The World of Pros (3)
"·····"
"Ah·····"
Park Jimin's fingers refused to move. What do I do?
If he thought about it carefully, every meeting with Yu Dahye so far had some kind of excuse behind it. They needed to meet about the stream. She offered to help with his styling before a broadcast appearance. Or he had to deliver the side dishes his mom had made. Looking back, those meetings hadn't been his choice at all — Dahye and his mother had engineered them.
"Ugh·····"
They weren't strangers who'd only met once or twice. So why was it this hard to be the one asking her out? For the first time, Jimin truly understood how difficult it was to take that first step toward someone.
Dahye's tone had a distinctly impatient edge to it.
"Uh—?"
Jimin nearly missed the accept button for solo queue.
The viewers voiced their bewilderment at Jimin's awkward reaction.
This is agonizing.
He'd come this far — what was he still hesitating for? He'd already made up his mind to go to Jongno. And if he was going, he wanted to go with Dahye. He'd decided. She'd already said she was free. So what was the problem?
"·····"
Right.
P1 Academy. Going pro. Jongno SOL Park. He wanted to connect all of it to Dahye — and that was exactly what made it so hard to say.
"Huh?"
Jimin panicked and blindly locked in the champion Jason, then hammered away at his phone in a frenzy.
"·····"
Only after sending it did Jimin realize how random it must have sounded.
"·····"
"Ha."
Only then did Jimin's smile return.
You have slain an enemy.
When he felt good, the game went well. That was just how it worked for Jimin.
"Huh?"
Jimin, who had been getting ready to leave, felt his heart drop. Nuna was saying she was sorry? His mind automatically conjured the worst-case scenario.
"·····"
She can't make it?
Something must have come up. But Dahye wasn't someone he could just summon whenever he wanted. It couldn't be helped.
"Huh?"
He had no idea how to respond to that.
"·····"
It was a relief, at least — but it seemed like a big deal to Dahye, so Jimin couldn't help worrying.
What kind of nonsense was that? The only thing on his mind was how badly he wanted to see her sooner.
"Oh? It's right in front of me."
The old, cavernous Line 1 Jongno Station. Jimin was delighted to spot the building the moment he arrived. Jongno SOL Park — the sacred ground of Summoners of Legends in Korea. And now he was taking his first steps inside.
"Oh?"
After waiting about ten minutes, he spotted a girl looking around this way and that. Jimin took off running.
"Nuna!"
"Hm?"
It was Dahye. The whole way there he'd been worried she might cancel midway — thank goodness she hadn't.
"Have you eaten?"
"Not yet."
"I couldn't help it, but you should've eaten before coming. The match is about to start."
"I was just gonna buy something at the venue."
"Aigoo."
Dahye pointed at the SOL Park entrance with her chin.
"It's huge."
"Yeah."
"·····"
Jimin snuck a glance at Dahye beside him. She was definitely different from usual. An oversized hoodie that swallowed her frame. Sweatpants. A cap pulled low over her face. The mask was about the only thing that looked familiar. Completely casual clothes.
"Which floor?"
"Third."
"·····"
But it was unmistakably Dahye. Whether it was the lack of makeup or something else, her eyes looked a little sleepy — but she hadn't turned into a different person.
"There's a lot of people, huh?"
"Yeah, there are."
Jimin was pretty surprised. He'd expected a second-team match to be nearly empty, but there was already a line just to exchange tickets.
"What do you want to eat?"
"I'll pay."
"Don't get cute with me."
"Nuna paid last time."
"Dunno, don't remember."
"·····"
Jimin had been dead set on treating her today, but she shut him down again.
"What do you want? Pick something."
"Whatever you want, Nuna."
"Double set. Caramel popcorn — that okay?"
"Yeah."
Jimin just kept answering on autopilot. They ordered a set with two Cokes, popcorn, and nachos.
"It's really clean in here."
"Yeah·····"
He swallowed hard as they entered the arena. Suddenly his heart was pounding. This is amazing. This was the same stadium where the SOL Cup qualifiers had been held last time. Even if he was just in the audience seats — he was actually here.
Oh?
Once they sat down, Dahye took off her mask. She couldn't eat with it on, after all.
"·····"
It was the first time he'd ever seen Dahye's bare face. He let out a little snort of laughter.
"Jimin."
"Yeah?"
"Laughing at someone's face is not okay. Bad habit."
"Ah, that's not—!"
"Shh."
He'd raised his voice too much.
"·····"
Cute.
The droopy eyes without makeup. Lips whose red tint had faded. Clothes that completely hid her figure. But unlike her usual mature look, today Dahye seemed almost like a girl his own age. Through the eyes of an eighteen-year-old who still felt those three years of age difference keenly, ordinary Dahye had always carried a faintly unapproachable aura. Today, though, she somehow looked a lot like him.
"·····"
Ever since receiving the pro offer, his head had been full of thoughts. But for this one moment, Jimin let himself forget — just a little — and enjoy what was right in front of him.
A rising murmur of voices. Hm?
The stands were filling up. This wasn't a movie theater — it was an esports arena, and it was loud.
Interesting.
Most SOL players were guys. But among the spectators, there were a surprising number of female fans. Young women who'd done their makeup carefully and dressed up nicely. It felt strangely like a different world — the same way he'd felt the first time he walked into a hair salon.
"Aigoo."
"Huh?"
Jimin turned around to find Dahye, mid-nacho, staring at him. There was something in her eyes that reminded him of the look his mom sometimes gave him.
"Your mother must worry a lot."
"Me? Why?"
"I dunno."
"Ah—!"
Dahye shoved a chip into Jimin's mouth.
Welcome! The 2030 Summoners of Legends Challengers Asia Championship Round of 16 is about to begin!
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
"·····"
Jimin started to focus.
Yes! Our first match is between P1 Academy and Namba Gaming Challengers!
Sluuuurp.
At the name P1, Jimin took a long pull of his Coke.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"Huh?"
The roar that erupted when the P1 Academy players appeared was deafening. And the loudest cheer of all came when they introduced the bot laner.
"Rapid? I feel like I've heard that name before."
"·····"
Dahye spoke from beside him.
"Ah, damn, I can't remember. I hate when this happens."
Rapid?
Dahye, who didn't seem particularly interested in the pro scene, had heard of a second-team player's name?
"Oh — I think I've seen it pop up in chat whenever people talk about P1."
"Ah·····"
Is he that famous?
Jimin began studying one of the guys carefully.
"He's so cute."
"When's he getting called up to the main roster?"
The fans sitting behind them each had something to say.
"·····"
Five players in P1 uniforms. Without the jerseys, they looked like kids who'd still look right in school uniforms — but wearing them, they looked completely different. The same went for the one with "Rapid" printed across his back.
And…
He looked a bit short by comparison. Or maybe the players around him were just tall?
Alright, Game 1 ban-pick phase is starting!
"Ban-pick·····"
Watching the ban-pick screen on the arena's massive display was genuinely impressive. So this was what the pros looked like.
"P1! One! Two! Three!"
"P1 fighting!"
Right before the match began, a huge cheer led mostly by the female spectators filled the stadium.
"F-Fighting."
"·····"
Jimin wished he could join in if they did it again. Beside him, Dahye giggled.
No! No, no, no!
"Whoa."
"The ADC is really good."
A murmur rippled through the crowd. Rapid, who'd picked Verus in the bot lane, was kiting aggressively — a reckless aggression you rarely saw even in solo queue.
Top: Pact. Jungle: Airplane. Mid: Open. ADC: Rapid. Support: Dumpling.
P1, who'd finished third in the SCK Challengers Summer split, was dominating against Japan's Namba Gaming Challengers.
⚔ PIERCING ARROW! ⚔
"WAAAAAAAAAH!"
And the highlight of it all was Rapid's play. A well-fed attack-speed Verus, with almost no escape tools, was weaving through the battlefield with dazzling movement.
"·····"
I see.
Jimin knew it instinctively. This was the guy. The one Jang Yaohwan — the man set to become P1's coach — had told him about.
Namba Gaming has fallen!
P1 Academy takes Game 1!
GG!
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
"Whew·····"
Game 1 was over. Jimin clapped until his hands hurt.
"Puhahaha."
"Huh?"
Dahye suddenly burst out laughing next to him.
"What?"
"Nothing — you get way more into the game than I expected."
"·····Haha."
He wasn't sure it was that funny, but Jimin laughed awkwardly along with her.
"Is it that fun?"
"Yeah."
Jimin said it with a smile.
After the game ended, they stepped outside during the break. The Round of 16 was a best-of-three series.
"I'm gonna hit the bathroom real quick."
"Okay."
Dahye headed for the restroom.
"·····Oh?"
Jimin turned his head. He hadn't noticed earlier, but in the corner there was a café with bread on display.
"·····"
Pretty-looking pastries. He didn't know if she'd like them, but he should buy some for Dahye. She'd barely touched the popcorn earlier.
"Two financiers and two madeleines, please."
"Yes!"
A rich, buttery smell. Jimin smiled at the thought of Dahye being happy about it.
"Oh?"
"Hm?"
Someone suddenly tapped his arm.
"Is that Jimin?"
"·····Huh?"
Jimin's eyes went wide. A petite girl in a white knit top and skirt. And makeup far heavier than the bare-faced nuna he'd just been with.
"It is Jimin, right?"
"L-Lee Eunhae?"
Jimin froze solid.
"Hey, fancy running into you here."
"Yeah·····"
"I almost didn't recognize you. You changed your hair?"
"·····"
Lee Eunhae, second-year at Daesang High School. A girl who'd gone to the same school as Jimin until not long ago.
"Good to see you."
"Aw, what? Why are you so flustered? That's hilarious."
She tapped his arm again.
"·····"
Lee Eunhae·····
Right before he dropped out, he'd been too overwhelmed by everything else to pay attention — but back in first year, she'd been the kind of girl everyone admired. Of all places to run into her.