What’s Meant to Be
The car exploded, and the screen went dark. The instant the monitor flashed the line announcing first place, all the tension that had been holding me upright drained away, and my strength went with it.
"We won."
It had been reckless, but at least we’d won in the end. That was something.
"Champions!"
"I knew it, Hazy!"
"We took first!"
Not only my teammates, but the viewers were going wild too.
I guess the scene we’d just pulled off reminded everyone of that time I’d pulled the pin on a grenade and charged a hacker, which only made the reaction that much hotter.
Anyway, I’d proved my point. So shouldn’t the people who’d opposed this plan have to pay the price?
"Who was against it?"
"That’d be me!"
"Was it Killer Sniper hyung? Get out here."
"I’m sorry!"
"Bend over and knock your head on the desk."
"Ack!"
I heard a dull thud through the mic. I’d meant it as a joke, but it sounded like he’d really slammed his head into the desk.
Hyung was probably in a good mood too since we’d won, so he’d let it slide. That was what I figured, and I brushed it off. If we hadn’t won, I’d have been the one with my head on the desk.
"This was all my foresight, wasn’t it? Put in three players with skill! One guy with great sense!"
"What is this marriage-obsessed idiot saying?"
"There’s already no convincing anyone when you and Si-a are in the same team."
"That was foresight too. Thanks to me, we got one legendary marriage-mission moment out of it."
At Red hyung’s words, I remembered the moment before I’d slapped C4 onto the car and told Si-a I loved her.
"Man, I thought I was watching a movie."
"I never dreamed the guy who always said he was too embarrassed to do it would actually spit that out in a situation like that."
Even I thought it was weird. In the actual moment, I’d been too embarrassed to say the obvious thing, and then I’d somehow blurted out "I love you" in the middle of complete madness.
Was there something seriously wrong with me?
"Oh, but I didn’t hear that part."
"Si-a says she didn’t hear it?"
"Hazy. Your wife says she missed it."
"...I’ll tell you during the interview later."
Right then, the commentators entered our voice channel. They’d apparently come down for the winner interview, because their first words were congratulations.
"Congratulations on the win!"
"Congratulations!"
"Thank you!"
The interview started with congratulations and moved on one by one. They began by asking Red hyung, starting with why he’d formed the team the way he had and then moving on to the pressure he’d felt as the team leader.
"Actually, the four of us had gathered once before for an event mission like this, and our chemistry was ridiculously good back then."
"Ah! You mean that time Hazy took down the hacker?"
"Yeah. And honestly, I’m a hardcore marriage-mission shipper."
"Are we imagining it, or does that reason seem like it might be the biggest part of this?"
"If you already know, please let it go."
Red hyung laughed along with the commentators after saying that. See? He really had picked the team because he was a marriage-shipper.
After a few more questions, the commentators congratulated us again and moved on to Killer Sniper hyung.
They didn’t beat around the bush and just asked him why he’d performed so badly in the tournament, and hyung only smiled awkwardly and said he didn’t really have anything to say. Sorry he was bad, and thanks for the carry.
"Still, it was a fun memory. We had a lot of entertaining things happen while practicing."
"Oh? Like what, for example?"
"You should ask the next person involved!"
With that, hyung passed the baton to Si-a and me. Wait, he’s handing it off like that?
The next turn naturally went to Si-a.
"You finished with a total of nine kills today, right? Congratulations to Luccia, the biggest contributor to this championship!"
"Thank you!"
"There were even rumors that you were doping in public lobbies today because of how incredible you were. Was there some kind of driving force that brought out that side of you, Luccia?"
"Hazy said he’d tell me something for his victory speech."
...Si-a, if you say that first, it weirdly puts pressure on me, you know?
"I think you’ll have to ask Hazy about that later!"
"Yes, I’m looking forward to it. By the way, earlier Killer Sniper said a lot of funny things happened during practice. Could you tell us about any of them?"
"Ah, I’ll pass that over to Hazy too."
"Aren’t you passing everything off a little too much? It’s starting to feel like a drinking game...."
"If I just say this is Hazy’s karma, it’ll make more sense."
...Wasn’t karma supposed to be only one thing? I had no idea why the conversation kept piling up on me like some kind of giant spirit bomb.
Besides, had the interview always been this light? Weirdly enough, the first three people they interviewed, including Si-a, hadn’t gotten many questions at all.
The interviews I’d watched before weren’t like this.
And then, after Si-a’s turn ended, it was my turn.
"You’re the star of today’s legendary moment! Congratulations on the win, Hazy!"
"Thank you."
"The people we interviewed before all told us to ask you, so honestly, we have a lot we want to know."
I had a feeling this would happen.
"First, Killer Sniper mentioned something funny happened during practice. Could you tell us what it was? Was it marriage-mission related, maybe?"
"Yeah. I think it must’ve been on a day when we didn’t have practice."
I dug through my memory as I answered. Yeah, it definitely had been a day without practice. The day after I’d called her Aegya, to be exact.
"Si-a said she told me she loved me because of a mission, and I almost said I loved her too, but I said something else instead."
"Something else, meaning what...?"
"Sapakgwae."
"...Pardon?"
Sapakgwae?
Hearing the commentators double-check me as if they couldn’t believe their ears made me realize just how insane I’d been. No, not insane—more like absurd. Same difference, really.
"So Si-a got really upset, then. To the point that she wouldn’t even call me on comms during practice."
"Then could what Si-a just mentioned earlier be the victory speech, maybe?"
"...I’ll save that for the very end of the interview."
"Understood. It sounds like the two of you are having a very pretty marriage mission, and I’m relieved."
A pretty marriage mission? This?
What kind of person tells their marriage-mission partner to say "I love you" during a tournament interview?
Well, apparently someone right here....
"And this brings us to today’s legendary moment, right? The scene where you attached C4 to the car and charged straight into the enemy team! Can you tell us how that came about?"
"Actually, when I told the team about it, everyone except Red hyung was against it. They said it was way too reckless."
"But in the end it worked out, didn’t it?"
"That’s why Killer Sniper hyung slammed his head into the desk."
Yeah. We’d won, anyway. At the end of the day, good things were good things.
"Ah, I’m seeing something come up in chat. We’ve received a report that before charging at the opposing team with C4, you told Luccia you loved her."
Wow, they really said that on the official broadcast. I didn’t know who it was, but I was sure it had to be one of my viewers.
Why? Because if it had been someone from another stream, they’d be sitting there eating popcorn and watching right now.
"You couldn’t say it when you said Sapakgwae, so why did you say it back then...?"
"There were circumstances."
"If there were circumstances, that means you said what you couldn’t say before."
If they wanted to win by facts, I had nothing to say. But there really were circumstances....
"Earlier, you said Killer Sniper hyung and Si-a were against it, right?"
"Right."
"When Si-a gets embarrassed, she freezes up for a bit. So right after I said it, I took off running with the car already loaded with C4."
"Ah, so it was a strategic line?"
The commentators checked once more, as if confirming my explanation that there’d been no other choice. Yeah, see? They understood after all.
"Then are you saying it didn’t contain any sincerity?"
"No, that’s not it, but...."
"Ah, then the words "I love you" were sincere? Is that what you’re saying?"
"Uh...?"
I was flustered by how the black-and-white logic snapped shut the moment they found a good opening. If it’d been any other question, I could’ve slipped past it, but if I said the wrong thing here, I’d have to prepare for Si-a chewing me out all day.
"Was it sincere? Or wasn’t it?"
"No comment."
"Silence means yes. Let me ask again. Was it sincere, or wasn’t it?"
"What matters whether it was sincere or not? If the viewers were satisfied, isn’t that good enough?"
My evasive answer made both chat and the commentators hide their disappointment poorly. But what could I do? If I said the wrong thing here, Si-a would probably be lecturing me all day.
"Understood. We’ll leave your answer as an open ending. That’s for the viewers’ imaginations!"
If you say it like that, it’s obvious tomorrow the bulletin boards are going to be a blazing inferno....
"Finally, could we ask for one last comment?"
At that request, memories from when Red hyung first proposed the team to me flashed through my mind, all the way up to the present.
Was this what they called my life flashing before my eyes? No, that couldn’t be right. That would mean I was about to die. Anyway, with all those feelings gathered up in my chest, I spoke.
"Actually, this was my first time joining a tournament."
Red hyung, who had suggested we do it together; Killer Sniper hyung, who’d tried to keep the mood light between the four of us; and Si-a, who not only practiced with us but also helped me with the homework Red hyung had assigned.
"My teammates led me really well, so I was able to win."
I was overflowing with gratitude toward all of them. Thanks to them, I got to stand in a tournament like this and even take first place.
"I’d also like to say thank you so much to all the viewers who cheered us on."
Then a thought crossed my mind.
What if Si-a had never suggested that marriage mission to me? Would I still just be some no-name nobody, stuck at the bottom?
Would I have ever had this kind of environment, streaming from the agency building? Would I have ever seen a chat full of so many viewers congratulating me like this? Would I have ever stood here as a tournament winner?
"And finally, I guess I should do what I promised."
Thank you. And then...
"I love you! Honey!"
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