[Party] Killer: I have a favor to ask too.
[Party] Chasa: I can’t give you the custom.
[Party] Killer: It’s not that.
[Party] Chasa: Then go ahead and say it.
If it wasn’t about the custom, that made things a lot easier.
Most of the top-tier players in PVP already had their duos. After two days of running the battlefield with barely any sleep and leveraging every thin connection he had, that much was clear.
He needed a skilled DPS. Not just someone who could hover around the top 1% but someone who could climb even higher with him.
At this moment, there was no better option for Chasa than Killer. Even if Killer wanted to treat him like a personal slave, he was more than willing to go along with it.
Sa-yoon waited patiently for the reply, expecting the request to come through. But the chat remained silent for an unusually long time.
In negotiations, it’s always the side with the request that gets anxious. Right now, that was him.
The creeping impatience started to show in his actions. His fingers tapped the mouse several times.
What’s taking so long?
A bad feeling flashed through his mind.
“Don’t tell me someone else is contacting him?”
During the last siege, Killer had publicly crushed Noize, proving his strength. That had made it widely known that he was a top-ranked player on the main server. If a healer aiming for the rankings had any sense, they would have reached out to him.
To be honest, if Sa-yoon hadn’t been so annoyingly entangled in the customization-sharing drama, he would have sprinted over the moment the announcement dropped.
He transferred servers because of me, and now he’s considering pairing up with someone else? The thought alone pissed him off.
No way in hell was he letting someone else eat the meal he prepared. Sure, Killer wasn’t exactly his to claim, but still.
All sense of leisure thrown out the window, Sa-yoon quickly typed.
[Party] Chasa: Lol, what’s with the suspense?
[Party] Killer: Then…
[Party] Killer: Can I call you hyung again?
“What the hell? You’ve been saying it just fine up till now… Huh?”
Muttering to himself, Sa-yoon suddenly noticed a particular message in the chat scrolling past.
[Whisper] Chasa: Don’t even call me hyung ♡♡
He was sure he had said that before. And once he recalled that one moment, the rest of the memories came tumbling in like a buried pile of potatoes being unearthed.
It was on the day of the siege—when he realized that the temp nickname and Killer were the same person.
Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen Killer call him hyung even once since then.
[Party] Killer: So… I can?
Jeez, of all things, why is he getting timid over this?
As long as Killer stuck with him, he didn’t care if he called him hyung or even noona. The rewards mattered, not the titles. It’s not like they’d ever meet in real life anyway.
[Party] Chasa: Yeah, do whatever you want.
[Party] Killer: Thanks, hyung!
[Party] Killer: Oh, and one more thing.
They say people’s real intentions come at the end. So this was the main request.
[Party] Chasa: What now?
[Party] Killer: Don’t quit in the middle of the season.
“What? Why the hell would I quit?”
That was the last thing he had expected. The demand was so absurd that he blurted it out loud. If he had any intention of bailing halfway, he wouldn’t be here humoring this whole ‘hyung’ thing in the first place.
[Party] Chasa: That’ll never happen.
[Party] Chasa: You better not quit either.
[Party] Killer: I’d never do that.
[Party] Chasa: Then I have a request too.
[Party] Killer: Sure, sounds good.
“…What the… How do you know what I’m even gonna ask?”
Muttering to himself, he barely had time to process it before a reply came through as if Killer had read his mind.
For someone who hesitated so much over calling him hyung, he sure had no brakes when it came to this.
He was like a broken-down truck.
[Party] Killer: I’m fine with whatever you decide, hyung.
[Party] Chasa: 1. Don’t repeat the same thing more than three times.
[Party] Killer: Yes, hyung.
[Party] Chasa: 2. Keep your mic on during battles.
[Party] Killer: Yees, got it, hyung.
For someone who had been acting like a rabid dog, he was suddenly as obedient as a trained pet. Even his “yes” came out as a stretched “yees” instead of a simple agreement.
For a brief moment, Sa-yoon wondered if he had a hidden talent for training people.
[Party] Chasa: 3. We need to sync up our schedules, so give me your contact info.
The best way to climb the rankings was to run as many battles as possible, and that required coordinating their playtime.
[Party] Killer: Can’t we just use O-Talk?
He was referring to the anonymous open chat feature on the messenger app. For someone who was practically an online stalker, he was oddly strict about protecting his personal information.
[Party] Chasa: If you don’t check your messages, I’m calling.
[Party] Killer: O-Talk has voice calls too, you know.
Huh. Now that he thought about it, it was probably better to keep their real identities private.
A few more terms were exchanged, and with that, the duo aiming for the top rank was officially formed.
***
As Sa-yoon stood up from his seat, Shin-jae’s gaze immediately followed. He brought his index and middle finger to his lips before flicking them away—his usual sign for stepping out to smoke.
Shin-jae gave a slight nod and returned his attention to his book. He didn’t seem the least bit uncomfortable, dressed impeccably as always. Last time, it was all white. Today, it was black from head to toe.
Did he have a thing for neutral colors?
Sa-yoon was casually observing Shin-jae’s outfit when something caught his eye. A single strand of hair clung to the black knit sweater.
If it had been black, he wouldn’t have noticed, but the light color stood out too much.
Annoyed by the stray hair, Sa-yoon instinctively leaned in slightly to remove it. His hand naturally reached forward—
Only for Shin-jae to whip around so fast that the movement sliced through the air.
Startled, Sa-yoon blinked a few times.
Damn, his reflexes are insane.
Since he had been bent forward at the time, the sudden turn left them unusually close. It was something he’d noticed before, but Shin-jae’s irises were incredibly light.
They say the final touch completes the masterpiece—those pale eyes were undoubtedly a key part of Shin-jae’s overall image.
As he was thinking that, Shin-jae furrowed his brows and slowly backed away.
For some reason, the sight of his tightly pressed lips reminded Sa-yoon of a wary little Sesame.
“You had a hair on you.”
He glanced at Shin-jae’s back, but at some point, the strand had already fallen off.
“Guess it’s gone.”
“…Oh.”
The quiet response came a moment later, his voice hushed, likely out of consideration for the silent reading room.
***
“Ah, I can finally breathe.”
Stepping out of the building, Sa-yoon took in a deep breath of fresh air.
With midterms in full swing, the library was packed—not just inside the reading rooms but outside as well.
The smoking area was no different. A constant flow of students came and went, making it feel like a burrow of raccoons.
Positioning himself as close to the entrance as possible, Sa-yoon placed a cigarette between his lips. The moment he inhaled the filtered smoke, he felt a fleeting illusion of clarity in his mind.
As he stood there, two students entered the smoking area and settled near him.
“Hey, check this out.”
“What is it?”
“Cha Geum-woo looks so good. His suit fit is insane.”
“Ugh… STEM majors, stay strong.”
The two, heads close together over a phone, burst into laughter. Even in the misery of midterms, they were brimming with youthful energy—definitely first-years.
“Wow, Seo Sang-ah looks stunning.”
That name was familiar.
“She looks even skinnier. Skinnier than an idol.”
“I saw an interview—she works crazy hard to maintain it.”
“I heard she has a kid our age, but it’s like only we’re getting older.”
“Her husband’s good-looking too, so their son must be a total heartthrob.”
Yeah. He is. So good-looking that the first time Sa-yoon saw him, he had blurted out a compliment straight to his face.
Feigning indifference, Sa-yoon took out his phone and typed “Seo Sang-ah” into the search bar.
It wasn’t hard to find the image they had been looking at. The latest news was flooded with articles about an international film festival taking place outside the city.
Today was the opening of the Busan International Film Festival.
In the photos, a graceful actress stood on the red carpet in a flowing blue dress.
And as she smiled at the cameras, there were undeniable glimpses of Shin-jae in her face.
Seriously, with that face, why isn’t he an actor?
After skimming through a few more news articles about the opening ceremony, Sa-yoon opened his messenger app. His inbox was stacked with unread messages.
Scrolling through the most recent conversations without much thought, he switched tabs to check the open chat.
–
October 5
[Where?]
[Killer] I’ll be on soon.
–
October 6
[Are you online?]
[Killer] Yeah.
–
October 7
[Killer] Hyung.
[On my way]
–
October 10
[ㅈㅅㅈ?]
[Killer] Yep
–
Ever since they exchanged an open chat link instead of phone numbers, their conversations had been nothing but coldly efficient exchanges.
Turned out their play schedules were uncannily similar.
Past memories were fading, and Sa-yoon found himself increasingly satisfied with Killer as a partner. He wasn’t a hassle, and his damage output was top-tier.
The biggest factor, of course, was that their win rate had stayed above 90%.
Exiting the chat, he absentmindedly clicked over to the profile tab.
It wasn’t a conscious decision—just his subconscious looking for an excuse to avoid studying when he got back.
Everything seemed more interesting during exam season, even reading the news.
A row of recently updated profiles lined the top of the screen. Among them, a familiar picture stood out—Shin-jae’s.
It was the one Sa-yoon had taken on the day they rescued Sesame.
Guess he liked it. This brat.
Smirking in satisfaction, Sa-yoon clicked on the profile.
“…The hell?”
The moment the profile loaded, his eyes widened.
A small party hat was placed on one corner of the square photo, and tiny fireworks were popping above it.
An effect that only appeared once a year—on a specific day.
“Today’s his birthday?”
