An Awkward Atmosphere
Lately, we'd been piling into the club room the moment lectures ended. Even Seongju hyung, who wasn't a hardcore otaku, did the same.
It was because the club room was just that cozy.
How cozy, you ask?
"Top! Top gank!"
Cozy enough to beat a PC bang.
We sat in a row at the club room computers, queuing up for five-man League of Champions. It was the kind of scene that made you wonder whether this was an anime club or a gaming club.
"Seongju oppa, come top and gank!"
"On my way. Just hold out a bit longer."
In the top lane, Areum and Seongju hyung were fighting a 2v2 skirmish.
At the same time, a situation broke out in the bottom lane. Ahn Seong-hyeon yelled out in shock.
"Hana, back off!"
"Huh? Ack, I died......."
Ju Hana's screen went gray. At that meaningless death, Ahn Seong-hyeon started to say something, then swallowed his words. Hana was the filler we'd practically strong-armed into joining the team.
"It's fine, it's fine. I'll handle it."
"S-sorry......."
Hana spoke with a face on the verge of tears. No one had scolded her, but she'd made mistakes and was now walking on eggshells.
"Hana, it's okay, just buy an item."
"Wh-what should I buy?"
"Start with boots."
"Which boots......."
"Buy the ones that look pretty."
I soothed Hana. There was no point in getting on someone's case for being low tier. The high-tier players were the ones who had to carry.
I spoke to Ahn Seong-hyeon, who was somehow still hanging on.
"Seong-hyeon, that guy's dead either way. Just go in. Hit the ADC first. I'm ulting."
"What? I have no health... ah, shit, fine, going in."
Ahn Seong-hyeon moved forward, swinging sword and gun. In sync, I activated my ultimate. The long-range energy shells hurtled toward the enemy ranged carry.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
Three shells struck in succession and the enemy carry's health bar got chunked. Ahn Seong-hyeon landed the finishing blow and charged the now-solo support.
Kwang! Kwang!
The two remaining energy shells both connected and Ahn Seong-hyeon secured the kills. We won the fight.
"Nice!"
"Top won too!"
"Let's take drake. Hana, head straight to dragon."
"Ah, got it!"
"Seongju hyung, take Grubs and rotate down slowly. The enemy jungler's respawn timer is still a ways off, so no rush."
"Okay."
Everyone followed my shot calls, we secured every objective, and the snowball got rolling in an instant. The lead swelled until it crushed the enemy.
[Victory!]
We won the game.
"Ah, hell yeah! We won!"
Areum shouted for joy.
"Whoa, Cheol-jin, what's up with your shot calling?"
"Master tier really is different. His engage timing is on point."
"Areum, you're good too. I've never seen a female Diamond top laner before."
Seongju hyung and Ahn Seong-hyeon complimented me and Areum.
Meanwhile, low-tier Hana didn't even know what was going on and was glancing around with a bewildered expression. They'd won the game, sure, but she personally had made a ton of mistakes.
I held out my hand to Hana.
"Hana, high-five. You did well."
"Huh? I was, like, really bad......."
"Hey, you followed directions well. That's good enough for your tier. Honestly, you played better than the enemy support."
"R-really? Hehe......."
Only then did Hana's expression loosen as she clapped her palm against mine.
Just then, Areum came dashing over, shouting.
"Me too, me too!"
"Alright, Areum too, high— huh?"
"What're you doing? I was gonna do it with Hana, not you, 'kay? Hana, high-five! That hook earlier was awesome!"
"Uh, uhh. Thanks......."
Areum clapped palms with Hana, interlocked their fingers, and bounced up and down. At that burst of energy, Hana went "uh, uhhh" in a fluster, shaking hands in return.
I smoothly withdrew my offered hand and spoke.
"Guys, one more game?"
"Nice! Let's go until we lose one today. Let's go on a win streak!"
"I'm in too."
"Been a while, this is fun."
Everyone seemed pumped, nodding in agreement. That's when—
"U-um, sorry, but I'm going to stop......."
Hana quietly rose from her seat.
Everyone looked back at her with regretful expressions.
"S-sorry. I just can't really keep up with the game......."
With all eyes on her, Hana glanced around nervously, face close to tears. Everyone else was high tier, so the game must have been too hard for a low-tier player.
'No, that's not it. It might've just been hard because it's a team game.'
Hana was fundamentally timid and struggled to mesh with others. It was fine for me—we'd even slept together—but the other club members were probably still awkward with her. Come to think of it, I'd never seen her have a conversation with anyone but me.
Before things got weird, I stepped in to mediate.
"Hana, it's fine. You don't have to force yourself."
"Okay. Sorry."
"Hey, it's fine, I said. Oh right, didn't you mention you had an assignment due?"
"Ah, yeah. I've got some assignment work to do, so I'll duck out for a bit."
When I tossed out an excuse for her, Hana bit right away. Yeah, it's a shame you can't keep playing, but if it's tough for you, stepping back is the right call.
"So is that it for today?"
"Bummer."
Since everyone was right in the middle of having fun, they were all disappointed.
At that, I turned toward the person lying on the sofa across the room. It was Han Saebyeok, reading a manga with earphones in.
'Should I ask her to play?'
The moment the thought crossed my mind, I locked eyes with Han Saebyeok. As if she'd sensed my presence, she took one earphone out and said,
"I don't know how to play that game."
"Ah, okay......."
Huh. Shot down before I could even ask.......
While I was trying to think of another game the four of us could play—
"Everyone's here again! Time for a meeting!"
Our president, Bam nuna, had arrived.
"Alright, everyone gather up!"
The club members gathered around the table. Seora nuna was busy today and couldn't make it, for the record.
Bam nuna held out a poster and said,
"The SeoCo schedule is out. August 15th."
"Oh, it's out."
"SeoCo's pretty late this time around."
SeoCo was short for the 'Seoul Comics Festival.' In a word, it was a festival for hardcore otakus.
"I mentioned it last time, right? Our club is getting a booth at SeoCo. We're going to sell merch and manhwa."
"What kind of merch?"
"We'll pitch ideas now. We'll pick two anime we like and make them."
Hearing that, it felt like the actual club activities were finally kicking off. I mean, we did have the framework for an animation in the works, but that was so far from completion it didn't feel real. The competition deadline was December, wasn't it?
Compared to that, SeoCo was a short-term goal. Getting a booth in August meant we had to get our ideas out and start prepping our asses off starting now.
The remaining time was a little over four months.
Factoring in school life and finals prep, it wasn't all that generous.
"For reference, we'll also be doing cosplay activities. Ah, it's not mandatory. Only for those who want to join."
Areum raised her hand and asked,
"For cosplay activities, what exactly would we be doing?"
"Hmm. Usually it's just cosplaying and walking around. But some people act out scenes from the anime as a play. Would you want to?"
At Bam nuna's words, the club members shook their heads in unison. Me too, naturally.
Bam nuna smiled like she'd expected that.
"We'll just cosplay and enjoy SeoCo, limited to volunteers. Oh, and anyone who wants to can do a profile shoot."
"A profile?"
My eyes sparkled as I asked back. For a second, the concept body profile Ahn Seong-hyeon had shown me the other day flashed through my mind. It had perfectly captured the romance of an otaku.
"Similar. I can provide club activity funds, so we can get higher quality shots than a regular body profile."
"Oh......."
Rich nuna really is the best. A regular body profile alone would cost a decent amount—how much would a costume concept profile run?
"Cheol-jin, interested?"
"Hmm. I am, but let me think it over."
It was scheduled for August, so there was plenty of time. My body fat percentage was in the early 20s right now—could I cut down until my abs were visible by then? Photos came with some degree of editing anyway.
'Hmm. Should I crank up the workout intensity a bit?'
A concept body profile felt like better motivation than a competition I had zero interest in. Actually, to be honest, at this point I'd developed a little interest in the competition too. I'd gotten kind of fired up after seeing my dad's photo.
"What about the cosplay costumes? Do we make them ourselves?"
"No. We'll either commission the costumes externally... or Saebyeok here will make them for us."
"Saebyeok unni makes them herself? Wow, insane."
Areum's eyes sparkled as she looked back at Han Saebyeok. The other club members were equally surprised.
Bam nuna shrugged and said,
"Our Saebyeok is incredible. She's ranked first in the Fashion Design department. She gets a full-tuition scholarship every semester."
Why was Bam nuna the one swelling with pride while Han Saebyeok just sat there quietly? Anyway, making the costumes herself was impressive.
'And I hear she does tattooing work too.'
She might be hard to befriend, but she's a multi-talented powerhouse.
"Everyone please think it over by this week. What kind of merch you want to make, and whether you'll join the cosplay. Understood?"
"Yep!"
*
My PT sessions with Seora nuna were twice a week.
Today was a PT day.
"H-hey, Cheol-jin."
"Morning, nuna."
"Sh-shall we run?"
Like always, I woke up in the morning, ran with nuna by the creek, and headed to the gym. We were done with cardio, so it was time for weights.
Except Seora nuna seemed a bit off today. She was acting particularly awkward around me.
'Why's she acting like that?'
Normally she would touch my body directly to adjust the angle of my arms or legs, but today she only used words. By this point, she should have placed her hands on my thighs or core to check the stimulus points.
"Nuna?"
"Uh, uh. Shall we wrap up squats here for today?"
"?"
For some reason, Seora nuna couldn't even meet my eyes.
She was tiptoeing around me, like she'd done something wrong. Was she feeling awkward because I'd turned down the competition?
'I mean, I did get a bit interested in it.'
But that didn't mean I was going to retract my refusal right away. I was still in the thinking phase. I should deliberate more carefully before saying anything. Hadn't I agreed thoughtlessly last time and regretted it?
*
An Seo-ra couldn't focus on the workout no matter what. It was because she was excessively conscious of Kang Cheol-jin today.
'Ah, shit! This is all because of those idiots!'
She mentally cursed out her three closest friends.
The drinking session last weekend with her friends.
All the R-19 talk that had come pouring out.
That was the problem.
- Between men and women, there's no such thing as being just friends forever.
- They've probably all been bracing themselves for a chance to bang you at least once, right?
- Not dating or having sex in your 20s is practically a sin!
- He fell asleep while you touched his dick? That makes no sense!
- Seduce him with your body to get him to join the competition.
Those memories just refused to leave her head. No—she thought she'd barely managed to suppress them, but the moment she saw Kang Cheol-jin, it all came flooding back.
The sight of him having sex with Ju Hana.
The sight of him walking into a hotel with Pi Ah-reum.
The time she'd once touched Kang Cheol-jin's dick.
It wasn't just the drunk stories; all these associated memories surfaced too, so there was no way she could focus on the workout. Her gaze kept trying to drift toward Kang Cheol-jin's center.
"Alright, that's it for today!"
They finished deadlifts, and the PT session wrapped up.
For An Seo-ra, it had been an excruciatingly long hour.
Just as she was about to leave—
"Um, Seora nuna."
"Huh, yeah?"
"Umm, no massage today?"
An Seo-ra, who had been trying to slip away as naturally as possible, was inwardly flustered. She'd always given him a massage after workouts up until now, so it would seem weird to suddenly stop.
It was actually something she could solve with a simple 'I'm busy' excuse, but—
Gulp.
Why on earth?
"I'll, I'll do it. Shall we head to the stretching room?"
An Seo-ra had ended up saying that.
Her gaze flickered downward. The silhouette faintly visible through his shorts clouded her vision.