While Hamin went on a spending spree and rented out the entire PC café, Sihyeon pulled out a chair and sat down, staring at the computer with unfamiliar eyes. He had come to places like this before to do research, but this was his first time coming to play games.
“Then what have you guys even been doing all this time?”
At Haru saying it was his first time at a PC café, and Sihyeon saying it was his first time playing games there, Hamin reacted in shock and asked. Since it was a difficult question for both him and Haru to answer, Sihyeon shifted the topic by asking to be taught how to play. Haeun immediately stepped up, volunteering himself as their game teacher.
Given how famous they were, Sihyeon had expected games like Overwatch or League of Legends, which even he had heard of despite not playing much. Instead, the Four Heavenly Kings launched a horror game involving a killer and survivors.
“This only allows five players max. What about the last one?”
“I’ll teach Sihyeon and Haru hyung, so if I sit out, that makes five.”
“True.”
Hamin responded casually as he put on his headset. Following suit, Sihyeon put on his headset and looked at Haeun, who enthusiastically began explaining the game rules. Stripping away the unnecessary extras, it was essentially a game where survivors powered generators and escaped while avoiding a killer who hooked them to kill them. Sihyeon nodded along as he listened to the controls.
“Kang Sihyeon’s gonna cry today.”
Hamin’s voice suddenly cut in, stirring Sihyeon’s dormant competitive spirit. A smirk tugged at Hamin’s lips as he gave a classic web novel male lead smile—thoroughly irritating.
“You won’t know until you try.”
“Well, well.”
Annoyed by the dismissive attitude, Sihyeon frowned and gestured to Haeun, who was still hovering beside him.
“That’s enough. Go help Haru hyung.”
“Huh? You don’t need me?”
“You explained everything already. I’ll figure it out after a few rounds.”
“Hmm… okay!”
Haeun nodded brightly and moved over to Haru instead. After playing about three practice rounds, Sihyeon finally got the hang of it. Feeling like he could get used to it with a few more tries, he flexed his fingers over the keyboard—when Hamin suddenly suggested a bet on kills for dinner.
Despite the sudden proposal, Seowoo and Geonwoo accepted without hesitation. Swept up in the mood, Sihyeon nodded as well and turned up the game volume, encouraged by Haeun cheering him on.
“Dinner’s on Ban Haru or Kang Sihyeon.”
The way Hamin spoke made it sound like their loss was already decided. Sihyeon swallowed, listening as Hamin generously offered to play without perks (skills) for his sake, since Sihyeon had just made his account.
Even if he’d only played a few rounds, he understood the rules. And they’d even agreed to use the same map from the practice rounds to accommodate him and Haru.
So even if he couldn’t win, Sihyeon at least wanted to see Lee Hamin’s face crumple in frustration. With that thought, he stared at the loading screen.
The game began with a grand sound. In the first match, with Geonwoo as the killer, Sihyeon’s character moved.
Hamin hadn’t been lying about being good—he drew aggro the entire time, allowing all five generators to be completed. Thanks to that, everyone except Hamin escaped within seven minutes.
However, starting from the second round, with Seowoo as the killer, things didn’t go as smoothly. Seowoo, the best among them, relentlessly targeted Hamin, hooking him and camping him until he died.
In the end, the remaining three struggled, and only Haru managed to escape by chance. The third round was Sihyeon’s turn as the killer.
He had hoped for a comeback, but there was no beating experienced players. Sihyeon managed only one kill—finding Geonwoo hiding in a cabinet. As a bonus, he was praised for his excellent sound play.
And then—
When Haru played as the killer in the fourth round, it was nothing short of a massacre. Following Haeun’s insistence that instant execution wasn’t a skill, Haru equipped an instant execution item and quickly killed three out of the four survivors.
Sihyeon had thought he was somewhat talented at games, but after seeing Haru’s first killer play, he had no choice but to shut his mouth.
Just like how class determined talent—Haru’s Assassin class seemed to carry over into the game as well.
With Geonwoo at 1 kill, Seowoo at 3, Sihyeon at 1, and Haru at 4, the final killer was Hamin. As the new round began, Sihyeon unconsciously rolled his neck and placed his hands on the keyboard. In previous rounds, he hadn’t minded losing—but this time was different.
No matter what, he was going to see Hamin’s face crumble.
With that resolve, Sihyeon stared intently at the screen. The game began again with the now-familiar background music. His character crouched and moved.
***
Bang!
“Whoa, he did it again?”
For the third time. When a survivor was first hooked, there was a mere 4% chance to escape on their own—and Sihyeon had succeeded three times in a row. Hamin slammed his keyboard, going full “keyboard smash,” cursing about whether this was even a real game. With that as background noise, Sihyeon escaped through the emergency exit right in front of him—and even won the two extra rounds Hamin stubbornly insisted on playing. Then he took off his headset.
1 kill. 0 kills, 0 kills.
Total: 1 kill.
Even after two more rounds, Hamin’s kill count hadn’t changed.
Luck had played a bigger role than skill—but what could he do? Luck was a kind of skill too.
“What are you gonna do, Lee Hamin? You’re spending a lot of money today.”
You might cry.
In the first round, Seowoo and Geonwoo had helped. In the second, Haru found a key and opened the closed emergency exit so everyone could escape. In the third, just as everyone escaped, the emergency exit opened right in front of Sihyeon as he freed himself from the hook.
On top of that, every single mind game had gone in Sihyeon’s favor. Having beaten Hamin through nothing but mind games and luck, Sihyeon looked at him as he fumed.
“I won.”
“Again.”
“Are you that upset about losing?”
“When your escape rate feels like 400% instead of 4%, how could I not be?”
At this point, Hamin gritted his teeth, saying Sihyeon’s class might as well be Luck. Sihyeon shrugged and stood up. With Hamin losing three rounds in a row and the sun already setting, it was about time to leave and get dinner before it got dark.
“Let’s go. We’ve got a loser from the bet.”
“Yes! Free food!”
“You say that like you don’t always get treated.”
Grumbling, Hamin stood up, and the others followed. Haru lingered, staring at the monitor as it powered down. Noticing this, Sihyeon walked over and lightly tugged his sleeve. Red eyes turned toward him.
“How was it? Fun enough?”
“…Yeah.”
“That’s good. You were kind of scary when you played killer, though.”
Maybe because of his Assassin class, Haru’s killer gameplay suited him perfectly. Watching him hook people and execute them with an expressionless face—it would be a lie to say it wasn’t chilling.
Sihyeon casually reached out to pat Haru’s head, then paused. It felt like he should stop doing things like this, so he slowly withdrew his hand, only for Haru to grab it.
“Haru hyung?”
“Ah…”
As if he hadn’t realized what he’d done, Haru let out a small sound. Still, he didn’t let go, just looking at Sihyeon—like a large dog.
The one who gave in was Sihyeon.
Defeated by that gaze, he patted Haru’s head again. Haru blinked slowly, then guided Sihyeon’s hand downward. For a brief moment, Sihyeon thought his fingertips brushed against Haru’s cheek—and he flinched slightly.
After leaving the PC café, they chatted while eating the dinner Hamin treated them to. By the time they finished, the sun had nearly set. Excited from the outing, Haeun suggested they go sing at a karaoke room next, but they barely managed to stop him. When they returned to the dorm, Room 207 was soon filled with four languid boys sprawled across their beds.
They had gone out before fully recovering from the fatigue of the Monthly Evaluation. What was supposed to be a quick trip for clothes had turned into something far more eventful, leaving them even more drained.
Sihyeon lay on his bed, too tired to move a finger. After ten minutes passed and no one got up, he forced himself to sit up.
Someone had to start.
“I’ll shower first.”
“Want to shower together?”
“…….”
“Your eyes are scary, Sihyeon.”
Sihyeon stared coldly at Haeun’s ridiculous comment, then silently grabbed a towel and clothes.
After showering, he dried his hair and collapsed onto the bed again. Then, after pushing the remaining people toward the bathroom, he pulled up his blanket and lay down. Fatigue hit him all at once. Sleep crept over him. As he wondered whether it had been a pretty decent day, he quickly drifted off.
***
Having already gone through a Monthly Evaluation and spent the weekend having fun, the routine that began again on Monday felt unusually calm. Wearing a now-familiar uniform, attending familiar classes, and going through familiar training—there was nothing particularly special.
Except for one odd incident—Geonwoo, a Tanker, had come to him asking to be taught healing. Since their classes were fundamentally different, Sihyeon naturally refused.
And just like that, a week passed.
The only real progress he’d made was improving his proficiency enough to use one more mana recovery skill.
During lunch, using an upset stomach as an excuse, Sihyeon rested his head on his desk. Turning his head to the side, he watched clouds drifting across the sky. As he stared blankly, someone approached and gently tucked his hair behind his ear. Even without looking, he could tell who it was from the delicate touch.
“Aren’t you eating?”
“No appetite.”
The casual reply carried a hint of laughter. At that, Sihyeon rolled his eyes and spoke—half teasing, half curious.
“You smile every time you see me.”
“Do I?”
“Yeah.”
From the beginning until now—always smiling. Of course, Seowoo was generally someone who smiled often, but whenever their eyes met, that smile deepened noticeably. And Seowoo didn’t deny it.
“Maybe I just feel good when I see you.”
“…….”
He said something ticklish so casually. Unsure how to respond, Sihyeon stayed silent. Seeing that, Seowoo let out another soft laugh. The gentle sound brushed against his ears. It was an oddly comfortable, yet slightly unsettling silence.
Sihyeon slowly closed his eyes, unsure whether he had simply grown used to this silence—or to Yoo Seowoo himself. Judging by how he no longer brushed away the hand tousling his hair, it was probably both.
The calm silence broke halfway through lunch, when the minute hand pointed to the eight.
“We have midterms in two weeks!”
Bang—the door burst open as Haeun shouted. Startled, Sihyeon shot upright from his desk.
“What?”
Frowning, he watched as Haeun went over to the calendar and circled the 22nd. Beneath the number, he wrote Midterms in red colored pencil. Sihyeon stared at the red letters.
They had just finished the Monthly Evaluation last week—and now another exam.
He had been thinking things had been uneventful lately. But that didn’t mean he wanted exams to come.
