So What Game Are We Playing?
Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~
I pressed the doorbell, and someone opened the door in exactly ten seconds.
"Unnieee~"
"Yeon, how have you been?"
"I've been great~"
The one who opened the door was Yeon—so full of aegyo, so cute, so lovable, unlike a certain someone who lived somewhere else.
I pulled her into a tight hug, and she beamed as she hugged me right back.
…She was taller than me, so it was a little hard to tell who was actually hugging whom, but whatever—I was the one doing the hugging. A big sister had to protect her pride somehow.
"Unnie, what brings you over today?"
"Came to see your oppa."
"Our oppa? He's probably gaming alone in his room right now."
"I know. But I've got something to talk about."
"……You two aren't dating, are you?"
At Yeon's completely out-of-line question, I gave her a light thump on the head.
Thonk!
"Ow!"
Unlike when I hit Gyeong, this was a cute little knuckle-bonk, and Yeon reacted just as adorably.
"How come Oppa always acts like it hurts so much when he gets hit with something this light?"
I deliberately kept my mouth shut about Yeon's little mystery.
Yeon-ah, when I hit your oppa, I do it for real. I could never hit our Yeon with actual force.
"Yeon, go study for now. I'll call you later when I order lunch."
"Okay~"
Yeon went back to her room, and I padded barefoot into Gyeong's room the way I always did.
The first thing I saw when I stepped inside was Gyeong gaming his heart out.
He was so focused he didn't even notice I'd come in.
Watching him like that, I naturally flopped down onto his bed.
I thought this every time—Gyeong's bed felt better than mine. Maybe mine was too soft, but this mattress that sat right in the sweet spot between firm and plush was perfect.
I rolled around waiting for his game to end, and sure enough Gyeong started getting irritated.
"No, why would you walk in there!? Seriously, why!? Why!? Think a little before you play, please!!"
He snapped at me all the time, but the truth was Gyeong didn't usually get this angry while gaming. If he was this mad, it had to be the other guy's fault.
…Or maybe his temperament had changed a bit lately. If that was the case, I'd have to scold him. Yeon could pick up bad habits, you know.
Whether I fretted or not, Gyeong kept playing, and before long he shouted,
"Niceeeee! GG~"
Looks like the match had been nearly over. The way he celebrated so fast made that clear.
He yanked off his headset, spun the chair around like it was the most natural thing in the world, and looked straight at me.
"If you're here, say something."
He said it so casually that he'd clearly known I was here the whole time.
"Wanted me to interrupt your game, did you?"
"I can still win a match this easy even if you interrupt."
"Who was just screaming about someone walking in?"
"Honestly, even if he walked in there it wasn't a huge loss. The guy was basically throwing from the start."
So he'd basically been playing a 4v5.
For the record, the game Gyeong had just been playing was Valorant—his main.
It always amazed me. Most people struggle to be good at even one game, so how was he good at all of them?
Probably meant he'd spent his entire school years as a hardcore gamer.
Which made me feel a little guilty. I should've nagged him more back then.
"So you came out of it with a clean win?"
"Pretty much."
"Ooooh~"
I debated whether to praise that confident look of his, but something about it just ticked me off. When a pretty girl friend like me shows up, the least he could do was say "hey, you're here."
"Well of course you had to win. You're our Dodo-nim, after all."
"Our Dodo, my ass."
"Suddenly cussing and being an ass."
After our usual WWE-style scuffle ended, Gyeong headed out and asked,
"Sports drink or cola. Which one?"
That was Gyeong for you. Snarky as hell but still looking after me. He really was a good kid, wasn't he?
"I'll take cola~"
"That's why you're getting all chubby."
"What the fuck did you just say."
"Dunno. Escape!"
He teased me and bolted out of the room. I just sat there plotting how to destroy him later.
The plotting didn't last long, though—Gyeong soon returned with a can of cola in one hand and a sports drink in the other.
"Thanks for the cola~"
I took the cola from him and gulped it down. The cool rush through my system felt amazing. Yeah, this was why I drank cola.
Meanwhile Gyeong casually sipped his sports drink.
"How come you never drink cola?"
"Just don't really feel like it. Sports drinks taste better anyway."
Watching him chug the sports drink, I casually asked,
"Have you put on any weight lately?"
"I've been eating those ridiculously huge burgers you told me about nonstop, so yeah, I think I've gained a little. Working out too, so some muscle's coming with it."
"Ooooh…"
"But that's about it. Nothing more sticks."
"Got it."
Kind of a shame.
Gyeong had always been way too skinny since we were kids. I wanted him to fill out even a little more.
"I wish I could take some of your fat."
"You really wanna die? Where the hell am I supposed to have fat to take?"
"You're so ridiculously chubby it looks like there's plenty to take."
"Wow, I seriously want to beat the shit out of you."
How did he only ever know how to tease me? It was so annoying.
If we kept talking I'd just get roasted more, so I switched topics.
"So, what game are we going to play?"
"Ah, right. Hang on."
Gyeong went out again and came back with a chair.
It was a plain dining chair, and he sat on that while pushing his own computer chair over to me.
Moments like this almost made me think he actually liked me.
"I'll sit pretty, then."
"It's gonna be a little uncomfortable."
It was an office chair—how uncomfortable could it be?
I sat down normally and knew right away.
He hadn't been teasing. He'd been serious.
"This chair feels weirdly uncomfortable…?"
"It's an expensive one that forces proper posture."
"Come on, how expensive can a chair be."
"Retail's over a hundred."
"What?"
I was so startled I slipped into formal speech. Gyeong showed me a photo.
It was the payment history—technically "over a hundred," but it was really around 140–150.
"Why is it so expensive…?"
"Because it's luxury."
"Even chairs have luxury brands…"
To me, luxury meant bags or accessories or cosmetics. Not that I paid much attention to any of those either, so I didn't really care about luxury brands.
"Oh right, talking about chairs reminded me—you use really basic stuff for your keyboard and all that."
"It's a gaming keyboard."
"A twenty- or thirty-thousand-won one doesn't count as gaming."
With that, Gyeong suddenly went out to the back veranda of his room and came back with something.
"Use this."
"What's this?"
"My old keyboard. I kept it clean, so it should be fine."
"…I can really use it?"
"Or I could just sell it."
"I'll use it!"
If he was giving it, of course I was taking it.
The keyboard Gyeong handed me didn't have a number pad, which felt like it might be a little inconvenient.
"This doesn't have a number pad?"
"Having the keyboard and mouse closer together is better for gaming. You get more room to move the mouse."
"Ooooh…"
I actually clapped. I genuinely hadn't thought of that.
"Then where do I type numbers?"
"Use the ones on the top row."
"That's inconvenient…"
"…Ugh, give it back."
"Aaaaah…! I'll just use it!"
"No, that's not it."
Gyeong snatched the keyboard from me a bit roughly, went back out to the veranda, and returned with yet another keyboard.
"Use this one."
"Huh? Is this different from the last one?"
"It's one version lower, but it has the tenkey you wanted."
"Ooooh…! You actually like me, don't you? There's no way you'd give me something like this otherwise!"
"Wow, keep the nonsense to a reasonable level. You wanna die?"
"Blehhh~"
I stuck my tongue out lightly to tease him, and Gyeong looked annoyed.
Yikes. Better stop. Gyeong sulked sometimes too.
"So, have you picked out a horror game?"
"Of course. Here."
The horror game list Gyeong showed me didn't have that many titles.
Makes sense—there weren't many multiplayer horror games worth playing.
"Which one should we go with?"
"I recommend this one."
The game Gyeong pointed to was called Ghost Phobia, and just looking at it made it seem ridiculously scary.
"No way!"
"Just hear me out. Watch some videos too."
I stood up, walked right behind Gyeong, and watched the game videos with him.
After listening to his explanation on top of that, the game suddenly started looking pretty good.
It would probably be scary, sure, but it was a game where Gyeong couldn't deliberately troll me. Plus it was co-op at its core, so we'd end up having to do things together anyway.
"Call?"
"Call. I'm going to download it right now."
"Yeah, we're playing tonight, so install it and get the patch ready too."
"Patch?"
"The Korean patch."
At that, I answered with complete confidence.
"You think I need Korean?"
"Yeah, because you're an idiot."
"What are you talking about! I got a Level 1 on the CSAT English section, you know!?"
"It was a 2."
"One point difference counts as a 1!"
"Fuck off."
"I don't even have a dick, okay!?"
In the end, even after receiving a free keyboard, I was still bickering with him.
But what choice did I have? He started it!
…As a side note, I did download the Korean patch. He was going to use the Korean patch. So for communication purposes I had to download it too. Yeah.