"…"
Dahye appeared. She was wearing a mask, but even in this crowd he felt like he could have spotted her instantly.
"Nah, it was easy."
Jimin lied out of politeness. Their plans had been pushed back a little, but the meeting had still happened.
The side dishes his mom had packed so he'd eat well, and Dahye's promise to celebrate his tournament win — those were the reasons they were here.
"That looks heavy. Nuna'll carry it for you."
"It's fine, it's not that heavy."
Dahye gave him a faintly skeptical look but let it go.
"Alright, let's go!"
"Okay."
While Dahye's head was turned, Jimin smiled. He'd been a little worried something was wrong when she'd changed the date once, but now that they were actually meeting, all he felt was how glad he was.
"So where are we going?"
"No sense of the situation at all, Jimin."
"Huh?"
Dahye looked back at him.
"What?"
Then she reached up and ran her hand through his hair.
"Nuna asked you, remember? When was the last time you got a haircut."
"Yeah."
"We're going to get your hair done."
"My hair?"
"You don't want to?"
"Ah, no, it's fine. But why my hair?"
"You said you're so nervous you'll freeze up in front of people, right? If you go with a proper haircut, you'll feel more confident."
"Ah…"
Is that how it works?
The whole point seemed pretty far off base, and he couldn't really relate. But Jimin followed Dahye anyway. She was already acting like she'd gotten her answer.
"Welcome— wait, what."
"Hi."
They arrived at the salon, and Dahye seemed quite close with a woman who looked like staff.
"You know you're not supposed to book appointments like this, right?"
"Sorry! But Unnie, if I tried to book you properly I'd have to do it ages in advance."
"You really do whatever you want."
The salon employee gave Dahye a light shove on the shoulder.
"…"
Jimin was slightly short-circuiting.
This is awkward.
It was nothing like any salon he knew. The place was fairly spacious, spotlessly clean, and thick with the scent of perfume and cosmetics.
"Alright — reservation under a woman, but male client. This way, please."
"Ah! Yes…"
The biggest problem was that everywhere he looked, there were women. Fully made-up, stylishly dressed hairstylists, all of them.
"Hold still a second."
"Ah…"
The stylist who'd told him to sit started running her fingers through his hair.
"The curl isn't too strong. We could do a perm too."
"Yes…"
Not knowing any better, Jimin just sat still.
"What about lifting it up? Doesn't it look a little stuffy like this?"
"Does it?"
"No. Soft and gentle suits Jimin better."
Dahye cut in from the side.
"…"
For a moment both women looked at him, smiling only with their eyes.
"I'll go with what Dahye nuna said."
"Sounds good."
His choice, of course, was simple.
"Want some coffee?"
"Please."
"Ahem."
The style meeting wrapped up quickly. Jimin got ready for the cut.
"Do you live far?"
"Yes, a little…"
"Really? It'd be nice if you came more often."
"Haha."
Jimin laughed awkwardly. Honestly, even looking straight into the mirror was hard.
She's pretty.
The stylist had blonde mid-length hair and a wide mouth that made her smile bright and open — unmistakably a beauty. She looked older than Dahye at a glance, but she was dressed so much more flamboyantly that she gave off a completely different feel.
The whole atmosphere here, really — it just didn't feel like it suited him.
"…"
And in the mirror he could see Dahye fiddling with her phone. It felt weirdly like he was peeking, which made the whole thing even stranger.
"Hey, keep your head still."
"Sorry…"
He'd gone so stiff it was hard to cut around him.
"Why are you shaking so much?"
"This salon's just… a little different from the one I usually go to."
"Hmm? Different how?"
Jimin hesitated.
"Ahh, too many pretty nunas here?"
"Ah, no, that's not it."
"Yeah? Guess I'll have to file a complaint with the director — tell her the staff need to work on their looks."
"Ah, no, I didn't mean it like that."
"I'm kidding, kidding."
The stylist laughed.
"Unnie, that kid's pure — no teasing."
"Yes ma'am!"
Dahye called from behind them.
"…"
The woman was focused on the haircut, but the corners of her mouth kept lifting. And somehow, because Dahye had stepped in once, Jimin felt the tension ease a little.
"Um."
"Call me Nuna. Or Teacher Mina."
"Ah, yes, Teacher Mina."
"Right? Calling me Nuna feels a bit weird, huh? Ah sorry sorry, no more teasing."
"It's fine, haha."
Jimin didn't think Mina was a bad person. She just seemed like someone who liked to joke around.
He glanced at Dahye in the mirror again, still on her phone, then opened his mouth.
"Are you close with Dahye nuna?"
"A little? Why?"
"No, just…"
It really was just because.
He kept sneaking looks at Dahye.
Hm?
Even while looking at Dahye, he didn't miss the way Mina suddenly smiled.
"Oh? Hello."
"Hello."
Huh?
Dahye, sitting comfortably in her chair, greeted someone. If it had been a woman like Mina, his eyes wouldn't have wandered — but it was a man.
"Right this way, please."
"Yes."
The man who'd greeted Dahye seated a female client in the chair right next to Jimin's.
"…"
He's really good-looking.
Did they hire people at this place based on faces alone? The male stylist next to him was every bit as handsome as the women. Pale skin, a face you never saw at school.
With a sudden tangle of complicated feelings, Jimin just stared at the mirror in front of him.
There were a lot of pretty women here, but among them Dahye was the prettiest. And she was a girl, after all — she must be hugely popular. There must be plenty of guys who liked her.
If a guy like this confessed to her…
She was a girl too — wouldn't she want to date someone?
In that short moment, all kinds of thoughts flooded Jimin's head. Compared to them, he was only eighteen.
Why am I like this?
If you thought about it, wasn't she a woman with over a thousand people sitting and watching her stream? Why these ridiculous thoughts kept popping up, Jimin found himself absurd.
"Pfft."
"Yes?"
"Ah, sorry."
Mina suddenly laughed and turned her head left and right.
"Teacher Junghyeok, your kid's starting kindergarten soon, right?"
"Still a little while yet. Ugh, gotta work hard."
"…"
The male stylist's female client looked faintly unimpressed — but separately from that, Jimin's eyes went clear and sharp again.
"It's all over your face."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing, just talking to myself."
"…"
Mina kept cutting at an easy pace.
"Hang on a bit."
"Yes."
Hot air wrapped around his head. It was a little awkward, but Jimin endured it.
"Ah crap, I demoted."
"Dahye, all done."
Mina walked over to Dahye, who had just tasted a demotion in solo queue herself.
"Oh, what the—"
"Haha…"
Jimin's heavy, stuffy hair had been transformed.
"Your mom's gonna love this."
Dahye ruffled his hair with a smile.
"Come again."
"Thank you!"
"Thanks, Unnie."
"I'm jealous, Dahye."
"Of what?"
"Never mind."
Mina waved them off.
"Ah, I'm starving. At least it didn't take too long."
"Nuna, I'll buy you something good."
Having just gotten paid, Jimin felt briefly invincible. Of course, he hadn't decided what to buy her in a place this big.
"You getting cocky? I said I was treating."
"Still."
"Tsk."
"Huh?"
Tsk?
A slightly strange sound.
"Let's go."
Dahye gave Jimin a couple of light taps and took the lead again.