These Small Happinesses
— Meooow.
— Purr. Purr. Purrrr.
This is honestly amazing...
Peace had finally come to the house.
Byeol-i never actually used the cat tower, but in the days since it had arrived, the aggression she'd shown before had faded to a remarkable degree. Woong-i, meanwhile, spent entire days on the tower from the All-Around Workshop, and sometimes — when the mood struck him — he'd rumble out a little purr-song all by himself.
They hadn't become friends, exactly, and they still didn't sleep together. But they no longer launched into a fight the moment they laid eyes on each other. When they came down to eat and happened to cross paths, they just gave each other the stiff, awkward nod of acquaintances who didn't quite know what to say.
On top of that, the cat tower was absurdly durable. Woong-i scratched at it more than ten times a day, and yet there wasn't a single real mark on the thing. By this point, the black finish that had looked so strange at first had started to seem unique — almost antique. Elegant, even.
"Thanks to this, I can actually rest easy too..."
Whether it was because the cats had stopped fighting or something else entirely, Seo-ah's exhaustion had dropped off dramatically of late. Especially sitting in the living room like this — she felt her body and mind settling, somehow, without quite knowing why.
Don't tell me it's because of that cat tower...?
She was starting to wonder if the tower wasn't just calming the cats — if it was calming her, too.
"He really is something else."
Veterinarians hadn't been able to fix this, and he'd solved the whole thing with a single cat tower. She was beginning to understand why people treated Kang Cheolwoo like some kind of god. Of course, "a single cat tower" made it sound cheaper than it was. Price-wise, you were looking at what a top-tier luxury furniture brand would charge.
When she'd first spent that kind of money on a cat tower, she'd regretted it more than once. She'd thought she'd been under some kind of spell — that she'd made a terrible call. But two weeks in, she didn't begrudge a single won. If anything, she would have paid two or three times as much without a second thought.
When it settles your mind and body like this... that kind of money is nothing. I'd spend it in a heartbeat...
It was only ten in the evening, but her eyelids were already growing heavy. She'd always had a touch of insomnia, but lately, whenever she sat in the living room, the tension would drain out of her and sleep would just... take her.
Maybe I should just... move the bed... into the living room...
Whether it was the influence of the Soul, or simply that her heart had quieted as the cats had quieted, she couldn't say for certain. Either way, she drifted off on the living room sofa once again.
"Two of the Hanwoo No. 1 sets, please."
The server pulled out a pen and jotted down the order.
"Two Hanwoo No. 1 sets. One moment — I'll have those right out."
The server left. Se-hyeon looked at me with genuine worry.
"Hey... Cheol-woo. You sure about this? This place is seriously expensive. You know that, right?"
"I know. You think I'd order without looking at the prices?"
The place I'd brought Se-hyeon — who'd just wanted to grab drinks — was Byeokse Galbi, rumored to be the most expensive restaurant in the area. Jung Hee-yeon, now a graduate student, had come along too, and she looked just as uneasy.
"Cheol-woo, are you really okay with this? Two of those sets already puts us well over six hundred thousand won."
"It's fine. Think of it as payback for the last few months I couldn't look after you two. And I'm covering everything tonight, so don't you dare fill up on naengmyeon — fill up on the beef."
Since coming back to Korea, I'd been so busy with family and making money that I hadn't had the bandwidth to look after my friends. Now that I had a little breathing room, I'd realized — even if most of our memories were just drinking and messing around — these people still mattered to me.
I've worked hard enough. I can afford a little luxury.
"You're... you're serious? Okay then, I'm filling up on beef tonight. Don't you start crying when the bill comes!"
"Same. I started a diet yesterday, but I'm calling it off for today. Fair warning — I don't care how high that bill goes."
Both of them asked me again, just to be sure the money really wasn't an issue. I put them at ease — then called out.
"Alright. You know what? Let's just order another set from the start."
I turned to the server who'd just arrived with a platter of brilliantly marbled beef.
"Sorry — could we get one more of the same set? And drinks, too."
"Of course. What would you like to drink?"
"Soju... actually, no. Two bottles of Baekseju, please."
They had wine, but none of us were wine people — and if I was treating, a slightly pricier bottle wouldn't hurt.
"Understood. I'll have that right out."
The server stepped out and came back with another set of beef and the drinks. A moment later, he set the bottles down and started grilling the meat himself.
And then — how long had it been? The smell was so insanely good that reason was about to leave the building. The server set down his tongs.
"It's ready. Please enjoy."
The words had barely left his mouth before all three of us were stuffing beef into our mouths, no one waiting for anyone else. Se-hyeon, first to get a piece in, teared up a little from sheer emotion.
"Th-this is amazing...!! Seriously, this is the best beef I've ever had. Wait — beef can actually be this tender? This good?"
Hee-yeon, sitting next to him, had much the same reaction.
"Nngh. This doesn't even compare to that garbage we eat in the lab! This is incredible. This is the best thing I've eaten in the last year."
"That good?"
"Cheol-woo, eat already! It's seriously the best."
I picked up my chopsticks and put a perfectly grilled galbi rib in my mouth.
Oh...
It was genuinely delicious. It wasn't as if I'd never had Hanwoo before — but this was on a completely different level.
A step below Cheonghak, but this place is solid.
I should bring Mom here sometime soon, I thought. If anything, she'd probably feel more at ease here than at Cheonghak.
"It's good. Definitely worth the price."
I set my chopsticks down for a moment and poured each of them a drink. Se-hyeon poured one for me in return.
"Alright — shall we toast?"
Hee-yeon stuffed more beef into her mouth and raised her glass.
"Mm-mph. Yeah. Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
It was a slightly undignified toast for a place this fancy — but it was my first drink with friends in a hundred years, and I was in an excellent mood. This was why I'd wanted to come back to Korea so badly, wasn't it? These small, ordinary happinesses.
The meal wound on, and by the time everyone was a little drunk, Se-hyeon slung an arm around my shoulder.
"Cheol-woo. After this — PC bang? It's been forever!"
I answered around a mouthful of beef.
"Nah. It's late. Next time."
"Come on, let's go! Without you around, I've been playing Legend of Valhalla by myself every night."
Legend of Valhalla...
It had been a long time since I'd heard that name. Legend of Valhalla. A globally dominant AOS game, with a player base in the hundreds of millions. And a hundred years ago, before the accident, I'd played it like a total shut-in. Of course, playing a lot and being good at it were two different things. I'd had no talent for the game — I'd been stuck in Bronze, the bottom tier, the entire time. Se-hyeon had been right there with me.
Hee-yeon, who'd been listening, cut in.
"Se-hyeon. You played that much and you're still Bronze? You should just quit."
The sudden roast turned Se-hyeon's face red, and he started scrambling for an excuse.
"No, that's not it at all! I just have terrible team luck. Give me decent teammates and I'd hit Gold no problem!"
"Speaking as a former Master, neither you nor Cheol-woo should be allowed anywhere near Legend of Valhalla."
"Oh, come on. You wanna 1v1 me in mid?"
Hee-yeon snorted at Se-hyeon's sudden challenge, looking thoroughly unimpressed.
"A 1v1? What, you want me to take my hand off the mouse and still beat you?"
Se-hyeon shot back.
"Yeah, actually. You should. That's the only way it'd be a fair fight! Anyway, let's go. We're graduating next year — once that happens, we won't even have time."
I shoved the clinging Se-hyeon off me.
"Forget it. Next time. Tonight's drinks are enough."
Se-hyeon let out a sigh, giving up.
"Aigoo, fine. Whatever."
Then a notification chimed from somewhere.
"Huh?"
The chime had come from Se-hyeon's phone. He pulled it out. On the screen was a match-end notification for the Legend of Valhalla team he rooted for. The result:
"No way — they lost AGAIN?!"
Se-hyeon's eyes, which had been half-glazed a second ago, snapped into focus. Judging by the reaction, his team had lost again.
"What, they lost again?"
"I— hang on..."
Se-hyeon pulled up the highlight clip on his phone. And then—
"Ah, what are you DOING!! Rake!! I swear, I'm gonna lose it!"
Hee-yeon, watching him, chimed in.
"Rake's form has been garbage lately."
Se-hyeon drained the glass in front of him.
"Aigoo, I can't take this. His form has been in free fall for the past year. It's driving me insane. He says it's because the mouse he used to use got discontinued, but does that even make sense?! Haa... I'm going to lose my mind."
I knew Legend of Valhalla, but I'd never followed the pro league, so I didn't really know the players.
"Hmm... was he actually good?"
Se-hyeon explained, veins standing out on his neck.
"Was Rake good? Are you kidding me? He's a living legend of Legend of Valhalla. He's the reason Samjeong won three championships!"
Hee-yeon, who'd been listening, threw in a jab.
"And also the reason they've been dead last lately."
"Hee-yeon's a KE fan. Don't listen to her."
"......"
The two of them launched into a full-blown Legend of Valhalla debate.
Hearing them talk like this... now I kind of want to play.
I hadn't been planning on it, but now that the conversation had gone this way, I was getting the itch. Besides, we'd almost finished the meat, and the alcohol was hitting nicely. No real reason not to go.
One night won't hurt.
I stood up.
"Let's hit the PC bang."
Se-hyeon's face lit up as he shot to his feet.
"For real?!"
"Yeah. Changed my mind. Hearing you guys talk about it after so long, I want to play. You're coming too, right?"
Hee-yeon heaved a long sigh and stood up.
"Guess I don't have a choice. Someone's got to save these Bronze mortals."
"Okay! That's what I'm talking about! Cheol-woo bought the beef, so the PC bang's on me!"
A pleasant buzz going, I headed for the PC bang.
And that night, we went on a five-game losing streak in Legend of Valhalla. By the time we left the PC bang, we were in the worst mood of our lives, and had no choice but to drag ourselves home.
Samjeong Esports — Match Lost
The coach came up behind him and gave his shoulder a silent pat.
"Haa..."
The voice, close to tears, belonged to none other than Rake — Seo Hyun-woo, mid laner for Samjeong Esports.
On any other day, his teammates would have told him it was okay. Tonight, they stood up without a word. This was the third straight reverse-sweep loss — the kind that shouldn't have been possible. There were plenty of reasons for a loss, but by now, players and fans alike all knew the biggest one: Hyun-woo's collapsing focus.
I'm going to lose my mind...
Hyun-woo slammed his mouse down in frustration.
—BANG!
Then he stood, silently unplugged the mouse, pocketed it, and walked out of the arena.