#050
Shin Gihyeon and Lee Yeonwoo were playing “Crazy Arcade” in 2P mode, having 2v2 team battles late into the night.
Since Shin Gihyeon had devoted his entire life to acting, the last time he played games was when he was very young. Having no talent for games, Shin Gihyeon was the first to die, leaving Yeonwoo to face two opponents alone.
Fortunately, one of them died from self-destruction, making it a 1v1 match. Yeonwoo seemed to have some skill from playing before – his water bomb skin was very fancy and his hand movements on the keyboard were smooth.
He seemed to have some strategy as he went into a corner with the opposing team, placed a water bomb, and got trapped together.
“No! If you put a bomb there…!”
At Shin Gihyeon’s urgent cry that they would both die, Yeonwoo calmly used the shield item he had been saving and said.
“He doesn’t have a shield now. I saw him use it earlier.”
An evil smile played around his lips.
“…He has a needle though.”
Along with Shin Gihyeon’s deflated words, Yeonwoo, who hadn’t anticipated the needle, shouted in frustration.
“What’s with that judgment! When we were trapped by the water bomb, I was positioned first! But the needle gets used first? Does that make sense?”
He was completely serious about the game without a hint of playfulness.
“He must have rapid-fired.”
“No, this is a bug. Definitely. I need to contact the developers.”
“Focus on the game for now. We need to win.”
Yeonwoo frowned deeply and desperately tried to win somehow. However, his opponent was also a formidable expert, so it was neck and neck.
Since the opponent had used both shield and needles, Yeonwoo, who still had needles left, was in a very advantageous position, but the shock from earlier caused him to get flustered once, and he began to become increasingly disadvantaged.
[LOSE!]
“Damn, I installed a pillar for this game company, and this is how they repay me?”
“You spent money here too? No wonder the character was pretty.”
Shin Gihyeon, who had lived estranged from games, found such a Yeonwoo fascinating.
〉〉Zi존킹왕: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ so fucking bad ㅋㅋ
“What’s that? Do you normally get cursed at like that when you lose?”
“No, obviously that guy’s an elementary schooler. Just ignore him.”
〉〉Zi존킹왕: One more game?
〉〉bees러버, amazingH: Just go away, kid.
〉〉Zi존킹왕: I’m not a kid ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ scared? scared?
“Ugh, that little…”
Seeing the chat, Yeonwoo got furious and frantically typed.
〉〉bees러버, amazingH: ㅋ Acting all high and mighty after getting blessed by a bug once.
〉〉Zi존킹왕: Yep~ that’s my skill?
Shin Gihyeon looked at Yeonwoo, who was enthusiastically engaging in a keyboard war with a stranger beyond the computer, with pitying eyes.
Both the opponent trying to provoke him and Yeonwoo falling for it looked like elementary school age.
“Hey, don’t talk using my name.”
“It’s 2P so the names appear together. How can I help that? And no one knows it’s you anyway.”
“Celebrities need to be careful with everything they do.”
At those words, Yeonwoo pouted and stopped his typing fingers.
Living life, you might fight with internet strangers once in a while, but celebrities had too many restrictions even in their daily lives.
Was life enjoyable living like that? Of course, a lot of money would come in, but he felt like he could never live like that even if he died.
The sentence ‘whatever you do can be shown to others’ felt somewhat creepy.
He shouldn’t have made his nickname so obvious in the first place. Yeonwoo grumbled quietly but left the game room for his sake and looked for another room.
‘Not this room either, and that room’s map is boring. Should I try 8-player instead?’
“…Hey, didn’t you hear some sound just now?”
Shin Gihyeon pointed at the dark window outside and asked eerily. Yeonwoo also felt a chill on the back of his neck for no reason.
“Don’t scare me. Are you doing this because you watched episode 7?”
It was the episode where they did a horror test on “Rural Conquest.”
“No, it’s not that, really…”
Shin Gihyeon got up from where he was sitting and approached the window. He slightly drew back the curtain and peered outside with just his eyes poking out.
Even the one streetlight that existed seemed broken, making everything pitch black so nothing was visible.
Yeonwoo shivered and expressed his dislike at his attitude. He even pulled his body over and made him sit back in front of the computer. His attitude felt somewhat desperate.
“Just play the game. There’s no sound.”
“Right.”
While not completely dropping his suspicion, he also wondered if he had overreacted, so he sat back down as Yeonwoo said and started the game.
[LOSE!]
This time it was Yeonwoo.
“…Didn’t you hear a hissing sound just now?”
“Making excuses because you lost. Just press ready quickly. Let’s start the game.”
“No no, really. Come here.”
“I must have misheard earlier. Who would be here at this dawn?”
Scared, he grabbed onto Shin Gihyeon’s clothes and crept toward the window. Once again, he gently pulled back the curtain and looked outside.
As expected, nothing was visible.
He swallowed his saliva and stared outside for a while, when once again a faint hissing sound was heard. Now Shin Gihyeon could clearly hear it too.
Feeling chilled, Yeonwoo quickly stopped the game and started preparing to go out.
“What are you doing?”
“I need to go check.”
“Let’s just stay still with the door locked. …You did lock the door, right?”
“Yeah, I’ve been locking it lately.”
Shin Gihyeon, who was quite fearful but perhaps curious, kept holding back Yeonwoo who was trying to go outside.
“It’s probably just a village elder.”
“Our elders don’t walk around at night.”
“…Then we should stay inside even more.”
“That’s why I need to go check.”
He got angry at Yeonwoo who was trying to go out with his keys despite the potentially dangerous situation. At the same time, he minimized his voice volume in case someone was outside.
“What does it matter who’s outside, are you that curious? It could just be a sound you misheard? If you’re really curious, you can check tomorrow morning!”
“What if someone’s there?”
“That’s why tomorrow morning…”
“We’re two adult men, but just thinking about Grandma Kyeong-i next door living alone. With outsiders increasing too, what if robbers broke in?”
At those words, Shin Gihyeon shut his mouth tight. Intoxicated by the fear before his eyes, he hadn’t considered others’ safety.
“I’ll go and come back, so make sure to lock the door. Call if anything happens.”
Yeonwoo turned on his phone that had been off and reminded him. As he was about to leave the room, Shin Gihyeon said quietly.
“…Let’s go together.”
“Huh?”
“Two people are better than one.”
Yeonwoo suppressed the goosebumps rising on the back of his neck and looked around.
“…No one’s here, right?”
Shin Gihyeon often walked around at night, but that was limited to the city. Country nights were different. The quiet silence without a single point of light wrapped around them chillingly.
Even though it was a hot, humid summer day, a cool chill circulated at night.
“Yeah, no one’s here. We’ve confirmed it, so let’s go inside now.”
He urged Yeonwoo and led him toward the house. But he didn’t budge.
“Let’s just check the house next door.”
He was fearful but acted brave at times like this. Was it that he was scared of ghosts but not people? He took big strides.
He tried to open the front door, but whether it was locked, the handle wouldn’t turn as if the latch was caught.
“She must be sleeping.”
Yeonwoo immediately picked up his phone. There was one missed call from Kang Dojun, but since it was dawn and he was feeling urgent, he skipped it for now and called Grandma Kyeong-i.
“Do you hear the ringing?”
He perked up his ears and asked Shin Gihyeon.
“Grandma has bad hearing so she always turns it up loud.”
“I can’t hear it.”
It was so quiet that when the two weren’t talking, even the beep-beep dial tone from Yeonwoo’s phone could be heard clearly.
In contrast, Grandma Kyeong-i’s house was completely silent. For her to be sleeping, no bell sound could be heard either, which made him feel eerily chilled.
Just as Yeonwoo was about to knock on the door,
Oh my, what time is it for you to be calling!?
“…Grandma Suni? What about Grandma Kyeong-i?”
What, Kyeong-i is sleeping at our house tonight?
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, he had heard earlier that she was going to Grandma Suni’s house for dinner. That plan must have included sleeping over too.
You little scatterbrain. Coming back after so long and calling at dawn, what’s the meaning of this? There are things to be confused about separately. What, is there a time difference between Seoul and here?
“I’m sorry, please continue sleeping.”
After waking me all up, you think I can fall back asleep?
At Grandma Suni’s scolding, Yeonwoo repeatedly apologized and barely ended the call.
Shin Gihyeon, whose anxiety was relieved by the conversation content, made a deflated sound.
“So there was nothing.”
“Right. I was sure there was something…”
“You probably felt that way because you were sensitive. Let’s go inside quickly.”
“Yeah.”
Even while entering the house, Yeonwoo seemed to have lingering regrets as he kept glancing back. In the end, without discovering anything, they resumed their game.
[WIN!]
“Wow, we won! But didn’t you get hit by a water bomb just now? Why didn’t you die?”
“It’s called edge-walking. See this grid? If you stand ambiguously on the boundary line between grids, it doesn’t register as a hit. This is an expert technique that I’m only telling you.”
“…I want to try that too.”
The voices of Shin Gihyeon, who had become serious about the game, and Yeonwoo, who was excited to teach techniques, noisily filled the room.
Hiss-.
* * *
“Ah, I’m dying.”
Yeonwoo got dressed with sunken eyes. After playing games all night, Shin Gihyeon was currently fast asleep.
Normally, even after staying up all night occasionally, he would have easily gone to the apiary, but perhaps because there was a comparison group, seeing Shin Gihyeon sleeping peacefully made him desperately want his body to become one with the floor.
Just then, the phone rang.
‘Is it hyung?’
His expectations were brief as Yeonwoo checked the caller and answered the phone grumpily. It was a video call, so the screen showed Cheolsu and Choi Seongwoo playing at the apiary.
“What’s going on from this morning?”
Yeon, are you coming now? There are 3 hornets caught in the traps here! Did you set them up yesterday when you left?
“Yeah, are the kids doing well?”
We’re doing well.
“Not you guys, our bee kids.”
Cheolsu scratched his cheek sheepishly. Then Choi Seongwoo’s face suddenly thrust into the screen.
They’re doing well! There’s no threat from hornets, and I can catch them as soon as they come!
“Are you guys going to keep staying there?”
Yeon, there’s too little to do in the countryside. Can’t we just stay here? We’ll catch hornets for you.
Yeonwoo’s ears perked up. The two had created a justification for him not to go.
“Would you do that?”
Really? Is that okay?
“Of course. Then I’ll come a little later. Keep catching hornets well.”
Yeah, we’ll completely wipe them out!
After warning them to make sure to wear gloves when touching anything, Yeonwoo ended the call and hummed with joy.
Then he immediately lay down on the living room floor. Embracing the drowsiness and fatigue that poured over him, he fell asleep.
Not knowing about the incident that would come later.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
