I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone for reading so far! I just want to apologise for my recent uploads which have been somewhat delayed and also short. This is only temporary as right now as I've got some stuff going on in life that will be resolved by the end of October. Updates will still come, of course!
I will be posting more updates (not chapters of this work) on my patreon for those that follow me for the free and paid memberships and will be releasing a schedule shortly for my works.
Thank you!
----
Min-jae took a swig of beer he'd retrieved from his fridge. It was one of those generic light beers with a green label, 'Kasp'. A cheap can of an eight-pack he'd picked up earlier in the week, largely on a whim, and by now he'd already cracked open two, settling on his third with a quiet sigh. The taste was bland but strangely comforting and bitter.
He'd only logged in fifteen minutes ago, yet his mind already felt foggy and heavy with the weight of the day's events. He opened his chat with Jun, though he hadn't yet replied to the last message. Min-jae's thoughts were scattered. He felt like his brain had been through a blender.
His cheeks were flush red and a warm sensation snaked its way across his face. His vision felt… delayed? Whenever he'd look at something on his screen, it took a second for his brain to catch up.
At least, he thought, he felt a little lighter. A small, tentative relief.
[Whisper] 2MinHae: Nrllo
[Whisper] W0nderjunjun: ?
Min-jae giggled quietly at the glaring typo, shaking his head and correcting it.
[Whisper] 2MinHae: Sorry, typo. Hello. Hi :)
W0nderjunjun didn't respond immediately. Instead, Min-jae's attention was drawn to a call notification that popped up in the corner of his screen, blinking insistently. His heart skipped a beat, a mix of excitement and nervous anticipation curling in his stomach.
It was W0nderjunjun – he started a call!
Min-jae scrambled for his headset and microphone, fumbling with the tangled cords as he turned them on, nearly knocking over his can of bitter drink multiple times in the process. The fizz sloshed dangerously close to the edge, and he let out a sigh of relief then clicked to accept the call.
"Good evening," the voice came from the other side. Min-jae perked up from the tired, calm voice down the end of the line; ears reddening from excitement yet embarrassment from said excitement.
"Good evening!" Min-jae slurred his words. Click, the sharp sound of the can opening echoed and could be heard by the other party as Min-jae clicked open another drink.
"Sounds like you're getting drunk," W0nderjunjun said with a faint chuckle. "Are you celebrating something?"
"No. I hate my job. I hate my life. I want to quit but finding a new job is impossible." Min-jae's unfiltered words tumbled out of his words like vomit. His tongue moved faster than his words, he couldn't catch them before they spilled out so quickly.
"What kind of work do you do?" W0nderjunjun asked with caution high in his voice.
A familiar notification popped up on the screen, inviting him to a party with his new friend. He joined it, yet there was an additional profile in the group. Min-jae didn't recognise the name. They were online, and in the same city as them; the dot on the map was all the way across the city in the trading district.
"Who's this guy?" He blatantly asked while ignoring the previous question. The room seemed to tilt slightly, a quiet ringing growing in his ears as his heart thudded unevenly.
Jun was dismissive, "Just a friend. He'll leave in a sec. He just needed to transfer a few things across."
W0nderjunjun's response didn't really answer Min-jae's question. It actually added more questions on top of that. "Transfer what?"
"Stuff."
"Stuff?"
"Gold, items, you know. Stuff. What else could it be?"
Min-jae took the hint and let out an awkward, breathy laugh. "Right…" He murmured, the word dragging on just a little too long. He was still barely in control of his words, his thoughts and decided to hold off on probing further.
Click. The sound cut through the brief silence. Min-jae blinked, momentarily confused. What was that noise? The glow of his monitor reflected off a small army of cans: some empty, some half-open, others still sealed, little silver soldiers scattered across his desk.
The realisation slowly flashed through his muddled mind: that sound didn't come from him. "Jun… are you drinking too?" he asked, half incredulous, half amused.
He received a hum of confirmation in return. It was warm, yet still distant. "Your boss on your ass again?" Jun's voice carried a lazy rhythm, punctuated by the sound of a sip.
Min-jae exhaled sharply, rubbing his eyes. "I can't do anything right. You know, I really try hard. But maybe you were right. Maybe I should just quit tomorrow…" His words spilled out like a slow leak, bitter but tired.
"Do you have anything lined up after?"Jun's voice was softer.
"No," Min-jae said with a hollow laugh. "But honestly? I'd rather be dead than keep working for this bastard."
"You should come work for me."
Min-jae straightened a little in his chair. The words he spoke didn't quite make sense to his brain. A shred of hope rose in his chest. Despite that, his mind immediately went to make fun of him, he couldn't have been serious. "Work for you? What, are you a manager now?"
There was a moment of silence. Then Jun snorted and his laughter followed after. "I'm joking… I don't even know where you live."
Oh, so he wasn't serious after all. However, one thing stuck with Min-jae. Where did his friend live? He briefly registered his character running in the background next to W0nderjunjun. His fingers were moving on their own out of pure muscle memory, with the occasional misclick.
At this point, his vision was too blurry to read whatever was on the screen. Too blurry to notice all the healing items being used on him, a kind gesture by W0nderjunjun.
Min-jae leaned back in his chair, his head tilting until it rested against the worn cushion. "You know," he mumbled, "you sound like you're smiling. Did you want to meet me?"
"Perhaps." There was a soft clink of glass on his end, another drink, maybe. "You should smile, too. You're too hard on yourself, MinHae."
Jun paused for a second when he said that last word – the name. It sounded too familiar. A thought crossed through his mind, is it possible…?
He felt guilty, especially since the boy reminded him of his own subordinate at work. Someone who's always too hard on himself, and someone who tends to make… quite a few mistakes. He pressed another healing item in his inventory, restoring 2MinHae up to half health from near-zero.
Min-jae let the words hang in the air.
"I'm so drunk. What are we even doing in-game?"
"Well," Jun replied dryly, "you've been nearly dying to goblins. And I'm pretty sure you've had my character on 'follow' for the last hour."
"We've been playing for an hour already?"
"Yep."
"I think I'm gonna-" Something bubbled up in the back of his throat. It tasted funny, like something metallic and acidic, and horribly sweet? He felt like his throat was aching, burning, and his heart pounded like a drum. His head hurt. Double vision took over, yet everything was spinning.
Spinning fast.
A groan emitted deep from his chest along with a half choke, half whimper.
"Are you okay?"
Min-jae threw his headphones on the ground and pushed his chair back so fast it screeched against the floor. Thumping sounds of feet battering against the floor could be heard. He didn't mute his microphone.
"MinHae?"
"Aaaahhhh." The cry came from down the hall, followed by the unmistakable, gut-wrenching sounds of violent retching. While it wasn't clear and easy to hear, vague bits of sound dribbled through the headset followed by moments of silence, then sounds of running water.
Min-jae didn't even bother to return to his desk, instead, he left his character logged in and dramatically flopped onto the bed. He was, obviously, done for the night. Thankfully, his character was still on 'follow' and W0nderjunjun safely escorted him back to a safe zone once he heard the smack of the headset bouncing across the floor.
EclypseLink was still open. Jun had wondered where his friend had gone in a hurry – hoping that the sounds he was making was just vomit and not choking and dying.
The sounds of Min-jae sleeping softly couldn't be heard. Something that he'd probably be thankful of in the morning, since he was still in the call.
With W0nderjunjun still on the other side.