Chapter 40
“Ah, damn… I guess I kept playing for this.”
After sleeping stressed because the team project wasn’t going as well as expected, Ji-won’s mood immediately improved when he saw the picture he received from Kwon-ju yesterday upon opening his eyes. Honestly, though the amount was quite large, he had no regrets.
They had agreed to have another video conference this evening, but just thinking about it made him feel drained, so he needed to recharge a lot of energy before then. I should get some sugar for a change. After making this decision, he was reminded of the junior who had been a big help in getting the Silver Wolf, so he immediately sent a KakaoTalk message.
[Want to eat waffles on the way?]
[Waffles?]
Oops. He had promised to buy something delicious as thanks for helping with the auction, so suddenly suggesting waffles might make it seem like this was the reward. Imagining a somewhat sullen face, Ji-won quickly corrected himself.
[I’m not trying to settle the debt with this kkkk]
[I just want to eat some]
[Come with me]
He wasn’t the kind of stingy senior who would consider a waffle worth a few thousand won as payment for someone who had taken the time to help him with something he almost couldn’t do. Kwon-ju didn’t seem to eat properly anyway. Though he didn’t know all of his food preferences, from his experience so far, he was certain Kwon-ju liked sweet things.
[Yes]
[I’ll finish earlier, so I’ll wait in front of your classroom]
Ji-won entered the classroom in good spirits but left completely exhausted, slowly making his way to the building where Kwon-ju would be. I’ll still have to wait about 30 minutes. Trying to check the guild Discord he hadn’t seen last night while walking, he found hundreds of messages had accumulated.
Wondering why there had been so much conversation, it seemed the guild members had provided a real-time broadcast for Watermelon Doctor, who couldn’t watch the auction live because he was out yesterday.
[Watermelon Doctor: But is Guild Master not looking at Discord right now?]
[Ppojjo: He seems to be concentrating]
[Watermelon Doctor: ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I guess so, though I’m more nervous]
[Shuimnida: We’re just staying quietㅠ,,]
I couldn’t see it because I was in the team project… Kwon-ju wasn’t even in the guild’s free chat room, so it was natural he didn’t know.
[Watermelon Doctor: Sigh, I want to see tooㅠ It must be super fun..]
[Ddaji: Yeah yeah super fun]
[Ddaji: It’s up to 1.6 million gold now kkkk]
As Ji-won scrolled down roughly, absorbing the tense situation from back then through text, he felt something odd the further he scrolled. Cheong Ji-in raised it to 2 million gold? But I only had 1.88 million gold?
[Ddaji: Guild Master is seriously awesome]
[Ddaji: Taking a loan from storage kkkkkkkkkk]
What was this about? That amount was after scraping together all the money in storage. Unless Kwon-ju took off all the equipment his character was wearing and sold them in real-time, there was no way to exceed 2 million gold. The 1.88 million gold was made after selling just about everything that could be sold.
[Ddaji: Finally won the bid at 2.5 million kkkkkkkkkkkk]
[Ppojjo: 2.5 million gold..]
[Ppojjo: How many concerts is that? kkkkkkㅠㅠ]
Ji-won was speechless after confirming the final winning bid. Bought this mount for 2.5 million? That was enough money for an average user to complete a full set of equipment. Even waiting with 1.88 million gold prepared, he had found it ridiculous that he was using this much for just one mount.
Unable to believe it, he quickly checked the comments on his most recent video on his YouTube channel. Sure enough, the same story was written there too.
Gigi
I didn’t know you were the type to flex like this
Looks like everyone came after seeing the auction kkkkkkkkkkkkk
Upload a video of the mount
Forcibly accepting the unbelievable fact, he found himself in front of the classroom. As Ji-won stood slanted at the door looking at the ground, the back door opened earlier than the time he’d seen on the schedule, suggesting the lecture had ended faster than expected.
“Oh, it’s Ji-won hyung.”
Gi-yeong, who had somehow become something like a friend after Ji-won introduced them at the MT, spoke as he was leaving. At the voice muttering as if surprised, Kwon-ju softened his face, which had been tired from three consecutive hours of lectures, while Gi-yeong, who had stepped out of the classroom first, greeted them politely.
“Hyung, hello.”
“Hi.”
Though he clearly returned the greeting kindly, his hand was pointed at Gi-yeong but his gaze was somehow directed at the handsome guy behind him. Noticing the somewhat serious expression, his classmate glanced around carefully. Did he come to have a big fight with Jang Kwon-ju?
“I’ll go ahead.”
“Okay, see you.”
After slipping away and waving his hand vaguely in the air, Gi-yeong disappeared in an instant. Kwon-ju, who had done his best to return the greeting while Ji-won was watching, quickly turned around.
“Let’s go, hyung.”
“Yeah. But come here for a second.”
“Huh? Okay.”
As if he had something to say, Ji-won pointed to the end of the corridor with a somewhat serious face and started walking first. Does he have some concern? Kwon-ju, who had become serious along with him, followed meekly and stood obediently right behind where Ji-won had stopped.
“Is something wrong?”
“Here… look.”
Ji-won suddenly thrust his phone in front of Kwon-ju. It contained the mount picture that Kwon-ju had taken and sent yesterday. Finally understanding the situation, Kwon-ju closed his mouth, which had been open, by pressing his upper and lower lips together.
“I heard you bought it for 2.5 million gold.”
“…”
The truth was revealed faster than expected. Ji-won, who briefly glanced at his frozen junior, pressed his index and middle fingers against the bridge of his nose and continued.
“Did you sell my items?”
“No!”
“Then it must be your money. Right?”
It is, but… Seeing his colder tone than usual, it was clear he was 100 percent angry.
Usually, Kwon-ju didn’t get involved in other people’s business, so there weren’t really any troublesome situations, but he was definitely not the type to yield first. He would either ignore it or argue back. However, whenever he stood in front of Ji-won, he became not only rigid but stupid. He couldn’t speak properly, his mind wouldn’t work. It was always terrible in many ways, and the current situation was no exception.
“How could you spend money like this? Buying something for me.”
“I, suddenly felt like it was my own item. I’m sorry.”
What do you mean felt like it was your own? He simply couldn’t stand seeing someone who disliked Ji-won boasting about taking it, but Kwon-ju desperately made excuses, knowing that saying so would make things even stranger. But even he could feel that this was a nonsensical story.
Though he didn’t know much due to his limited social circle, it was rare for a junior to contribute money when a close senior was buying a game item, and even if it happened, it was more likely to be extortion. No matter how much money one had, doing something unasked for was strange. Saying it wasn’t a large amount here might sound like boasting and make things worse.
“Doing this without even telling me…”
It wasn’t familiar to receive something from others without payment, let alone forcibly receiving 620,000 gold from a junior. Though Kwon-ju kept saying he didn’t need to pay it back, Ji-won didn’t feel comfortable.
But he couldn’t keep scolding a junior who was begging in front of him. Seeing the head that looked like it was about to touch the floor, he even felt sorry for scolding him.
“Just impulsively.”
But seeing Kwon-ju hastily making incoherent excuses, any thought of saying more disappeared. His cluelessness was also cute. Although he had grown so tall that he far surpassed Ji-won, to Ji-won, Kwon-ju was still a small, pretty, shy junior.
He could slowly pay back the gold as they continued playing together. Besides, looking at the actual mount, he thought he would have regretted it for years if he hadn’t caught it. After organizing his thoughts, Ji-won realized there wasn’t really a reason to be angry, so he made a decision. It would be better to go run a dungeon than talk about this.
“I’ll slowly fill in the gold for you, so wait.”
“No, you don’t need to, hyung. I did it on my own.”
“I’m going to run a dungeon.”
…He seems angry. Ji-won wasn’t angry at all, but Kwon-ju lacked the ability to distinguish between jokes and sincerity. Should I grab him? Should I apologize? While Kwon-ju was preparing to apologize as if he had committed a serious crime when he had merely contributed money to buy a game item, Ji-won suddenly turned around and asked.
“But we should still go eat waffles, right?”
“I’m really sorry, yes?”
“Come quickly.”
And so, Kwon-ju, who had been led to the waffle shop by Ji-won without knowing what was happening, held waffles full of whipped cream in both hands. What just happened? Before he could grasp the situation, the cream was about to fall from the waffle in his right hand, so he quickly lowered his head and took a bite.
“You eat well.”
Seeing him eat so well without saying much despite holding sweet waffles that looked sugary even at a glance, it was clear he really liked sweet things. In this somewhat wrong-looking scene where the card owner was drinking a 3,000 won Americano while the person receiving the treat was enjoying two waffles and iced tea, Kwon-ju shifted his anxious gaze here and there.
“From now on, we’re going to eat delicious things every day.”
“Yes… What?”
The face questioning as if not understanding was incredibly innocent. He’s really like a celebrity. Ji-won thought while feeling like he was watching TV every day. It seems there’s some fun in feeding him.
“But you’re forbidden from taking out your card.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
