Chae Yujeong, who had been trailing behind me with expectant eyes, looked extremely disappointed when she saw the sign that said "PC Bang."
Ignoring her one-woman excitement act, I took her downstairs and opened the glass door to the PC café. Even though it was a weekday, it was peak time—9 PM—so the place was packed.
'Wait… Is it really okay to just bring her into a PC Bang?'
I had momentarily forgotten because it seemed so trivial, but Chae Yujeong was still a fairly well-known pro gamer.
I started to worry that bringing her to a PC café swarming with guys playing games might cause a scene. But fortunately, everyone was too busy gaming to notice her.
"You sure it's okay for you to come to a place like this?"
"I'm not a celebrity or anything. Of course it's fine."
"You did commercials before. That's basically the same thing."
It was probably last year. Right after the spring tournament ended, during a break, the whole LVS team shot a training wear commercial for a famous brand.
Even then, Chae Yujeong was the center of attention. With skills and looks like hers, it was only natural.
"Well, I've been on a break for nearly a year now… And the fanbase isn't really the type to track everything the players do."
True enough… Who would expect that player to show up at a neighborhood PC café?
Still, just in case, we should head to the most secluded corner. But after scanning the room several times, I couldn't find any empty seats except for the couple seats.
"Excuse me, do you have any open seats?"
"Numbers 39 and 40."
Desperate, I asked the part-time worker at the counter, but of course, the only available spots were couple seats.
They were in the corner, sure, but the monitors didn't have dividers and the chairs were connected in one long row—clearly meant for cozy couples.
And now I had to sit there with another guy? Absolutely dreadful. But moving to another PC café now wouldn't change much, so there wasn't really another option.
While I sat awkwardly at the edge of the chair with a sour expression, Chae Yujeong sat right next to me without hesitation. In fact, she seemed to prefer the couple seat over a regular one.
"By the way, hyung…"
Chae Yujeong, who had turned on the computer for me, gave a shy smile.
"Are you finally going to talk casually to me now?"
"Ah."
I'd been so annoyed earlier I accidentally started speaking informally. After doing it so freely, I couldn't exactly go back to honorifics now.
I had nothing to say, so I just stared at the monitor while Chae Yujeong grinned like a fool.
"I like it."
"I don't. Just start the game already."
"Okaaay."
It had been a really long time since I logged into HeoRe on my main account. As soon as I logged in, I checked my profile, and—just as expected—my tier had dropped massively due to the inactivity demotion system.
Diamond 4, huh. Leave it alone any longer and I'd probably hit Platinum. Considering I hadn't played for almost seven months, it was only natural.
But the tier wasn't what mattered right now. When I opened the block list, only one nickname stood out—gamgack.
"Wait… Hyung, am I the only one you blocked?"
"..."
I don't usually bother with blocking people, so it made sense that she was the only one on the list. I'd only just realized it myself.
"Wow… That's just cold, hyung."
Chae Yujeong muttered with all the playfulness drained from her voice, like she hadn't expected it to be this bad.
Feeling like I was being poked by a needle of guilt, I quickly moved the mouse cursor and unblocked her. A message popped up in the center of the screen:
[You have unblocked LVS gamgack.]
"Hey, look. I unblocked you. Happy now?"
"So annoying."
"Did you just drop the honorifics?"
"You're annoying."
"I unblocked you, didn't I? Let's see how you do."
Feeling a bit guilty, I tried to console her in my own way—only for Chae Yujeong to let out a loud, exaggerated sigh. Oh? Look at this little brat.
"Anyway, I unblocked you, so explain what you were asking earlier."
"Here?"
I turned around briefly at her question.
With all the various game sound effects and loud conversations, it wasn't exactly the best place for a proper discussion.
"Let's go outside."
"We just got here not even ten minutes ago, and you already want to leave? We charged up for two hours."
"Two hours is the minimum payment."
"Hyung, come on, don't be like that."
She grabbed my arm just as I was about to get up and met my eyes. Under the PC café lights, her pale-colored eyes oddly stuck in my mind.
"Play a game with me. Just for a little bit."
"Why the hell a game, all of a sudden?"
"We came all the way to a PC café. Wouldn't it be a waste not to play anything?"
Everything's a "waste" to her, apparently.
Sensing that I was about to refuse, she immediately put on the most pitiful expression and begged again.
"Just one match. It won't even take thirty minutes. My dream was to play on the same team as you."
"What kind of dream is that…? You saw my tier just now. We can't even queue together."
"I've got a smurf account. And we don't have to do ranked, right? We can play normal."
"Cut the crap. Let's go."
"N-no. I want to play with you. If you won't play, I'm not telling you anything."
"…."
I almost cursed out loud at how she just kept changing the conditions however she wanted.
'Hold it in…'
She's a famous pro player. If I so much as laid a hand on her, I'd end up in court for sure.
Grinding my teeth, I swallowed my rage and said:
"Just one game. That's it."
"Yes!"
With my permission granted, Chae Yujeong beamed and hurriedly logged in with her smurf account. I also logged into the smurf I usually used when playing with my college friends.
"Hyung, let's go bottom duo. I'll play support."
"Do whatever you want."
Even with my apathetic response, Chae Yujeong couldn't hide how happy she was. I caught a glimpse of her cheerful expression and frowned.
What's so damn exciting about playing on the same team? Especially when it's just a normal game with no real stakes, even if we win.
'…Does she really admire me that much? That pro gamer, Gamgack?'
When I first heard her say it at the café, it felt so out of place that I thought she was lying. But now, it was starting to feel real.
"Fuck."
After leaving the PC café, I checked my phone. It was well past 11 PM.
I finally let out the string of curses I'd been holding back for a while.
Because I gave in when Chae Yujeong begged for "just one more game," we ended up playing until the time we'd paid for completely ran out. On top of that, she had gone and ordered food halfway through, so we even ended up eating.
I rubbed my forehead as I recalled how she kept feeding me fried dumplings while I was last-hitting minions, saying she had time since she was playing support. And I just ate them without thinking because I was focused on the game. Goddamn, I'm the crazy one here.
"Hyuuung, today was so much fun."
"..."
Chae Yujeong followed me out of the PC café and clung to me with a wide grin on her face. Just looking at her gave me an even worse headache.
"Next time, let's go see a movie, okay?"
"Shut up…"
She was usually quick to pick up on things, so the fact that she was doing this on purpose made it even more irritating.
What the hell was I thinking? This wasn't what I had planned. I just got a little too into HeoRe after playing it again for the first time in a while…
"When are you free next?"
"Huh?"
It wouldn't be a problem if tomorrow was the weekend, but I had early classes in the morning, so it was about time I headed back.
It felt like the smarter choice would be to meet again and have a proper conversation next time.
"Are you really going to watch a movie with me?"
"Quit talking nonsense."
"I'm free whenever."
I was checking my schedule on my phone when I looked up at her in response to that.
"You're not busy?"
"Of course not, I'm basically unemployed. I'll match your schedule."
"I thought even if you weren't playing matches, you'd still be practicing."
"I'll be busy next year. I don't have much free time left, so I'm making the most of it while I can."
She smiled as she looked down at me, clearly enjoying herself.
Under the streetlight, her hair and skin sparkled like stars. The way she looked at me was filled with a bold affection that couldn't be ignored.
"Then let's meet on Sunday. And this time, answer properly when I ask you something."
"Okay~ I'll take care of the movie tickets."
"I'm not watching anything with you, dumbass."
As I set the date for Sunday, I thought of Yuchae.
I'd log into Xenoris on Saturday and try meeting Yuchae again. Since I didn't manage to get any useful information today thanks to being swept up by Chae Yujeong, I planned to play with Yuchae and try to uncover any shared traits between the two.
'They do seem kind of similar, though.'
Their clingy behavior and the way they do whatever they want without asking—Yuchae and Chae Yujeong were practically twins.
If they weren't the same person… then I was just stuck being pestered by two similar nuisances, which meant double the trouble. What a damn nightmare.
Once I figured out for sure whether they were the same person or not, I'd need to cut one of them off—for the sake of my sanity. And if I had to choose based on how annoying they were, then yeah, Chae Yujeong was worse. So she'd have to go.
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