First Love (1)
“Ah·····”
Park Jimin barely managed to keep his composure.
“You came to watch the tournament?”
“Yeah.”
Jimin nodded at Lee Eunhae’s words.
“I came to watch too. Weird coincidence.”
“SOL?”
“No, Valo····· uh, Valorant.”
“Ah·····”
As it happened, he knew a Valorant tournament was being held on the floor above. Of course, you still had to come down to this level if you wanted food.
Running into Eunhae here of all places.
Jimin had never imagined he would form even this much of a connection with her.
“Jimin, I heard about you.”
“Huh?”
“You dropped out of school, right?”
“Ah·····”
Eunhae was talking about the final moments of Jimin’s life as a high school student.
“You were sick and barely came to class a few times. I was so worried, and then I heard you just dropped out completely, so I·····”
Eunhae pressed her lips together tightly and scrunched up her face.
“·····”
Eunhae was worried about me?
She had been the most popular girl among the guys, yet she had fretted over his withdrawal from school. Jimin found it almost unbelievable.
“If I’d known your number I would’ve contacted you. I’m sorry I couldn’t look out for you, Jimin.”
“N-no, it’s fine.”
Eunhae looked so genuinely apologetic that Jimin found himself flustered.
“Still, I’m glad we ran into each other like this. What’s your number?”
“Huh?”
Eunhae lifted her smartphone with her small hands.
“I came with a friend, so hehe, sorry. I’ll text you later.”
“Yeah·····”
Jimin exchanged numbers with Eunhae. When he checked his phone, her number was clearly saved there.
I actually know Eunhae’s number.
Back in school, so many of his friends had liked her. Whenever he walked the hallways he only ever saw her laughing and joking around with the handsome, popular guys.
“·····”
“Jimin, why are you only looking outside?”
“Huh? Uh······ it’s nothing.”
“Ah, you’re so funny. Why are you so pure, Jimin?”
He remembered how she would sometimes strike up a conversation when he was alone. It was a childish memory, but before they moved up to second year he had secretly hoped they would end up in the same class.
“Oh right, Jimin. Do you still keep in touch with anyone after dropping out?”
“Me?”
Listing every single friend’s name one by one would probably sound weird, wouldn’t it?
“Jonghyun·····”
“What?”
Huh?
Jimin did not miss the way Eunhae’s face shifted for a split second before returning to normal. It lasted only a heartbeat—her cute smiling eyes widening just a fraction.
“Lee Jonghyun?”
“Huh? Yeah! I’m still close with Jonghyun.”
“Ahh.”
“·····”
Only the corners of Eunhae’s mouth lifted into a smile. Once again, it was only for a moment.
“I should text Jonghyun sometime too.”
“Ah, so you’re close with him as well.”
“No, not really····· Anyway, I’ll contact you later.”
“Yeah. Bye.”
The girl waved and smiled right up until the end. It was still a hot early autumn, yet her smile seemed to carry the scent of spring. She was small-framed, but the oversized clothes she wore somehow stirred a strange protective instinct·····
“Who was that?”
“Ah!”
Jimin whipped his head around.
“·····”
It was Yu Dahye.
“A friend from school.”
“Really? You two must’ve been pretty close.”
“Not that close.”
“You were looking at her so wistfully, like you were reuniting with an ex. I got curious and watched from over there.”
“N-no, it’s nothing like that.”
“Euhng? What’s with that reaction?”
“Ah·····”
Jimin scratched his head and looked at Dahye.
“She’s super cute. Our Jimin’s got game, huh? Hanging out with a girl like that.”
“It’s not like that.”
“If it’s not, then hurry up. The match is starting.”
“Huh? Yeah.”
They had stayed out here far too long.
“Ugh, I’m so sleepy.”
“·····”
Dahye looked pretty exhausted.
“Nuna, here.”
“Hm?”
Jimin held out a carefully wrapped paper bag to Dahye.
“What’s this?”
She opened it right away.
“Bread?”
“Yeah.”
“Where’d you get it?”
“I bought it at the café outside earlier. You barely ate anything, Nuna. You must be hungry.”
“·····”
Dahye stared at the bag for a moment.
“It smells really good.”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks. I’ll enjoy it.”
“·····”
Dahye smiled as she looked at Jimin.
Thank goodness.
He had been worried she might refuse because of an upset stomach, so Jimin felt immensely relieved.
“The match is starting.”
“Huh?”
Music signaling the end of the break. Spotlights swinging toward the players. The start of Game 2.
“Ah, that was so close.”
“Still, Rapid played well.”
“We have to win today if we want to come back again.”
The high-pitched voices of the female fans buzzed and chattered from every direction.
“You were disappointed, huh?”
“Yeah·····”
“Were you originally a P1 fan? You’re taking it really hard.”
“Ah, haha, was I?”
“Thinking about it, you were the one who suggested coming all the way out to watch even the Academy match. Your fandom must be getting pretty deep.”
“No, it’s more like····· everyone’s cheering for P1 everywhere I look, so I just got really into it.”
Jimin averted his eyes and gave a timid little laugh.
“I really hope they win Game 3.”
“They’ll win. Jimin’s cheering for them, after all.”
“Yeah.”
Game 2 went to Namba Gaming Challengers. Rapid of P1 Academy put up a good fight, but there was no recovering a game that had tilted so hard in the early stages.
“Ah, seriously?”
“Yeah. When they stick weird stuff next to my name in chat, I never know whether I should say something or just ignore it.”
“If it feels too much, just ban them all.”
“Should I?”
A handful of viewers who slapped “XXX” onto Jimin’s nickname. Sometimes the tags even included sexual language. Viewers who were terrified of getting sued if they used a female streamer’s name had no problem inventing cringeworthy nicknames for male streamers.
“Okay, I should head in now.”
“Nuna, I’m gonna hit the bathroom real quick.”
“Ugh, you.”
Dahye said something teasing and laughed. Whether she did or not, Jimin needed to get ready before going back to watch the match, so he headed for the men’s restroom.
“Hmm.”
He would be back soon enough, but Dahye figured she might as well stop by the women’s restroom herself and check her face in the mirror. On days like today she found herself looking at her own face more often than usual.
“Ugh, this is so fucking boring. What the hell am I supposed to do?”
In the women’s restroom at Sol Park, eighteen-year-old Lee Eunhae was on the phone with a friend.
“Is that okay though?”
“It’s already over between me and that guy. I was planning to end it anyway.”
“You’ve only been seeing each other for like five minutes.”
“I don’t want to see him anymore, okay? He reeks of total loser.”
Thanks to the intermission, the women’s restroom was empty and comfortable. Eunhae leaned against the wall as she talked.
“Last time he tried to hold my hand and was shaking like a leaf—I was completely done after that. It was fucking hilarious, okay? He goes, ‘I’ll show you me competing. You have to come watch.’”
“Pfft hahahahaha.”
Eunhae put on a mockery of a pathetic guy’s voice.
“I try to put some distance so he’ll take the hint, and the best he can come up with is, ‘What, do you only watch anime when you’re not practicing the game?’ I don’t even play that game, so why the hell would I go watch? I was thinking of putting up with him a little longer because he offered to buy me dinner at the Baekje Hotel next door.”
“Yeah, that would be annoying.”
“He’s just out. My heart has completely left the building.”
“But if you hated him that much, why’d you even take the introduction? He’s not your type at all.”
“I figured I’d try dating a guy closer to my age for once. I hate the immature idiot type, but the ones who think they can hit on me just because they have a little money are obvious as hell and make me sick too. Ugh, it’s not easy.”
“You used to say you wouldn’t even meet a guy without a car.”
“Whatever. Hey, but get this—I ran into Park Jimin.”
“What? For real?”
“Yeah. He said he came to watch the SOL tournament.”
“Whoa, that’s wild.”
“Right? The second I mention him I meet him? Is this fate or what?”
“What are you even saying, you psycho.”
“I heard he’s streaming and doing pretty well.”
“Yeah, he’s probably making decent money. Did you ask why he dropped out?”
“Dunno, don’t care. He probably dropped out because he wanted to make money.”
“Yeah, that tracks.”
“But seeing him like this····· he’s not bad? The vibe’s a little country, but the face is passable enough. If he cleaned up a bit he’d be okay, and he’s tall so it wouldn’t be embarrassing to walk around with him.”
“What, you already reeled him in?”
“Hey, I’m Lee Eunhae. The second we met it was super obvious he was into me.”
“Wow, of course.”
“But wait—Lee Jonghyun and Kim Jihyun are still dating, right?”
“Looking at their Insta stories, yeah.”
“Ugh, that fucking bitch Kim Jihyun has probably already gone off on her boyfriend about me.”
“What are you gonna do? You two hate each other’s guts.”
“Fuck if I know. But I’m not getting played this time.”
“I don’t know, this feels sketchy. Maybe you should think it over a little.”
“What are you on about, you crazy bitch.”
Eunhae let out a sly little smile.
“Yeah yeah, hanging up.”
She fixed her hair in the mirror. The women’s restroom was a place for getting ready. You never knew whose eyes you might catch next, so you always had to keep yourself in peak condition.
Thud—!
“Aaack!”
A sudden jolt of pain slammed into her shoulder. She crumpled to the floor on the spot.
“Ah, fuck.”
“·····”
What just happened?
The moment Eunhae turned, the woman who had been washing her hands beside her also turned. Even though she clearly had time to dodge, the other woman hadn’t moved out of the way. No—it almost felt like she had shoulder-checked her on purpose.
Eunhae was about to snap at her, but the woman simply walked off without even looking back. From behind, she was wearing a hoodie with the hood pulled low over her face.
“What the hell is wrong with that crazy bitch.”
She looked like someone who had completely lost it. Coming to a busy downtown area on a weekend afternoon dressed like that—she was definitely some gloomy loser girl.
I knew I shouldn’t have come.
These people showed up just because it was a gaming tournament. How many girls who actually had their heads screwed on straight would even be here?
“Nuna!”
“Huh?”
In front of the entrance to the arena where the Asia Challengers tournament matches were being held, Jimin hurried over to Dahye as if he were about to break into a run.
“Why didn’t you pick up?”
“·····”
Dahye checked her phone and saw the missed calls and texts from Jimin.
“Sorry. I was only going to be in the bathroom a second and ended up taking forever.”
“Ah·····”
The tense, flustered look on Jimin’s face smoothed out with relief.
“What were you doing?”
“Me? Ugh, I really need to quit the habit of sitting on the toilet and gaming.”
“You play mobile games, Nuna?”
“Maybe?”
“Huh?”
“Come on, let’s go already. Eeing! Sorry, Jimin. The match has probably started.”
“N-no, it’s fine.”
With Dahye suddenly clinging to his side, Jimin nearly froze solid for a second.
It’s okay.
He had only been worried, not angry, but the moment she apologized he had no idea what to do with himself.
[Ah! Open is making far too many mistakes today!]
[Orianna needs to hold that mid tier-one tower solidly!]
Gulp.
Jimin watched Game 3 with his stomach in knots. An early deficit for P1. Open, the mid laner for P1 Academy, had already died twice on Orianna to the enemy Ahri-Vayne composition.
“Whoa.”
“Insane.”
[Kai’Sa! Kai’Saaaaa!]
P1’s mid Orianna got picked right before the teamfight, but ADC Rapid’s Kai’Sa put on a godlike kiting clinic and completely dominated the fight.
[Is this player insane?]
[How many skills did he just dodge?]
“P1! P1! P1!”
Rapid’s super play put P1 ahead. They took Baron and marched on the enemy Nexus. Cheers thundered through the arena. In this moment the team was not an academy squad—it was simply P1.
[GG!]
“Waaaaaaaaaah!”
A wave of applause poured down—celebration for P1 Academy’s advance to the quarterfinals.
“·····”
Jimin clapped like he had lost his mind.
“Your palms are gonna hurt.”
“Haha.”
Had he looked a little stupid just now? Jimin gave an embarrassed smile.
“That was seriously amazing. How is that Rapid guy so good?”
“Hm?”
Jimin answered as if the afterglow still hadn’t faded.
“Jimin.”
“Yeah?”
“You’re that good too.”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
Dahye smiled and nodded. Even with the mask on, the way her eyes curved was cute.
“What are you talking about? That was a pro match.”
“You’re Challenger too.”
“I don’t think I could play properly in front of that many people.”
“Or maybe you’d play even better? You thought streaming would make you nervous at first too, but you handled it fine.”
“Well, that’s true, but·····”
Dahye saying something so nice to him····· Jimin tried to look away out of shyness, but she kept watching his face.
“Let’s go.”
“Huh? Yeah·····”
Jimin followed after Dahye. Their business here was finished; it was time to head home. It was a little disappointing, but Dahye didn’t look like she was in great condition today either.
“·····”
Is something wrong?
She had seemed a little off for a while now. She had smiled just a moment ago, but whenever he snuck a glance during Game 3 her expression had looked dark.
“Nuna.”
“Hm?”
Jimin forced a smile as he spoke.
“I can join your company now, right?”
“Where is this coming from all of a sudden?”
“Well····· you said before. You even convinced Mom by telling her the company was investing.”
“I did, yeah.”
“·····”
That was not the reaction Jimin had expected. Dahye’s tone sounded distinctly unenthusiastic.
“If the stream keeps growing, I think it’d be good to join a company and get some support.”
“Think about it carefully. There are bigger, better companies than ours. I only chose this place because they don’t bother me with collabs and content stuff. There might be a place that fits you better, Jimin.”
“But·····”
It was about time to start considering joining an MCN—the agencies that managed streamers. From the beginning Jimin had never even considered anywhere other than Scene Stealer, Dahye’s company.
“Jimin.”
“Yeah?”
Taxi. Public transit. The awkward spot where you could check either option. Standing there, Dahye hesitated for a moment.
“Just····· choose a place that truly understands you, recognizes you, and is actually helpful to you.”
“·····Okay.”
“And only meet people like that too.”
“Got it.”
When Dahye spoke with such a serious face, all he could do was agree.
But.
Jimin believed he was already doing a pretty good job of following exactly what she had just said.
“Ah, and one more thing.”
Dahye, who had been fiddling with the taxi app, looked at Jimin.
“·····”
“·····”
A face that seemed to want to say something yet kept hesitating. It was a look and an expression on Dahye that Jimin had never seen before.
What on earth is going on?
Had something bad happened? The moment Jimin opened his mouth to ask—
“I told you, didn’t I? That your mom would worry.”
“Huh?”
She was suddenly saying something completely out of left field.
“While we’re on the subject, I should do some proper nuna duty. Your mom always packs me side dishes and takes such good care of me every time I visit.”
“No, that’s just·····”
“Jimin, promise me this from now on.”
“Promise?”
“If any girl starts acting even a little off around you, you contact me right away.”
“What?”
The words that followed were even stranger. Why was she suddenly like this?
“Nuna, why are you being like this all of a sudden?”
“From this nuna’s perspective, you’re the type who could completely ruin your life by getting involved with the wrong girl.”
“What?”
The sudden curse left Jimin flustered.
“What do you mean by that.”
“Are you going to promise or not?”
“Hah····· fine, I will.”
It wasn’t a hard promise, of course.
“·····”
“I’m heading out, Nuna.”
“Huh? Oh!”
For Jimin, who found every single day special these days, today had been a truly bizarre one.