The basic rule of that game was, in principle, five people to a team. Five players split up positions like tanker, dealer, healer, and so on, and the team that carried out their assigned roles while completing the mission won. There were various kinds of missions, but the most basic one was dividing into the team that defended the objective and the team that captured it.
Han-ul, a Fashion Design Department student, was, ironically enough, currently thrown in among the third-years of the English Department, taking part in the game. Han-ul, who had been assigned to the opposing team from Won-hyeok, was on the side that had to seize the objective, and since he had quite a history of playing this game, he’d never once heard anyone say he was bad at it. In fact, his tier was high too.
But right now, Han-ul had just died for about the fifth time since the game started.
As the screen flooded red, a hollow laugh finally slipped from Han-ul’s mouth.
To begin with, the goal of this game was not to kill the other side. You won by accomplishing your own team’s mission. Of course, in the process, killing the opposing team’s characters for a smoother victory and to complete the mission was only natural, but that was absolutely not why Han-ul had died five times.
“Hey! Where the hell is Do Won-hyeok? Tell him to stick near the objective!”
Sun-woo’s irritated voice, from the opposite side, carried over; he was on the same team as him. Han-gyeom, who had made his account for the first time today and therefore didn’t have a tier to speak of, couldn’t join this match and was just spectating through Han-ul’s screen.
“Got it.”
“Don’t just answer me!”
Sun-woo scolded Won-hyeok for not showing so much as the tip of his nose near the objective they were supposed to take, but he paid no attention and just kept staring at the screen like mad.
And Han-ul knew better than anyone where Won-hyeok was wasting his time.
Because right now, he was obsessively targeting Han-ul’s character and Han-ul’s character alone.
When a character died, a few seconds later they were summoned back to the team waiting room. From there, they could revive and rejoin the game, but the moment Han-ul stepped out of the waiting room, just as expected, a storm of attacks came pouring down on him.
Won-hyeok, who had been lying in wait, started unleashing attacks while chasing only Han-ul’s character. In other words, Won-hyeok wasn’t killing the enemy team to lead his own team to victory—he was just mindlessly killing for the sake of it. And specifically, he was only aiming at Han-ul.
Han-gyeom, who had been sitting there blankly by himself, bounced in his seat and watched Won-hyeok, who was seated across from him. The sight of him wearing a headset and focusing on the screen was unexpectedly striking.
Looking at him now, it seemed Won-hyeok wasn’t just good at studying—he was good at games too. Han-gyeom had found that out earlier after sneaking a look at his nickname on Han-ul’s screen and sending him a friend request. His tier was quite high.
The way he looked while concentrating on the game had the kind of aura that could come straight out of some photo book, and Han-gyeom’s heart fluttered again for no reason. Then, worried that the other English Department sunbaes around them might look at him strangely, he hastily dropped his gaze the moment his eyes met Won-hyeok’s.
Around the time Han-ul died for the sixth time, the game timer ran out. The people who had joined the match took off their headsets and each let out their own sighs.
“Didn’t you say you were good?”
Then Won-hyeok looked at Han-ul and smiled as if pleased. Han-ul could only stare back in disbelief, while Sun-woo, sitting beside him, thumped his table hard.
“What are you talking about? We lost.”
Won-hyeok glared at Sun-woo, his eyebrow twitching. That was right. Because Won-hyeok had ignored the actual purpose of the game and stubbornly focused only on killing Han-ul over and over, his team had lost.
“You’re usually good, so what’s with you today?”
Starting with Sun-woo’s words, the others who had been on the same team as Won-hyeok started chiming in one by one. Their words varied, but most of them were criticisms of Won-hyeok’s play.
“But you’re really good. That angle on your ult at the beginning was completely insane.”
By contrast, the teammates who had been on Han-ul’s side began praising Han-ul, even though he had died six times. Things like how his sense was good and how he seemed to have great instincts—comments that stood in complete opposition to the criticisms aimed at Won-hyeok.
Won-hyeok’s eyebrow twitched like it was about to break into dance. He couldn’t manage his expression at all, caught in a strange dissatisfaction with the situation, and then suddenly his eyes met a gaze that had been staring right at him.
“…….”
Han-gyeom blinked his large eyes as he stared at Won-hyeok. As if being overcome with a sense of defeat weren’t enough, he now felt like he’d shown a ridiculous side of himself too, so he let out a dry cough and leaned heavily back in his chair.
This wasn’t the picture he’d had in mind. While Won-hyeok was muttering, “Fuck,” under his breath, an exclamation mark popped up in the speech bubble at the top of the screen. It was the icon that appeared when someone sent him a message.
Won-hyeok irritably opened the chat.
[Whisper] Hangyeomi: sunbae
A nickname that made it immediately obvious who had sent it. Won-hyeok lifted his head slightly and looked ahead. Han-gyeom was bent over so far his waist was nearly folded, pounding at the keyboard like he was about to get sucked into the screen. Just as Won-hyeok was sincerely beginning to wonder what the hell he kept a phone for, another message came up.
[Whisper] Hangyeomi: I think you’re the coolest of all, sunbae!
[Whisper] Hangyeomi: Why are the other sunbaes only picking on you ㅠㅠ It makes me sad
The corners of Won-hyeok’s mouth melted softly, and his eyebrow danced again. But this wasn’t, like before, because he couldn’t hide the irritation and anger trying to leak out. It was because he couldn’t endure the strangely ticklish sensation climbing up from his toes.
Seeing Won-hyeok covering his mouth by himself with that subtle expression on his face, Sun-woo thought, Has this bastard gone crazy these days? Completely unaware of that, Won-hyeok pulled out his phone and took a picture of the chat Han-gyeom had sent, saving it.
“Ah, I should get going now.”
After checking that there wasn’t much time left before his next class, Han-gyeom hurriedly started wrapping things up at the computer. Han-ul, who also had a class around the same time, did the same.
Before leaving, Han-gyeom diligently said goodbye to the other sunbaes too, including Sun-woo. And when his eyes met Won-hyeok’s at the very end, he didn’t forget to point at the phone he’d taken out of his bag and smile shyly. For someone who treated his phone like an ornament, that gesture saying he’d contact him was cute too.
“Hey, let’s queue ranked now. Do Won-hyeok, do better this time. Please.”
The moment Sun-woo lightly thumped Won-hyeok on the shoulder, he shot up from his seat.
“Shit, you scared me.”
“I’m leaving.”
“Huh? Leaving? We still have plenty of time left.”
Won-hyeok didn’t even bother answering and walked straight out of the PC bang. It was worth coming right after them, because he immediately spotted the two people walking side by side up ahead.
The sight of them walking next to each other, looking at one another and smiling like they were having a great time, made flames flare up in Won-hyeok’s eyes all over again.
“Hey!”
And then he suddenly shouted. At the booming yell, the two of them flinched and turned around.
“Do you seriously not have any learning ability?”
Won-hyeok grabbed Han-gyeom’s hand and yanked him over to his side as he shouted at Han-ul.
“It’s not that I don’t have any learning ability, but……”
Han-ul forced down the laughter trying to slip out again at this repeated situation. Even back when they were playing the game, it wasn’t like he hadn’t known why Won-hyeok had been obsessively targeting only his character.
“Then—”
As Won-hyeok tightened his grip even more, Han-gyeom looked back and forth between their clasped hands and Won-hyeok.
“I should hurry up and get lost, right?”
“If you know that, then fuck off without looking back before something even nastier comes out of my mouth.”
“Okay, Han-gyeom. I’ll go first.”
Han-ul let out a sly grin and started walking off first. It felt like he’d already heard more than enough nasty words, but even today, he didn’t feel that bad.
“Han-gyeom.”
“……Yes?!”
“Aren’t you dating me?”
“I-I am.”
Han-gyeom fidgeted while clutching the hem of his clothes.
“Then why do you keep hanging around some fucking nobody whose roots no one even knows? To begin with, why have you been avoiding me all week? You wouldn’t eat with me, and every time I asked you to do something, you turned me down. And then what? You come to the PC bang to learn games from that bastard? I can teach you games too. I’m way better than him. You saw earlier that my tier is higher in the first place.”
Won-hyeok spoke with even the whites of his eyes bloodshot. He was so emotional it made his earlier resolve—to be careful not to let his true nature show—feel completely pointless. But for some reason, Han-gyeom just kept lowering his head without any reaction at all. It was strange, the way he only fidgeted anxiously by himself like that. Was he even listening?
“What are you doing? Are you listening to me?”
“Your hand……”
“Huh?”
“We’re holding hands……”
“…….”
Staring fixedly at the round crown of Han-gyeom’s head, Won-hyeok’s gaze slowly dropped lower. At the very place Han-gyeom’s eyes were fixed on too, the two of them were tightly holding each other’s hands.
“I-it’s my first time holding hands with you, sunbae. I’m really nervous—is this really okay?”
Han-gyeom rambled nervously and glanced up at Won-hyeok. The moment he saw his face, Won-hyeok felt his breath catch all at once.
“This is so nice……”
Because Han-gyeom’s face had turned bright red.
His earlobes, the corners of his eyes, his cheeks—every part of his face had gone as red as a ripe persimmon, and Won-hyeok couldn’t think at all.
To make that kind of face over nothing more than holding hands once. When they were already the kind of pair who had done everything all the way to the end.
“Ah! But what were we talking about? I didn’t hear what you said earlier. I’m sorry.”
“……Tomorrow, Saturday.”
“Yes?”
“Go on a date with me. With me.”
