“Man, it’s hot.”
Sa-yoon’s absentminded remark was naturally drowned out as the food arrived. Today’s menu was dolsot bibimbap. A sizzling stone bowl was placed in front of each of them.
“But you two must be pretty close. There’s a bit of an age gap, too.”
As they mixed their rice, a clear voice rang out. Yeon-hee, who had been stabbing her fried egg with her spoon as if it had wronged her, let out a questioning hum.
“Meeting up even during break?”
Her words were accompanied by a sweet smile, like a free promotional gift. Sa-yoon, after glancing at the obviously curated expression, made a slightly disgusted face.
“Huh? No way. This is the first time we’ve eaten together since the semester started. This senior didn’t even show up to the general meeting. Wait—now that I think about it, are you dating, Sunbae? Why are you so busy? Huh? Why are you covering that?”
Yeon-hee, who had been firing off questions like a machine gun, tilted her head. Sa-yoon had covered Shin-jae’s stone bowl with his hand.
“You’re spitting everywhere. Do you have no manners when eating?”
“Wow, look at that consideration…”
Mumbling at Sa-yoon’s remark, Yeon-hee quickly clamped her mouth shut. Only then did Sa-yoon pull his hand away and casually add,
“And what do you mean dating? Who has time for that?”
It wasn’t like he was some love-obsessed fool. These days, people threw around dating-related questions like small talk the moment someone got a little busy. If he were actually in a relationship, it wouldn’t even be unfair.
It had been quite a while since the seat next to him had been empty. His last relationship had been with a complete piece of trash. Just thinking about those memories wiped out any desire to meet someone new. That meant he wouldn’t be dating anytime soon—probably for a long while.
“You don’t date because you don’t have time? You make time for relationships.”
“Exactly. I feel like you’d be pretty popular, Sunbae.”
Hearing them, Sa-yoon squinted as if he had just heard the most ridiculous thing. Were they serious?
“Who the hell would like an old returning student? No matter how much you flatter me, nothing’s gonna come out of it.”
“See that, Shin-jae? That’s what you call a deceiver.”
“True.”
“I’m serious. These days, not even the younger students ask me to treat them to a meal. Except for you, Yeon-hee.”
“Wow, Sunbae, you just don’t get it! You’re actually really popular! It’s just that you always look so expressionless!”
“Yeah, that’s just life grinding me down.”
“But you smile pretty often.”
Smiling took energy. If you weren’t naturally blessed with a bright, cheerful face, keeping up a constant smile was exhausting. It was only natural that he defaulted to a tired and cold expression when he wasn’t paying attention.
“Oh, that was just to make a good impression on you. I don’t usually smile at people.”
The words slipped out before Sa-yoon even realized it. Ah. That was unnecessary.
Clearing his throat as if nothing had happened, he reached for the dried radish side dish. But he could feel someone’s gaze on him. When he turned his head—of course—Shin-jae was staring right at him.
“…Seriously? You smiled at me because you wanted to impress me?”
Sa-yoon made a strange expression.
“Yeah, I wanted to get you to be in my senior project film.”
They had already talked about this before, so why was he acting like it was new information? Sa-yoon quickly cut off the topic before Shin-jae could say something ridiculous in front of Yeon-hee, like ‘So you acted like that because you were interested in me?’
With a normal person, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But this was Sa Shin-jae. Sure, they had made up, but who knew when something would twist the wrong way and his attitude would change again?
“Now that I think about it, I’ve never heard you talk about dating, Sunbae. What’s your type?”
“Uh, I like older people. Someone mature, with a wintery kind of vibe.”
The romance-obsessed parrot—completely clueless—threw out another innocent question. Normally, he would have ignored it or brushed it off, but he ended up answering without thinking.
“Oh, that really suits you. Right?”
“Yeah, yeah. Enough nonsense, let’s eat.”
Maybe Shin-jae had gotten tired of entertaining Yeon-hee’s hyper energy, because he had suddenly gone silent. Honestly, it was impressive that he had even managed to keep up with her this long. Sa-yoon cut things off at the right moment before the mood could dip.
“Seriously, why are you talking about embarrassing things in front of her?”
It made sense, though. The one who was actually popular was sitting right next to him.
“Then again, Shin-jae, you must be really popular, right? Bet you’ve dated a lot. Do you have a girlfriend right now?”
“……”
Shin-jae had just taken a spoonful of rice when he let out a slightly awkward smile. Sa-yoon was curious too.
Would anyone actually be able to handle that personality? Sure, a good-looking face could get you far, but still…
For a split second, Sa-yoon imagined Shin-jae sarcastically mocking his girlfriend over some minor mistake. No way… He wouldn’t act like that with someone he’s dating… right?
“I’ve never dated anyone before.”
“What?”
“Not even once? With no one?”
“I guess I’m a bit picky… I just haven’t met anyone I liked enough to date.”
“Oh… Well, I guess for someone like you, most people wouldn’t meet your standards.”
Not that dating is all about looks or anything. What a ridiculous statement. Yeon-hee was obviously blinded by his face.
And of course, Shin-jae didn’t just let the comment slide—he nodded along as if it were true. On the surface, he looked like the most innocent, kindhearted junior ever.
Falling for that facade, Yeon-hee immediately started giving him advice—telling him not to act too naive if he ever got into a relationship. That apologizing first or letting everything slide wasn’t always the answer. Completely useless tips.
Scooping up a spoonful of bibimbap with just the right amount of crispy rice stuck to the bottom, Sa-yoon shook his head. There’s definitely an evil spirit living inside that guy.
Then, suddenly, he realized something. It was actually a relief that Shin-jae didn’t have a girlfriend. If he did, scheduling would’ve been even harder. Especially this semester, when the only time Sa-yoon could spare was on weekends.
It’d be great if he could stay single for at least another year.
As he selfishly made his silent wish, his eyes met Shin-jae’s. Of course, that guy had an almost supernatural ability to notice when someone was looking at him. Feeling a little guilty, Sa-yoon forced a smile.
Shin-jae studied him for a moment, then, slowly, a smile of his own bloomed. It was radiant—like a flower in full bloom.
What the hell is up with him now?
Sa-yoon was left with nothing but confusion over Shin-jae’s back-and-forth behavior throughout the entire lunch.
***
[‘Oath’s Vow’ has joined ‘Underworld.’]
[‘Freedeal’ has joined ‘Underworld.’]
[‘Shokrates’ has joined ‘Underworld.’]
[‘Furple’ has joined ‘Underworld.’]
[‘GegulGegulFrog’ has joined ‘Underworld.’]
[Guild] Chasa: Welcome.
[Guild] Freedeal: Chasa-nim ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ I missed you ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
[Guild] GegulGegulFrog: New guild feels weird ㅇㅅㅇ
[Guild] Furple: Buying Cataloa.
[Guild] Oath’s Vow: It’s only for a short time, but I look forward to playing with you, Chasa-nim.
[Guild] Shokrates: Ahem, everyone, don’t forget my achievements.
[‘Shokrates’ is showing off.]
[Guild] GegulGegulFrog: Thx!
[Guild] Shokrates: Soulless b*stard.
[Guild] Oath’s Vow: Jeon-gi, I sent you some materials via mail. 🙂
[Guild] Shokrates: As expected of Oath-nim, the best tank in Lepus.
[Guild] Oath’s Vow: Also, it’s Cygnus.
[Guild] Shokrates: Corpse tank~~~~~
[Guild] GegulGegulFrog: Is he pretending not to know proper spelling just to curse?
[Guild] Shokrates: ?
[Guild] Shokrates: Wait… did you seriously just send 1 gold?
[Guild] Oath’s Vow: Hahaha.
[Guild] Shokrates: The mail fee probably cost more than that, you f***ing—
Amidst all the chaos and trash talk, Sa-yoon had a decision to make.
He couldn’t command the fortress defense battle alone. Not only did he lack experience, but he also needed additional members to monitor the various localized skirmishes taking place across the battlefield.
There were only two options: Either recruit more guild members to assist with the battle or appoint a sub-commander with the necessary experience and connections to provide support.
The first option was risky. With Sa-yoon’s lack of command experience, there was a higher chance of making blunders worse than Noise’s. On top of that, most skilled veteran players were already part of established guilds. Even if they opened recruitment, it was unlikely they would get high-quality members in time.
But the second option had its own problems—there weren’t many viable candidates. The guild that originally handled command in the early days had long since disbanded, and Noise had been leading ever since.
The only experienced players available were WhiteNoise from Noise’s guild and Oath’s Vow from the Reaper Guild. Neither Noise nor Killer were people Sa-yoon wanted to get involved with again. It was a choice between the worst and the slightly less terrible.
His decision was sealed when he received a whisper from WhiteNoise.
[Whisper] WhiteNoise: You’ve never commanded before anyway, right?
Did he think slapping on honorifics made it any less irritating?
Ever since Noise lost the character-deletion match, he hadn’t logged in, and in his absence, WhiteNoise had been running wild—like a fox acting as king now that the tiger was gone.
The way WhiteNoise spoke always carried an infuriatingly smug tone, as if saying, “You’re just a figurehead; we’ll handle everything ourselves.”
Utterly fed up, Sa-yoon cursed him out and blocked him immediately. Noise’s guild members seemed to be stirring up a fuss in the server chat, but he couldn’t care less.
He then whispered Oath’s Vow, and as if he had been expecting it, Oath immediately began briefing him on how he would assist with the fortress defense if he were appointed sub-commander. The guy was prepared.
Thus, a temporary alliance between the Reaper Guild and Chasa was formed for the upcoming fortress defense battle.
[‘Killer’ wails sorrowfully at ‘Chasa.’]
The Reaper Guild members agreed to be temporarily incorporated into Underworld until the battle commenced.
All except Killer.
