Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: PC Bang Catastrophe
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#52
*Tap tap tap-*
“Hey, Lee Sin's heading there.”
Absentmindedly, I moved my character around on the screen.
Flashy skills sparkled before my eyes, but none of it entered my head.
“Hey, Lee Jun-woo. Lee Sin's heading there.”
Just how much distance was there between Han Seo-ah and me right now?
Too distant to call us lovers, yet too close to define us as mere childhood friends.
“Hey, I'm telling you Lee Sin's coming??”
And me, lost and wandering, not knowing where I should go between those two points.
—Ah, I'm dead.
“YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!!!!!”
“Holy shit, you scared me! What's wrong with you, you lunatic?”
While I was lost in thought because Han Seo-ah's smile wouldn't leave my mind, I suddenly turned my head in surprise because of Kim Seung-hyun shouting from the seat beside me.
“No, Lee Jun-woo, what the hell are you doing!!!! I told you Lee Sin was coming how many times, and you still die like this, you bastard!!!”
“Ah, did you?”
You could've spoken a little louder—
If I said that, it looked like a fist would come flying at me, so I scratched my head and looked at the screen.
There, I could see my character achieving the magnificent record of 0/8/1.
—No wonder he's angry.
“Hey, sorry. I can't concentrate very well.”
“What, so you've got a girlfriend now?”
“She isn't my girlfriend yet, you idiot.”
“Look at this bastard saying yet in the middle of all that. Concentrate before you make me want to kill you. Me and Park Jae-hwan are in our promotion matches!”
Wasn't it not my promotion match?
After that, I squeezed out the tiny bit of concentration I had left and tried my best, but when a 0/8/1 tries his best, he only becomes a 0/12/2.
[Defeat]
As I watched our base being destroyed along with those two words filling the screen, I could feel a murderous gaze from beside me.
“...Hey.”
“...I said I'm sorry.”
“You just killed two people....”
Kim Seung-hyun spoke while repeatedly clicking meaninglessly on the screen displaying [Promotion Failed], as if he couldn't believe it.
“You might have Han Seo-ah, but this is all we have, you bastard....”
“....”
Park Jae-hwan spoke as if in despair, slumped so much he looked ready to fall out of his chair.
Only after seeing the state of my two friends did I realize the mistake I'd made.
—Just how serious are these guys about games?
No, if there hadn't been Han Seo-ah, would I have been just like them...?
The horrifying thought gave me goosebumps.
“Hey, start another game. I'll carry the next one. I'm going ultra-focus mode.”
“Bullshit.... If you're gonna play like that again, just go home....”
“Ah, queue up. Hyung's gonna carry for real.”
“Ha.... I'll let myself be fooled one more time. Hey, Jae-hwan. Start it.”
Before the game started, while watching those two grumble yet still queue up, I took out my phone and saw a message from Han Seo-ah.
[ㅎㅅㅇ]
- Junu, what time are you coming back from the PC café? (Rabbit peeking emoji)
- Junuyaaa~
- Looks like Junu's busy playing games.... (Crying rabbit emoji)
- Is it me, or the game!
- You'll choose me, right...?
- Is it annoying that I'm messaging while you're hanging out...? Sorry.... Have fun! (Sulking rabbit emoji)
I'm screwed.
The last message came... 7 minutes ago.
Maybe I'm still safe?
- Sorrysorrysorry (Dog kneeling emoji)
- My phone was on silent mode, so I didn't know. Really.
- I'll go home around 9.
- Of course I'd choose you.
- Aah~~~ You're not annoying at all, so you can send as many messages as you want.
Sweating cold sweat, I quickly replied from the top down, but the number 1 didn't disappear.
Is she... angry? No way, right?
She's probably doing something else and hasn't seen them yet, right?
While staring only at my phone screen with my legs trembling, the game had already started.
“Hey, Lee Jun-woo. The game started, what are you doing?”
“Hey, I think I'm seriously screwed.”
“Just say you can't concentrate. Then we'll make sure you're screwed first. Don't worry.”
Ah, damn it.
For now, after checking one last time that the number 1 hadn't disappeared, I put my phone in my pocket.
Thinking that I'd contact her immediately after this game.
#53
Human greed knows no end, and people repeat the same mistakes.
[Victory]
“This bastard could play like this all along!!!!”
Unlike the two guys beside me who shouted happily while watching the enemy base explode, my heart was burning away.
It happened to be an intense game, so even the match duration was long, lasting close to 40 minutes.
Praying that the number 1 still hadn't disappeared, I took out my phone.
[ㅎㅅㅇ] - 8 messages
- Hehehehe, as expected of Junu. Sorry for bothering you while you're hanging out with your friendsㅠ
- But I'm bored because Junu isn't here....
- So I'm rolling around on Junu's bed right now! (Rabbit glancing around emoji)
- I miss youuu~
- Junuya, the number 1 isn't disappearing....
- Hng....
- Jun-woo told me to send as many messages as I wanted, but you never said you'd read them. Right.
- Okay, Jun-woo.
I'm screwed.
I'm really screwed.
What... what does she mean by "okay"?
Those last two messages were basically a horror story.
Even the way she changed from calling me Junu to Jun-woo was obviously a sign that she was angry.
While sirens blared in my head and I was wondering whether I should call her immediately or send a reply, a puzzled voice came from beside me.
“Hey, why are you sweating so much?”
“Yeah, it's not even hot in here?”
Seeing those two idiots calmly assuming it was because of the heat when I was sweating buckets, I suddenly thought that this had happened because of them (it hadn't), and I got annoyed.
“You bastards. Han Seo-ah is angry because of you guys...!”
“Huh? Han Seo-ah?”
“Because of us? Why?”
The two of them looked at me with expressions that genuinely didn't understand.
“Because I couldn't reply while playing games because of you gu—”
“Ah, what. That's nothing.”
“I thought it was actually our fault.”
Before I could even finish speaking, the two of them immediately turned away as if they weren't interested, making me feel wronged to death.
“Wasn't it because you guys told me to queue up...! Ah, what do I do now?”
“But didn't you say you're not dating yet? If you're gaming, sometimes you can't reply, right...?”
“Yeah. I mean, getting upset over just a message...?”
“That's because you've never seen Han Seo-ah angry. When she gets angry, she really...!”
“Really what?”
Thump—
My heart sank.
In a noisy PC café where, until just a moment ago, the game sounds and chatter were so loud that it was hard to hear even the person next to you, a cold voice rang clearly in my ears.
When a voice that shouldn't possibly be heard here came from behind me, it felt as though the air had frozen solid.
Unable to look behind me, I looked at the two guys in front of me instead.
The two of them also had their mouths hanging open in disbelief as they stared toward me.
More precisely, not at me, but behind me.
“Jun-woo. I asked you. Really what?”
Carefully turning my head toward the owner of that icy voice—which was so cold it was hard to believe it belonged to the same person who had been acting cute just a little while ago—I saw—
Han Seo-ah, standing there with her arms crossed, looking down at me with a chilly expression.
As I froze, not knowing what to say, Han Seo-ah looked past me and spoke.
“Guys, can I talk to Jun-woo for a moment?”
—Save me, guys.
“Uh, yeah. Of course! No, just take him!”
“Yeah, we've played enough anyway, so you can just take him!”
—You bastards....
Watching those two wave their hands as if telling me to hurry up and go, I was so touched by their warm friendship that I felt like crying.
“Let's go, Jun-woo.”
“U-uh....”
Save me....
#54
A cold silence hung between us as we sat facing each other in empty seats at the PC café.
“....”
“....”
“...Are you angry?”
Stare—
I carefully spoke, but just from the look in Han Seo-ah's eyes as she stared at me,
I could tell how angry she was right now.
“...I'm sorry.”
Having no excuse, I lowered my head and apologized, and I heard a deep sigh.
“Jun-woo.”
“Yeah....”
“Look up.”
When I obediently raised my head, there was—
Han Seo-ah looking at me with her eyebrows drooping low, wearing a hurt expression.
“...Liar.”
“What do you mean...?”
At her sudden accusation, I looked at her with a genuinely confused expression.
Then Han Seo-ah stretched out her hand and lightly pinched the back of my hand.
“...You said being with me was what you liked most. Liar.”
“....”
“I hate you.”
Ironically,
Just moments ago, seeing Han Seo-ah angry had made me wonder what I should do.
But now,
Seeing Han Seo-ah pouting and saying she hated me,
I had to desperately suppress both the urge to immediately pull this adorable creature into a tight hug and the smile trying to spread across my face.
“I'm really sorry. I won't do this again.”
As I said, I promise, I gently took the tiny hand that was still pinching the back of my hand.
“...Just words?”
She wasn't completely over it yet.
But seeing Han Seo-ah glance at me with eyes that had become noticeably softer than before, as though she were expecting something,
I couldn't stop a smile from forming.
“...I'm still not over being angry.”
“Hah, sorry....”
Quickly fixing my expression, I cleared my throat.
Because the words I was about to say couldn't sound like a joke.
“Seo-ah.”
“...Yeah.”
Gently stroking Seo-ah's soft, neatly placed hand resting on the back of mine, I continued.
“Let me say it again. I'm really sorry. I'll make sure this never happens again.”
“...Okay.”
“And what I said about liking being with you the most.”
To you, who looked at me with sparkling eyes beneath long eyelashes, anticipation mixed into your expression—
“I meant it. I'm sorry for making you think otherwise.”
Hoping my sincerity would reach her, I looked into her eyes and spoke from the heart.
After a brief silence, Han Seo-ah, her cheeks faintly flushed, quietly opened her mouth.
“Next time... if you're in a situation where replying is difficult, I'd like you to tell me.”
“Okay. I will.”
“I know I was bothering you too... but I was so happy when you said I could contact you, so it hurt even more.”
“I'm sorry.”
At some point, the hand that had been pinching the back of my hand had begun gently stroking it instead.
“I was worried.”
“Yeah.”
“I was upset.”
“Yeah.”
“...I missed you.”
“...Me too.”
The cold air that had lingered between us
Had already become so warm that I wondered whether our clasped hands might start sweating.