Baek Ryong-gak's World Crumbles Again
Baek Ryong-gak's world crumbled once again. Contrary to Minji's dramatic complaints, the streamer-exclusive seats weren't actually that hot. For one thing, the gaps between seats were far wider than expected. They were nothing like the packed general audience seats, where stretching your arm even a little would smack into someone. On top of that, the streamer section was wide open on all sides, making the whole area feel much more comfortable. As mentioned, the general seats were so crammed that breathing felt suffocating, so the difference was impossible to miss. In this situation, Minji lounging in the streamer seats, munching on snacks and grumbling about the heat, was the very picture of someone with a full stomach complaining about the meal.
Of course, Minji might feel wronged. "Hey, why don't you try wearing this helmet? It's seriously boiling in here." Anyone who saw her ridiculous state would nod in agreement—yeah, that probably is pretty hot. And right now, one of those people was here.
"It's hot..."
A man wearing a cap, mask, and a hood pulled deep over his head, looking like a wanted criminal. His small, slender frame had spared him the misfortune of bumping shoulders with people on either side, but sweat still poured down his face from the heat and stuffiness. Most people in the general seats had already taken off their outer layers or rolled up their sleeves to wipe away sweat, so it was fair to say Ias had overdone the heating. You might think he could just remove the cap and mask, but the man never did. Why? Because his appearance itself was a complex for him. His looks were far too pretty for a guy, so every time he went out he got mistaken for a woman—or worse, hit on. The accumulated discomfort made him avoid going outside, and eventually covering his face became a habit. Still, no matter how much he hated it, no one could endure the pain of being boiled alive while still breathing.
As soon as Part 1 ended and a short break began, he headed straight for the restroom. Even then, his resolve to keep his face hidden remained firm, so he naturally wandered toward the streamer-only restroom while looking for an empty spot. Just then, a woman entered his view. She was leaning against the wall with a full-face helmet on, staring blankly into space. He couldn't understand why anyone would wear a helmet indoors, but since Yongho himself was sweating buckets under a cap, mask, and hood, he was in no position to judge.
Anyway, Yongho instantly recognized her. Huh? Isn't that Seongna? What's she doing here? Yongho had been at the showcase too, so he'd seen Seongna demanding a proper balance patch. More than anything, Minji herself probably didn't realize it, but her popularity among the general audience was pretty high. A woman in a full-face helmet sitting right in the streamer seats closest to the stage was bound to draw attention. Especially if that woman had a great figure and was wearing an outfit that emphasized certain parts—because Minji had ditched her outer clothes.
When he realized it was Seongna, even Yongho, who considered her a friend, was a little surprised. That aside—why was she here? It was a stupid question. Why else would someone come to the restroom? Obviously to take care of business. Hard to believe, but Minji was still human. Even if she acted like she wasn't most of the time, she still had to handle basic bodily functions. The real question wasn't "why here?" but "why her?" Why did it have to be this woman?
Right now, Yongho had taken off his mask and cap. There weren't many people around—the area was restricted—and wearing them had started feeling gross, so he'd finally given in. This was technically his first face-to-face meeting with Seongna, whom he considered a friend, but he couldn't exactly greet her with a cheerful "Hey, buddy, good to see you." Knowing her personality, the moment she saw his face she'd definitely tease him with something like "Are you a guy or a girl?" So while meeting online was fine, he wanted to avoid showing his bare face like this. He was about to head into the restroom when—
—Hey, wait a second!
Seongna suddenly called out to him.
"Y-yes? M-me?"
Yongho jumped like a cat that had seen a cucumber. He was that flustered. Did she recognize me? No way. A chill ran down his neck for a moment, but his worry turned out to be unfounded. Instead, a completely different problem appeared.
—That's the men's restroom. You went in the wrong one.
Yongho's deepest complex was being mistaken for a woman. And the person he could almost call his only friend had just poked right at it. For a second, anger surged up, but he forced it down. Well, honestly, it wasn't really their fault for misunderstanding. If anyone was to blame, it was whatever god had made him look like this. Of course, Yongho could forgive the misunderstanding itself, but correcting it was never easy. Even if he said "I'm a guy, though," nine out of ten people would just go "Huh?" And the one who didn't would usually say something like "Oh, um… sorry," while treating him like he'd been to Thailand—despite the fact that Yongho had never left the country.
"I'm a guy, though…"
—What?
This time wasn't any different. Even though her face was completely hidden by the helmet, he could almost see her expression. Right now it looked like three giant question marks were floating above her head. Poor Yongho—explaining things to Minji alone was already exhausting, and now—
"What's going on?"
Suha suddenly burst out of the women's restroom and joined in, making Yongho's situation even more awkward. The two of them started whispering. "What? What's wrong?" "Oh, he was trying to go into the men's restroom…" "Huh?" Yongho felt like crying. He should've just stayed home. Or at least kept the mask on a little longer, even if it was hot. Then someone suddenly tilted their head and stared at him.
"…Baek Ryong-gak?"
Suha had recognized him from the cap, mask, and outfit. Baek Ryong-gak had shown up at offline events like the PVP tournament finals before, and that signature "criminal look" was a trademark no veteran player could miss.
"…Haa, hello, Suha."
Since he'd already been caught, Yongho revealed his identity without hesitation. Then, from beside Suha—
"Huh?" came a dumb sound, followed by, "Ryong-gak? Wait, no—more importantly, Ryong-gak, were you actually a girl?"
"I'm a guy!!!"
Seongna's first meeting with him had gone terribly.
Minji was surprised. No, she was very, extremely surprised. My friend is a trans guy? And my one and only friend—well, former one-and-only, since Suha was here now—had gone to Thailand? This was—
"Have you ever tried makeup?"
—the ultimate teasing material!
"Agh, seriously!"
Of course, Minji didn't just blurt things out without thinking. The most important thing when trolling was knowing the right time, place, and degree. If anyone heard this philosophy, they might ask whether the crazy girl had ever actually controlled herself. Minji would answer without a shred of shame that she had, so it was a pointless question anyway.
"Kihihit, okay, I'll stop teasing."
Anyway, meeting by chance was its own kind of fate. Minji, Suha, and Yongho found a spot in the hallway and started chatting.
"W-what? Why are you standing so close?"
"How tall are you?"
"Geez, cut it out."
"Aight, aight, I'll stop."
Of course, "chatting" only applied from Minji's perspective. Yongho was being teased so thoroughly that he was seriously wondering what crime he'd committed. Still, it wasn't like he felt that bad—his mood slammed on the brakes right before it could turn sour, making it hard to actually get angry. Not that Yongho was the type to just take it lying down.
"Hic… hic…"
"Hey, wait. Are you crying? Sorry, I—"
"Hwaaaaaah, why are you doing this to meeee!"
"I-I really am sorry… Hey, hold on."
Despite what Yongho was saying, the corners of his mouth were curved upward, so he clearly wasn't actually crying. And more than that, those lines sounded awfully familiar.
"Pfft."
Realizing who he was imitating, Suha's dimples appeared as she chuckled.
"Suha?"
Minji shot her a resentful look, but her own karma wasn't going anywhere. With the unexpected reinforcement, Yongho's acting went into overdrive.
"Hwaaaaaaaaah!!!"
"Hey, you—stop, stop it already?!"
He was wailing like he'd lost his country. It was a perfect impression. Minji would deny it, of course.
"It's not the same at all! And back then I wasn't in my right mind—"
"Yong-gak, your impressions are really good. The details are spot-on."
"Thank you."
Grind. They had only just met today, so why did they sync up so well? And Suha was supposed to be on my side. Minji sulked even though she'd started the teasing herself.
"Ah, look at the time. I should head back."
The start of Part 2 was in twenty minutes, so roughly five minutes remained. There was travel time, and since Yongho was in the general seats, he needed to hurry or he'd be late.
"Yeah, I should go too. It was nice meeting you, Suha. And, um… Seongna too."
The meeting had been so sudden that Yongho's greeting came out a little awkward. Minji replied,
"Yeah, next time you see your big sis, make sure to say hi."
"I'm seriously going to kill you."
"Hehe, just kidding, kidding…"
Yongho slowly shook his head, barely managing to hide his rotting expression behind the mask and cap. This was exactly why he'd wanted to keep his face hidden from this woman. Of all places, they had to run into each other here. Then a thought struck him—this was kind of unfair, wasn't it?
"Hey, Seongna."
"Yeah?"
"We just met for the first time and all… can't you show me your face at least once?"
Yongho had only revealed his face because of the unavoidable heat. Normally he kept it hidden because of his complex. He'd shown his bare face, yet Minji was still wearing that helmet. It felt strangely unfair. Plus, with the helmet covering everything, he was curious what she actually looked like.
"My face?"
"Yeah, ah—don't worry if it's a burden. I'm not trying to pressure you or anything."
He had no intention of making some childish claim like "I showed you mine, so you show me yours." Maybe Minji had a complex about her face too, just like him.
"Doesn't really matter. Wait a sec… hup."
Before he could say anything else, Minji casually took off her helmet. And when he saw—
"Uh, um…"
Yongho's mouth fell open, his eyes wide. Minji pulled all sorts of stunts, but there was one thing that didn't get much attention. Since she always hid her face, it wasn't well known except to Suha. That fact was—
"What are you staring at?"
Minji's appearance was extremely dangerous to men. Baek Ryong-gak's world crumbled once again.