"You didn't have to walk me back."
As I said that while moving the box of belongings into the car, Chae Yujeong followed behind me, carrying another box and smiling brightly.
"I have to move my stuff into the dorm anyway. And it's late, how could I let you go alone?"
"It's only 7:30."
"But it's dark outside. It's dangerous!"
"..."
Is he crazy?
Sure, the days were getting shorter, so it did feel like night, but it wasn't even 8 p.m. yet. I'd never in my life heard someone say that was dangerous.
And I'm a perfectly healthy guy in my twenties who's even completed his military service.
"Don't go around saying stuff like that to other people."
"Why would I say something like that to anyone but you?"
"…Just drive."
"Okay~"
The car exited the underground parking lot and left the apartment complex.
Even while driving, Chae Yujeong kept glancing at me in the passenger seat. Then, when the light turned red, he finally spoke.
"Hyung, today was really great."
"Don't see what was so great about it."
"Um…"
Chae Yujeong hesitantly asked in a stiff voice.
"Could we… hang out again next week?"
While mentally replaying the moment I got the message from Yuchae and sorting out the situation, I turned my head at that question.
Chae Yujeong, eyes fixed ahead as he drove, clearly looked tense from the side.
"What's so fun about hanging out with me that you wanna keep meeting up?"
"To me, it's obviously fun. Just being able to talk with you like this makes me really happy."
There was something odd about the way Chae Yujeong said that so sincerely, without hesitation.
How does he say stuff like that to another guy so easily? He really surprises me every time.
"I don't know how it is for you, though."
"For me…"
I didn't dislike spending time with Chae Yujeong, but I didn't feel much meaning in it either. The only reason I kept agreeing to meet up with him in the first place was because of Yuchae.
But now the situation had changed. If I went home tonight and settled the last issue with Yuchae, there'd be no more doubts left.
So… I had no real desire to keep seeing Chae Yujeong.
'What do I even say to that?'
It felt too harsh to just say "I don't want to hang out" outright in this mood.
Feeling stuck, I looked out the window, watching the streetlights flash by, quickly searching for an excuse.
"I dunno. Exam season's coming up soon, so I'm not sure how things'll go."
"Exam season? So you'll be really busy?"
"I've got a ton of assignments, and if you add exams to that, yeah. Feels like I'm gonna be living at school."
Chae Yujeong's shoulders, which had been stiff and upright, slumped completely at my rejection.
"I'd be fine with even just an hour or two…"
"I won't even have time to eat properly. Gotta squeeze in assignments and study. Even when I called you about the interview stuff, I was working late at school."
"Oh…"
Looking completely dejected, Chae Yujeong glanced at me with the face of a puppy caught in the rain. I pretended not to notice.
Even if he looks at me like that, no means no. I didn't want to say something out of pity and end up with more hassle.
Like last time, he pulled up near the convenience store and got out of the car with me.
"Thanks for dropping me off."
"Uh, hyung."
With his hands clasped together, Chae Yujeong hesitated before speaking again, his confidence clearly gone.
"Then… what about just grabbing a meal with me sometimes? Would you be okay with that?"
It hadn't even been twenty minutes since I decided not to see him again, but seeing him look so defeated shook me a little.
"…If it's just occasionally."
Guess I've got no choice. I mean, he did pay for the barbecue and today's delivery food too.
If I ghost him after getting two free meals, I'd be trash. It's better to pay him back once or twice and then cut things off.
"Yeah. That's more than enough."
Chae Yujeong forced a smile as he took a step back from me.
"Take care, hyung. I'll get going too."
"Yeah. Drive safe."
"I will."
After exchanging our final goodbyes, I turned my back on Chae Yujeong and headed home.
Walking through the alley bathed in yellow streetlight, I frowned and eventually ran my hand through my bangs in frustration.
'This is driving me crazy.'
Why the hell did he smile like that? What's so important about having a meal with me that he looked that disappointed?
"Ha… just forget it. Forget it."
I let out a deep sigh and forcefully pushed away the image of Chae Yujeong's face. Right now, I needed to focus on Yuchae.
＊＊＊
After getting home and washing up, I logged into Zenoris.
The moment I entered the game, the first thing I did was check if Yuchae was online. Just as expected, he was already in the game, perfectly fine.
[Guild] DrinkSomeWater: Hi~
[Guild] TheHunter: The social butterfly Sleepy is hereㅠ
[Guild] SpicyCrabFan: hey hey
[Guild] MochaBread: yo
[Guild] DoraheeHere: Hi Sleepy~ hehe
[Guild] SoSleepy: Hi hi
[Guild] SoSleepy: Why am I suddenly the social one?
[Guild] TheHunter: If you're gaming at this hour on a weekend, it's obvious lol…
[Guild] CrazyForHunting: fr. you should be grinding from early morning like me ahaha
[Guild] ManaOutGuy: must be nice hehe
[Guild] Yuchae: Hyung >ㅡ<
[Guild] Haeren: hey hey
[Guild] SoSleepy: Hi
[Yuchae → You]: Hyung hyung
[Yuchae → You]: Are you home?
Yuchae, noticing I had logged in, messaged me separately. I ignored that for now and messaged Haeren first.
[SoSleepy → Haeren]: Hey, Haeren
[Haeren]: Yess?
[SoSleepy]: I asked this before, but
[SoSleepy]: Do you happen to know what time Yuchae logged in today?
[Haeren]: ??? lololol
[Haeren]: Is this some kind of bet or something? lol
[SoSleepy]: It's importantㅡㅡ
[Haeren]: lololol
Haeren laughed, clearly misunderstanding something, but answered right away.
[Haeren]: I woke up late and logged on in the afternoon,
[Haeren]: Guild leader was already online.
[Haeren]: Not sure exactly what time he logged in though.
[SoSleepy]: Has he been playing nonstop since then?
[Haeren]: Hmm…
[Haeren]: I think he was doing something with WaterDrinker earlier.
[Haeren]: I've been busy grinding quests myself so not too sure.
[Haeren]: But he hasn't logged out at least.
[SoSleepy]: Got it.
[SoSleepy]: Thanks a bunch.
[Haeren]: lolol
[Haeren]: Ugh I'm dying to know what you two are up to (ง •̀_•́)ง
[Haeren]: You have to tell me later.
[Haeren]: If you don't, I'll be so curious I won't be able to sleep at night.
[SoSleepy]: lololol
[SoSleepy]: Okay, I'll tell you later.
I had absolutely zero intention of explaining anything to Haeren, but for now I just told him "sure" and sent a message to Yuchae as well.
[SoSleepy]: Of course I'm home.
[SoSleepy]: Wanna hop on Discord?
[Yuchae]: Y-yeah
[Yuchae]: Yessss!!
[Yuchae]: I w-a-n-n-a
[SoSleepy]: Let's go
I let out a slow breath, put on my headset, and opened Discord.
Looking back, the past month was basically a waste. I'd spent all that time secretly gathering evidence without tipping off Yuchae or Chae Yujeong that I was suspicious—dragging it out unnecessarily.
'I should've done this from the start.'
If I had, I wouldn't have had to deal with all the awkwardness for over a month. Even if Yuchae got disappointed or upset with me, I should've just asked directly and apologized.
"Hyung, hello~!"
"Hey."
Yuchae joined the voice channel and greeted me in a cheerful tone.
"I saw the missed voice call earlier… That was you, right?"
"Yeah, that was me."
"Sorry, I don't really check my phone while I'm gaming… I didn't expect you to call, since you said you'd be busy today."
"It's fine."
"Okay~ So what did you want to talk about?"
I was still thinking about how to start, but thankfully Yuchae asked first.
I cleared my throat and spoke up.
"There's something I've been wanting to ask for a while now."
"Something you want to ask?"
"I'd really appreciate an honest answer."
"What is it?"
Yuchae's voice was casual and curious, not tense in the slightest.
"Do you remember when I first joined the Early Evening guild? You picked a fight with me—said you didn't like my username."
"Oh… yeah, I remember."
"I still don't get it."
This was the key moment that had made me start suspecting both Yuchae and Chae Yujeong.
"Then when you found out I was a Grandmaster in HeoRe, your attitude completely changed."
"..."
"I figured it was because my username in HeoRe and Zenoris was the same… and that's why you changed how you treated me. Is that right?"
Silence. A cold stillness settled in the voice channel. I waited, not rushing his reply.
"Hmm…"
Finally, after a long pause, Yuchae spoke up in a troubled tone.
"I get what you're trying to say, hyung. But the reason I misunderstood you was actually something else."
"…Something else? What do you mean?"
"The truth is… I'd already come across the username 'SoSleepy' in another game."
What?
"Before I started Zenoris, I briefly played another FPS game—and I ran into a player using 'SoSleepy' as their username. They were a total toxic jerk."
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