Episode 61
Hearing our answer, Solo rustled the bag of cookies and muttered.
“No matter how close I am with someone in-game, it’s always awkward when we meet for the first time.”
“That’s why it was awkward for me too when I first met you, Solo. If the other person feels awkward, I feel awkward right along with them, like I’m going to die of it.”
“Right, that’s exactly how they are. They usually act so bold, but they stiffen up as soon as they meet someone like that.”
Even Mun Seonhwa, who had finished his sausage, abruptly cut in. And I couldn’t deny it—if it’s obvious the other person feels awkward, I don’t know what to do with myself either, and I end up fumbling around, unable to act normal. It’s much better when someone approaches me comfortably, like an old friend, even if they’re a bit overbearing like Gang Jegyeong.
The fact that it wasn’t awkward even though we’d just met was largely thanks to Gang Jegyeong.
“You’re quite selective about people, then.”
Gang Jegyeong murmured as if talking to himself. Except it was only his tone that murmured—he spoke clearly and distinctly, loud enough for me to hear, so it was obvious he was teasing me. What made it more annoying was the reaction of Mun Seonhwa and Solo sitting beside him.
“The Guild Leader’s personality is seriously trash.”
“You should know how to embrace people who find it hard to approach you. That’s too much.”
“If you keep this up, I’ll tear up all those signed art books of yours, just you wait.”
“Aww.”
I held back the urge to smack them and glared instead. Mun Seonhwa made an awkward attempt at acting cute with his mouth while his hands quickly stashed the art books into Solo’s eco-bag. Then Solo hugged the bag tightly to his chest, guarding the art books.
As I watched their highly suspicious behavior with a glare, I heard Gang Jegyeong chuckling lowly from beside me, his throat rumbling.
“What are you laughing at? I’ll break your hand so you can’t sign anything either, just so you know.”
“……Isn’t the severity of that punishment too extreme compared to those two?”
“If you know that, behave.”
“But I always treat you well.”
His face tilted toward me, smiling affably with the corners of his eyes curving gently. Treat me well, my ass. Just the reputation points I’d lost because of him amounted to quite a few.
Just as I reached out to push Gang Jegyeong’s head away as if to say not a chance, a loud song burst out from nearby. Startled, I looked toward the sound to see Solo hurriedly pulling out his phone and staring at the screen.
“It’s 12:40. We really have to go now.”
“Really? Already? That’s insane.”
It must have been the alarm they’d set for when they needed to head back up. I opened my mouth to tell the two, who were debating whether to stay just five more minutes, to stop thinking about teasing me and hurry up and leave, when suddenly, soft hair that was warm yet cool brushed past my still-outstretched hand as if rubbing against it.
I pulled my arm back and turned my head to see Gang Jegyeong still smiling. However, seeing that his neatly falling hair was slightly disheveled, it seemed I had accidentally hit him. Though I hadn’t moved my arm…….
“What is it?”
“Nothing, I just thought my hand and your head bumped, so I was wondering if you were okay.”
“I’m fine.”
Good, if he’s fine. I muttered to myself while lightly fixing his messy hair. Gang Jegyeong didn’t refuse my hand fixing his hair and obediently let me take care of it.
Solo, who had been noisily packing up since the alarm rang, called out, “Guild Leader,” so I stopped my hand and looked over.
“Before we go, take this.”
Solo reached into the bundle he’d been carrying preciously all this time and rummaged around. A rustling sound came from the bag, and in his now-empty hand was a bag full of potion-shaped cookies, smaller than my palm, with red and blue jam spread on them. So that’s what he’d been nibbling on alone this whole time—it seemed to be these cookies.
“Take one bag each.”
Solo handed a bundle of cookies to me and Gang Jegyeong each, prattling on that the HP potions were strawberry jam and the mana potions were blueberry jam. The cookies were baked neatly without a single cracked piece and looked quite appetizing.
There was no way Solo, whose cooking skills were nothing to write home about, had baked this many cookies. It was obviously a product of Mun Seonhwa’s profligate spending.
“Thanks.”
Since they were money-burning cookies, they’d probably taste good. I thanked Solo and took the cookies. Gang Jegyeong, who had a sweet tooth, also accepted them with a pleased expression, turning the bag around and examining each cookie one by one.
“They’re really tasty. They’re about to sell out, and we even handed some out to the event staff before you two arrived—everyone said they were delicious.”
“Well, who’s going to say they taste bad when they’re getting them for free?”
“You and that mouth of yours.”
Solo made a gesture as if to hit my mouth. It was the kind of playful hit he always threw without reservation.
It was all in good fun, but personally, I didn’t like people touching near my mouth, so I frowned slightly and gently pushed his arm away. Fortunately, Solo didn’t seem to catch my discomfort and withdrew his arm obediently, exchanging words with Mun Seonhwa.
I didn’t want to snap at Solo, who knew nothing since I hadn’t said anything, so I rubbed my mouth and looked around for somewhere else to direct my attention. In the process, I ended up making eye contact with Gang Jegyeong.
Gang Jegyeong looked at me with a calm expression, not a hint of surprise. It didn’t seem like our eyes had met by chance; it felt like he’d been looking at me this whole time.
Up until just now, he’d only worn his habitual faint smile, but when I looked at him, he asked what was wrong and grinned. Why did it feel like our eyes met every time I looked at him? I didn’t know what there was to see, looking at me like that. Had he really set me as a target to watch?
“Hey, we really need to go now. God, we’ve barely been here…….”
“Because of the entrance line?”
“Yeah. I know someone upstairs, and they said we’d probably need to be in line by now.”
Mun Seonhwa stood up, careful not to let the long tail attached to his clothes drag on the floor, his face full of reluctance. Solo, standing up after him, looked the same.
Mun Seonhwa pouted his lips, making it blatantly obvious he didn’t want to leave.
“You hurry up and eat, then come up too.”
“Sure. Go on ahead.”
“Sugang-nim, if I can see you again later, I hope we do. Enjoy your meal…….”
The two waved their hands but didn’t move their feet, hovering as if leaving but not leaving. I waved my hand at the two who had finally dragged themselves off and were trudging toward the elevator.
Mun Seonhwa and Solo, who had been glaring this way from in front of the crowded elevator doors, finally left, and only then did I lower my arm and pick up my chopsticks again. I could still feel Gang Jegyeong’s gaze beside me.
I turned my head to the right, and sure enough, Gang Jegyeong was still looking at me. I held my chopsticks in my mouth and asked why with only my lips, and he hesitated evasively for a moment before cautiously broaching the subject.
“Is she your girlfriend?”
His attitude was so cautious that I wondered what he was going to say, and then.
“No. She’s just a childhood friend.”
I answered simply and put some rice and sausage in my mouth. There was a time when she’d been my girlfriend, but that was in the past, and now she was like family. The reason we’d broken up so soon after dating was that she felt too much like a younger sister…….
Anyway, whether she was a girlfriend or not, it was none of his business to feel burdened about, yet Gang Jegyeong looked slightly relieved, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Did he have a crush on her or something?
“Why? Do you like her?”
“……Huh? No?”
I’d probed subtly, but Gang Jegyeong looked at me as if to ask what I was talking about. No, then why did he look relieved when I said she wasn’t my girlfriend if that wasn’t the reason?
“It wasn’t for that reason. I just thought, if she were your girlfriend, I should have treated her a bit better.”
“…….”
She’s my girlfriend, why would you treat her well. A good-looking guy like him was asking for trouble.
“If it’s someone else’s girlfriend…… be cold to her. That’s what you should do.”
“Why?”
‘Why?’ If he didn’t know, he should learn the hard way by getting cursed out for hitting on a friend’s lover. I kept my mouth shut.
Gang Jegyeong seemed frustrated that I’d closed my mouth and was just eating, because he couldn’t wait and started poking my thigh with his left fingers.
It was at a ticklish level, so I let it be, but when the pressure gradually increased, I moved my chopsticks to my left hand and pressed down firmly on Gang Jegyeong’s hand. With his hand caught, Gang Jegyeong wriggled his fingers, and I could feel the bones on the back of his hand moving distinctly against my palm.
“Just eat your food. We’ll be late.”
“If you answer me.”
“You’ll experience it firsthand later.”
If you live like that. I swallowed the rest of the words along with my rice for the sake of Gang Jegyeong’s tumultuous life. I wasn’t ambidextrous, but I could use chopsticks well enough with my left hand that eating wasn’t a problem.
Perhaps intending to let it go at the words that he’d experience it himself, Gang Jegyeong fell quiet and simply watched me eat. I thought he’d eat on his own, but after setting down his chopsticks once, he didn’t touch his lunchbox again.
“Aren’t you eating?”
I’d been wondering when he was going to eat, so I finally asked, and Gang Jegyeong stared blankly at me. Did it not taste good? Should I buy him something else? As I was thinking that, Gang Jegyeong cut off my train of thought in a casual tone.
“Will you feed me?”
Compared to his tone, what he said was anything but casual.
“……Why would I?”
“Because Go Yeong is holding my hand, so I can’t eat.”
Ah. Only then did I let go of Gang Jegyeong’s hand that I’d been pressing down on. Come to think of it, he was left-handed.
As our hands separated, Gang Jegyeong slowly raised his hand and flexed it open and closed. I hadn’t even pressed that hard—he could have pulled away on his own……. Even though I hadn’t deliberately stopped him from eating, I felt oddly sorry for having hindered his meal.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Go Yeong’s hand was nice and warm, so I liked it.”
At my brief apology, he spoke in a gentle tone and picked up his chopsticks again to start eating.
I wasn’t in the habit of talking while eating, and for some reason, Gang Jegyeong also seemed lost in thought, so thinking I should hurry up and finish so we could leave, I quickened my pace.
Aside from the sounds of people from the hallway, there was only silence, yet sitting side by side with someone I’d met for the first time today and eating without a word was incredibly comfortable without a hint of awkwardness—and I quite liked that.