Real Recognize Real

It had started as a game just to tease me and Sia, but once the game actually began, the mood changed.

Yoon Red, who’d been laughing and making fun of the two of us earlier, had vanished for a moment. In his place was the pro gamer Yoon Red, sitting at the desk and playing as if he’d never been anything else.

He finished looting by himself in some remote corner, found a car, and drove into the safe zone. Then he started showing off one spectacular play after another, from taking on two enemies alone to landing riding shots.

Professional was professional, all right.

"Hyung, that was insane."

"My aim’s weirdly on point today."

"Who’s up next?"

"I’ll go."

The very next person to step up was Killer Sniper-hyung. Red-hyung was clearly the outlier, but Killer Sniper-hyung wasn’t exactly lacking either.

"Are you doing solo squads too, hyung?"

"No, I’m solo."

"What? Scared? Step right up, I’m doing solo squads."

The moment Killer Sniper-hyung said he was going to play solo, chat immediately started poking at his pride. And it worked spectacularly.

One little word—scared?—was enough to get to him. Killer Sniper-hyung stopped the match he’d been queueing for, switched over to solo squads, and started matchmaking again.

"Ugh, now I’m going to get compared to Red-hyung."

"Wouldn’t matter today, though. He’s so far outside the norm it’s fine, isn’t it?"

After saying that, Killer Sniper-hyung entered the match, and he really didn’t seem all that different from Red-hyung.

"I thought he wasn’t going to win there."

"That was exactly the kind of moment where your aim should’ve thrown off and made it more entertaining."

"Then I’d die of humiliation. No thanks."

"Who’s next?"

"Ladies first. How about it?"

"Deal!"

Huh? He took the bait. Sia answered at once that she’d go, and sat down. But if she played right after the two of them, wouldn’t she just get compared to them?

"Are you doing solo squads too?"

"Wasn’t everyone doing solo squads?"

"Then Hazy should do solo squads too, shouldn’t he?"

"…Me too?"

"Scared?"

Hey. If you do this to me, I can’t back out.

"Deal."

"Hazy’s got guts."

"It’d be hilarious if Sia won after this."

*

Why had I done that?

Why had I so boldly failed to resist that one little word—scared?—and blurted out that I’d do solo squads too?

The last standoff had me so tense my aim jumped all over the place. Because of that, I couldn’t wipe the enemy team in one go, and they immediately counterattacked and killed me.

"Still, that was pretty good, Hazy."

"Hearing that from you somehow makes me feel even worse…."

Sia tried to comfort me, but somehow that comfort only made me feel more pathetic.

That was the sort of thing Red-hyung or Killer Sniper-hyung should’ve been saying to me…. Still, she probably hadn’t meant anything bad by it.

Anyway, with each of us having finished one game, what were we going to do now? Just as I was thinking that, Red-hyung said,

"I think we’ve shown off our team’s skill enough for today, and honestly the whole reason we all got together was to bond a little. I’m going to wrap up the stream here!"

"Come on, we’ve got off-stream things to talk about too, right?"

The viewers tried their hardest to stop him when he said he was ending the stream, but at Red-hyung’s words they gave in and shouted for an on-air goodnight.

I wondered if anything had really been that fulfilling, but then I remembered that most of the people in this room were pushing for a virtual marriage stream between me and Sia, and figured that made sense.

After ending the broadcast, which had felt short even though it hadn’t been all that short, everyone left the streaming booth and sat down around the dining table.

"You two drink?"

"I can have a little."

"I can kind of…."

"Hazy, you shouldn’t drink. Last time you got drunk and made a black-history-level disaster for yourself, and now you want to drink again?"

As he said that, hyung opened the lid on the citron sake they’d been given as a gift.

"Come to think of it, you two brought the same gift, didn’t you?"

"You brought citron sake too?"

"…You too?"

"You didn’t coordinate this, did you? The fact that you even brought the exact same present makes it seem like there really is something going on between you two."

While Killer Sniper-hyung was saying that, Red-hyung fetched the glasses. There was one glass set down for each of us, and since the number of glasses didn’t seem to match up, I asked hyung about it.

"You said I shouldn’t drink."

"That’s just something you say. When the rest of us are drinking like this, it’d look weird if you were the only one not drinking."

"Well, that’s true."

I agreed and took the glass. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Once all four glasses were filled, we clinked them together with a simple toast.

"To Sia and Hazy’s virtual marriage!"

"That’s a little…."

"Then to winning the tournament this time!"

Clink.

The glasses struck each other with a clear, bright sound. After watching hyung take the first sip, I turned my head and swallowed mine in one go.

"Oh, this is good."

"Tell me where this is sold later. It’s really good."

"I’m glad you like it."

"Right?"

"So, are you two actually going to do the virtual marriage?"

We were talking about sake when that question suddenly came out of nowhere, and both Sia and I froze. Apparently finding our reaction amusing, Killer Sniper-hyung and Red-hyung laughed while looking at us.

"See? Their reactions are exactly the same. How are you supposed to not get invested?"

"Wow, I honestly almost thought they were really dating just now."

"Dating, my ass…."

"That’s not what this is."

After eating for a while, I answered the question that had come up earlier.

"Honestly, I’m not sure. From my perspective, that's a little much for me… I mean, a little overwhelming."

"Overwhelming?"

"Yeah. I mean, come on. Even if she’s your idol, if someone you had no connection with suddenly comes at you all friendly, that’s a lot to deal with."

"…You are talking right in front of me, aren’t you?"

"I’m talking in front of you because it’s you. So stop crossing the line on your own from now on."

At my words, Sia seemed to have something to feel guilty about and couldn’t really say anything back. Seeing the two of us, Red-hyung said,

"But for all that, you adapted pretty fast too, didn’t you?"

"Because it was a broadcast. It only worked because it was a broadcast."

"Hmm…."

"More than anything else, the worst part was all the attention."

"For example?"

"Did you see ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the way the viewers all piled on me with those hooks? I got so creeped out I ended the stream immediately."

Just thinking about that moment still gave me chills. They were all spamming question marks and demanding an explanation, and with so many messages flying up at such insane speed, I hadn’t even had time to think before I slammed the end-stream button.

"I said I was sorry about that…."

"You’re the one who said you came to support me, and now you’re bringing that up?"

"That much was fine. The viewers seemed to like it."

"What?"

"I’m sorry…."

"…Are you two doing stand-up or something?"

"Aigoo. If you don’t have a girlfriend, where are you supposed to go live in peace? Hyung, pour me one more."

While Sia and I went back and forth, Red-hyung and Killer Sniper-hyung, who’d been watching from the side, poured themselves another round of sake.

"Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that the chemistry between you two is pretty good."

"Isn’t that just because hyung’s a hopeless virtual-marriage shipper?"

"That too, but…."

"And there’s no real reason not to, is there? You said it was on hold, but you two are still going to do the virtual marriage, right?"

At Killer Sniper-hyung’s words, I didn’t really have anything to say back. It was true that we’d put it on pause for a bit because of a small incident, but if you wanted to be exact, it wasn’t really on hold so much as not planned yet.

We’d already said we’d do it someday, and I figured we’d probably pick it up again soon enough.

"I guess we will?"

"Then you should decide ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠quickly and get the content started. It’s near the end of the year, so you’ll also have the Watch Party and everything."

"You’re even watching that far ahead?"

"We haven’t even thought about the duration yet."

"You’re really relentless, aren’t you?"

"Usually virtual marriages last at least six months, don’t they?"

"That’s just your wishful thinking, isn’t it?"

"…You caught me?"

Of course I’d caught him. I’d only ever seen one virtual-marriage streamer couple that lasted longer than six months.

And even those two had started the virtual marriage after they were already really dating, using it to hide the fact, so their situation was completely different from ours.

"Hyung, do you have any intention of doing a virtual marriage yourself?"

"Too much trouble."

"Ah, so you just get to enjoy watching your younger siblings do it?"

"Bingo~"

Jeez. Annoying.

*

Before I knew it, we’d finished both bottles of citron sake, one sip at a time.

Strangely, I didn’t feel all that drunk, so when I looked to the side I saw Sia with her eyes starting to droop, as if she were either drunk or sleepy.

"Hyung, are her eyes already closing?"

"They’ve already closed. But you seem more or less fine, huh?"

"Right? Didn’t you say on stream the other day that you got like this after a bottle and a half?"

"That time I basically chugged it straight from the bottle, so that’s why…."

Anyway, since Sia seemed to be dozing off too, it felt like it was about time to get up. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠But I didn’t know where she lived.

"Red-hyung, do you know where Sia lives?"

"You think I would?"

"What about Killer Sniper-hyung…."

"How would I know?"

"Then what are we supposed to do with her?"

"I’m nooot druuuunk!"

Seeing Sia suddenly open her eyes and spring up, I instinctively realized this was probably the only chance to get her home now.

"Hyung, I’m heading out first."

"Yeah. Get her home safely."

"You get home safe too. And here."

As he said that, Red-hyung handed me an envelope.

"You should at least take cab fare."

"Oh, hyung, I’m really fine."

"Then at least take Sia’s—"

"Thank youuu~."

Watching Sia snatch the envelope and stuff it into her arms in an instant, I honestly had to wonder. Was she really drunk? Even Red-hyung seemed thrown off for a second.

Anyway, with the envelope from hyung in hand, I left the apartment and called a taxi on my phone while heading out to catch it.

Because it was nighttime, it took a little while to get one, but thankfully a taxi did come….

"That’s pretty far away."

Seeing the cab coming from a pretty long distance off, I figured I should move farther up the road and led Sia out toward the apartment complex’s commercial area.

"It’s warm…."

I hadn’t even realized it, but at some point Sia had taken my hand. It had been fine when I wasn’t aware of it, but once I noticed, my face suddenly started heating up.

"Hey, where do you l—"

"Hazy."

Huh? Her tongue wasn’t slurring. Just a minute ago, when she’d taken the envelope, she’d been all loose and mush-mouthed, but now every syllable came out crisp and clear.

"…You’re not drunk?"

"No idea. Am I not drunk?"

"You are."

Of course she was. No wonder she’d been drinking so smoothly.

"Hey, listen to me carefully. I’m only saying this once."

"Yeah, yeah. Tell me your address."

"Not my address!"

As I turned on my phone with one hand and prepared to type in the address, Sia said,

"Let’s do our virtual marriage."

Starting today, day one.

---