Stalkerizing

“Is something wrong?”

When I asked resolutely, he finally turned to look at me.

“We’re not exactly close enough for you to be worrying about that, are we?”

The response was rather curt. What, did he eat something bad over the weekend? Sa-yoon was caught off guard, momentarily at a loss for words. Meanwhile, the one who had just successfully landed an unexpected verbal jab withdrew his gaze.

Had I been mistaken in thinking we had cleared up our misunderstandings and grown a little closer? Or does he just have extreme mood swings?

At this rate, maybe he should be enrolled in some kind of children’s behavioral correction program.

“Yeah, well… whatever.”

If he didn’t want to talk, then fine. Sa-yoon wasn’t Shin-jae’s babysitter or his boyfriend. He figured something had just put him in a bad mood and he was taking it out on the wrong person.

“Alright, let’s begin attendance.”

The awkward atmosphere was interrupted as the professor entered the room. Sa-yoon shrugged once before turning his attention to the front.

If looks could physically wound, his cheek would probably already be caved in.

The stare from beside him was so intense, it almost felt hot—like his cheek was actually burning. That said enough.

When he turned his head, his gaze locked onto a pair of light-colored eyes. Caught in the act of secretly staring, the other person showed no sign of surprise and instead met his eyes with confidence. Since neither of them looked away, they ended up locked in an impromptu staring contest.

What?

Sa-yoon was the first to break. Unable to hold back any longer, he mouthed the question silently.

Shin-jae’s perfectly almond-shaped eyes widened slightly before returning to normal. Then, as if nothing had happened, he gave a couple of small shakes of his head. Yet somehow, his dissatisfied expression lingered even as he turned his gaze forward.

What the hell is his deal?

He made a show of sitting next to me with a sour attitude, ignored my greeting, gave curt replies when spoken to, sighed dramatically once class started, and now he’s just been staring at me nonstop like that.

Why does he insist on nonverbal communication when he has a perfectly functional mouth?

If something’s bothering him, can’t he just say it? Wouldn’t that be so much easier? He’s ridiculously high-maintenance. Frustrated, Sa-yoon cursed at him internally.

But backing out of the student film now would put him in a tight spot.

The real filming wouldn’t begin until after midterms, but there was still plenty to do before then. First, the professor had to review the script, and there were location arrangements and script readings left to handle.

At first, he had planned to handle everything on his own, but there were certain scenes where he needed help from his juniors. Coordinating schedules with the team, renting equipment… there were a dozen things to consider.

And if even a single cast member decided to drop out? Then it was back to square one—finding a new actor, holding auditions, revising the script to fit them…

Absolutely not.

Just imagining it was exhausting. No matter what, he had to find a way to smooth things over with Shin-jae. He wasn’t his babysitter or his boyfriend, but for the sake of the project, he resolved to persuade him.

Sa-yoon grabbed the stylus that had been clipped onto his tablet. Opening his note app, he quickly wrote something and slid it over to Shin-jae.

[What’s your problem?]

The tablet was handed back to him from the seat beside him. The handwriting was as neat and proper as expected from its owner. Shin-jae’s lips curled slightly as he read the message.

Did he have something to say? A lot. More than he could even put into words. But if he spoke, he’d just get shut down again. This time, not online, but in real life.

Shin-jae’s gaze lifted from the short message and settled on the person who had sent it.

That person was ‘Chasa.’

***

Had he sent an email today?

His fingers on the mouse betrayed an undeniable sense of anticipation.

[New Mail]

But his inbox was empty. Cold and silent.

“What the hell.”

Muttering to himself, he opened the homepage. His movements were precise as he clicked into the image board and immediately located the post he was looking for. No surprise there—he’d done this dozens of times over the past few weeks.

Scroll, scroll.

Instead of jumping straight to the bottom with a keyboard shortcut, he deliberately used the mouse wheel, letting the images pass one by one. He had seen them so many times that he could practically recite their order from memory. Finally, the comment section appeared.

***

Comments (523)

[Cygnus] MangoFlavoredTomato: Chasa-nim, this combination is insane again! Any chance you could do one more OP setup with Kali’s conquest coat? ^_^

ㄴ [Lepus] What-Is-This: 2222

ㄴ[Cygnus] Chasa: I got the conquest coat, I’ll think about it.

[Lyra] TwoBeans: Hey, could you tell me what lighting settings you used? No matter how many shots I take at the beach, I can’t get it to look like that ㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ

ㄴ[Cygnus] Chasa: Turn off glow mode / Set lighting to 87% / Time it with the sunset.

ㄴ [Lyra] TwoBeans: Omg omg thank you thank you!!

[Lepus] Killer: Can you share the customization? killer_ssa@cmail.com

[Draco] Dracoo0: I always enjoy your posts, thanks! ^^

ㄴ[Cygnus] Chasa: Thank you! ^^

***

Maybe he missed it in the flood of comments? Just to be sure, he posted three more.

…Still no reply.

Only his comments were being ignored.

[Guild] Hart: Maybe it’s because your tone is too stiff?

[Guild] Killer: ?

At that, he reopened the comment section.

[Lepus] Killer: Can you share the customization? killer_ssa@cmail.com

Compared to all the other comments filled with ㅜㅜㅜㅜ, ^^, and ^, his was painfully plain—completely devoid of any emojis or emotional flourishes.

[Guild] Hart: There’s a reason people act all friendly when making requests!

[Guild] Killer: Then what do I do?

[Guild] Hart: First, try adding an emoji!

[Guild] Hart: If you put ㅇ at the end of a sentence, it makes it sound softer!

[Guild] Hart: Ah crap, my battleground match just popped! ><

With that, Hart entered a restricted battleground, making him unable to chat. Following his advice, Shin-jae made slight modifications to his comment.

***

Comments (371)

[Pyxis] Dragonfly: Another masterpiece today!!!!

ㄴ[Cygnus] Chasa: Thank you.

[Aries] a11023301: This is mid as hell. What’s so pretty about this?

ㄴ [Cygnus] Chasa: ㅋㅋㅋ Say that on your main.

[Lepus] Killer: Could you share the customization, please? ㅇ^^ㅇ
killer_ssa@cmail.com

[Lepus] Killer: Could you share the customization, please? ^^ㅇ
killer_ssa@cmail.com

[Lepus] Killer: Could you share the customization, please? ㅇ^^ㅇ
killer_ssa@cmail.com

***

And yet, right before his comment, the replies had stopped completely.

Guess something must’ve come up. Chasa was normally thorough with responses, so at the latest, he’d probably get a reply by tomorrow. Or maybe an email.

But even the next day, when a new post appeared, his comment on the previous one still hadn’t been acknowledged.

[Guild] 8Snowman8: Lol, still haven’t gotten that customization?

[Guild] Killer: no

[Guild] 8Snowman8: Well, duh. You’re asking for it for free.

At that moment, a lightbulb went off in Shin-jae’s head. Of course. A business-minded player like Chasa wasn’t just going to hand over something he worked hard on for nothing.

If it was a paid transaction, that would be a different story.

Without hesitation, Shin-jae edited his comment once again.

[Lepus] Killer: Buying customization. Please state your price first. ㅇ^^ㅇ
killer_ssa@cmail.com

But once again, his comments were completely ignored.

He had even been considerate enough to let Chasa name the price first in case his own offer wasn’t good enough.

Why the hell?

There’s a reason why limited-edition marketing always works—once you think you can’t have something, it suddenly becomes ten times more desirable.

[Guild] Purple: Money isn’t everything.

Then what the hell is?

[Guild] Purple: You don’t seem desperate enough.

[Guild] Killer: Desperate? For a character customization?

Shin-jae scoffed as he read the chat. But Purple, who had just closed a deal today, insisted that perseverance was key—three humble attempts weren’t going to cut it.

Now that he thought about it, it made sense. Age brings wisdom, after all. The way he had simply copied and pasted his comment three times and then waited felt almost lazy in hindsight.

He had been sitting back, expecting a reply to just come to him. That was the problem.

Fine. If desperation is what it takes, he’d show them just how serious he was.

[Lepus] Killer: Buying customization. Please state your price first. ㅇ^^ㅇ
killer_ssa@cmail.com

From that day on, Shin-jae didn’t just leave comments—he even went as far as posting messages on Chasa’s guestbook, checking in with polite greetings.

Still, Chasa remained completely silent.

Meanwhile, other uploaders who had listed their prices started selling their customization sources one by one.

At this point, Shin-jae’s pride was on the line. Just how much more effort was he supposed to put in?

With a sigh, he opened his inbox, selected all messages, and deleted them. He didn’t care about any of them. The only thing he wanted was Chasa’s customization.

[Guild] [Jeon-gi]: Why don’t you try talking to him in person?

[Guild] [Jeon-gi]: People have a much harder time rejecting someone face-to-face.

So, he went to find him.

At first, Chasa responded normally. But the moment he realized that the newbie, killer001, was actually the ‘Killer’ who had been spamming his comment section, he blocked him on the spot.

002 got blocked too. 003 met the same fate. 004 hadn’t even spoken yet before he was already blacklisted.

Shin-jae was dumbfounded.

Should I just kill him?

But killer004 was far too weak for that. And this shitty game didn’t even offer server transfer tickets.

Having every new account he made immediately blocked was beyond infuriating. But let’s see how long he could keep ignoring him.

Grinding his teeth, Shin-jae clicked into Chasa’s post history. If he couldn’t reach him directly, then he’d just leave comments on every single post instead.

***

[Warlock] How to Deal 1 Million Cumulative Damage at the Temple of the Moon (23)

[Warlock] Soloing Daily Quests (7)

[Warlock] Max-Efficiency DPS Rotation for Dungeons (11)

[Warlock] Best Solo Leveling Zones (3)

***

So he wasn’t just an image board user—he wrote guides too.

What, does he just sit around gaming all day?

All this effort for a doomed class.

Clicking his tongue, Shin-jae clicked into one of the posts—without any real expectations.

Then another.

And another.

[Guild] Killer: Anyone interested in leveling a Warlock?

[Guild] [Jeon-gi]: Huh?

[Guild] Purple: Out of nowhere?

[Guild] Freedeal: You sick or something?

[Guild] Killer: STFU.

[Guild] Killer: Running dungeons with a Warlock seems fun.

[Guild] 8Snowman8: Do they use a lot of consumables?

[Guild] Killer: (Link)

[Guild] Purple: What’s this?

[Guild] Killer: (Link)

[Guild] Freedeal: Aren’t you just telling us to read everything this ‘Chasa’ guy posted?

[Guild] Killer: yes

[Guild] Oath’s Vow: His skill tree is definitely unique.

[Guild] Oath’s Vow: The way he uses curse nullification for mechanics is pretty clever too.

[Guild] Oath’s Vow: But why bother with a Warlock when you have a Black Mage?

[Guild] [Jeon-gi]: Lmao, true. No matter how hard you try, Warlocks will never match Black Mages.~

[Guild] Purple: Way too high-maintenance to play. ㅇㅇ

[Guild] Hart: That guy’s red outfit is pretty though.

[Guild] Freedeal: Why don’t you just level one yourself?

Shin-jae narrowed one eye as he read the chat.

They’re missing the point entirely.

How can they look at those guides and feel nothing? The strategies are insane.

***

[Server] Killer: Looking for one more Warlock for a two-man party at the Temple of the Moon. First come, first serve.

[Guild] Hart: Why’s he acting like this all of a sudden?

[Guild] Freedeal: Ignore him, it’s not the first time.

Recruiting within the guild had failed, but there was still the open market. Lepus was the most populated city server. The moment he posted the listing, whispers flooded in.

[Would you like to block ‘WarlockWarlockRockfish’?]

[‘WarlockWarlockRockfish’ has been blocked.]

And then, some time later, Shin-jae realized that the only Warlock capable of doing such a thing was Chasa.

***

Tap tap.

When Shin-jae didn’t respond, Sa-yoon tapped the pad a couple more times. The dark screen brightened, and the text reappeared.

[What’s your problem?]

‘What the hell is wrong with you?’

A familiar voice overlapped the words. His lips, which had started to part, hesitated.

“Smile!”

“Didn’t I tell you not to talk about yourself carelessly to others?”

“Actors never reveal their inner thoughts. My son, you want to act, don’t you? Then you can do what Mom tells you, right?”

He shook his head, trying to shake off the voice clinging to his ears. The sharp eyes looking at him made him feel as if he was being interrogated.

“…Actually…”

I’m Killer. I only did it because I liked your character customization. I wanted to play the game with you, but you ignored my comments and messages, so I had no choice but to follow you around.

But the words wouldn’t leave his mouth.

Just a few days ago, they had been hurling curses at each other and fighting like rabid dogs. He had even injured him. Sure, they had made up in a vague, half-assed way, but what would happen if it came out that he had been stalking Cha Sa-yoon online?

Even without knowing for sure, it was obvious that it wouldn’t end well for him.

Yeah, better not say it. Even if I tell him we’re the same person, all that’ll do is make me look like a deranged stalker and a complete asshole.

But could he really keep lying forever? What if Sa-yoon found out later?

As conflict raged within Shin-jae, Sa-yoon took the pad from him and added another line beneath the previous one.

[Do you have something to say to me?]

Cha Sa-yoon, at his core, was a kind person. That was just who he was.

Chasa had been the same way. At first, he had ignored and blocked him completely, but the moment Shin-jae stuck around and helped out a little, his soft heart caved in, and he quickly accepted him. Of course, he was blocked now, but still.

What if…

What if they became even closer than they were now?

The first step had been a mistake, but if he could make up for it—even a little—maybe he had a chance. Sa-yoon was inherently warm-hearted. If they got close enough, and then he confessed that he was Killer…

Wouldn’t the outcome be different from now?

Yeah, I’ll just act like a good junior.

Hiding his feelings wasn’t difficult. He had spent his entire life doing it under the training of a mother who was determined to raise her son as an actor like herself.

The turmoil inside him finally settled into calm.

Shin-jae slowly took the stylus that was handed to him.