Chapter 64
Sure enough, far from meekly accepting the bag I handed him, he started bristling all over again.
“You won’t even accept what I buy for you, so why are you giving me something? If you’re going to be like this, let me give you a present too.”
“You lost to me, so that ship has sailed. Just take it.”
“I also… wanted to buy you this plush earlier, but I didn’t because I thought you might hate it, Goyeong.”
So that was why he kept asking if there was anything I wanted? No wonder he looked so damn regretful for someone just casually trying to buy a gift.
“…You’re sweet, Jegyeong. Thinking of me like that.”
“Why don’t you think of me, Goyeong?”
“I think about you a lot normally, though?”
For a moment, as if he was struck speechless, Kang Jegyeong’s mouth opened like he was about to say something, then snapped shut. Soon enough, I could vividly see irritation tightening between his brows.
His reactions were so damn funny.
“That’s not what I mean.”
“No, I’m just saying I do.”
“…Take the plush back. I don’t want it.”
“If you hate it that much, throw it away when you get home.”
“How could I do that?”
“Then I guess you’ll have to live with it for the rest of your life.”
As if my snickering had gotten on his nerves, Kang Jegyeong glared at my face, the area around his eyes turning red again. If I responded to him with a what-do-you-want-me-to-do-about-it attitude, he’d probably throw an absolute fit.
But though Kang Jegyeong looked like he was about to dig in his heels and say something more, he unexpectedly let out a sigh as if giving up and snatched the goods from my hand. Compared to the personality I’d seen from him so far, it was an incredibly soft reaction. I’d expected him to struggle a bit more.
His docile response, unlike what I’d expected, left me feeling uneasy, but in any case, I’d accomplished my goal, so I was satisfied. I lightly patted Kang Jegyeong near the upper arm and smiled brightly.
“Thank you, dear customer. Please let me know if you need anything else.”
Then I gathered up the paper bags again and handed them back to my uncle. Beside me, Kang Jegyeong, who had been avoiding my gaze and worrying his lip between his teeth, muttered weakly as if chewing on the words.
“You won’t even let me buy you anything….”
“Is that why you were sulking?”
“I was sulking.”
How cute.
If he’d been able to read my thoughts, he would have made a fuss again, but regrettably, Kang Jegyeong had no such superpower. He let out a deep breath.
“Then let me buy you something good to eat next time we meet.”
“Sure.”
At my answer, Kang Jegyeong seemed to feel at least a little better and gave a feeble smile.
Though I had readily told him to do that, unfortunately, my true feelings were a little different. When would we even meet again? I stayed holed up at home and barely went out. If he sent me a gift coupon now and then, I’d reluctantly accept it—that was about all I was thinking.
I headed for the elevator after Kang Jegyeong, who was putting the gift I’d forced on him into the paper bag while chattering that we really had to go up now. Then, as we waited for the elevator to arrive, I answered Kang Jegyeong’s continued grumbling with occasional snorts.
Though Kang Jegyeong had accepted it by force, he seemed to like the feel of the plush, because he kept fiddling with its fur with both pale hands. Feeling mischievous, I was about to open my mouth to tease him one more time when, the moment I turned my gaze, I noticed that the rim of Kang Jegyeong’s ear was slightly flushed.
Since the blood had been rushing to his head until just now, it was only natural that his ears were red…. But for some reason, a strange feeling came over me, so I withdrew my urge to tease him and only glared at the innocent elevator doors. He really was something else.
(TheSc 2nd Anniv Pa b4) Mala Devotee @vEJoeVflqpwemv · 3 hrs
Wow omg I was late and rushed onto the elevator and saw not one but two insanely handsome men
Endangered species like you need to roam around outside more.
(TheSc 2nd Anniv Pa b4) Mala Devotee @vEJoeVflqpwemv · 2 sec
omg
* * *
We barely made it into the venue with four minutes left until one o’clock. On the screen display, the remaining time was counting down.
Leaving my uncle, who had decided to wait by the entrance, we went down the narrow corridor. To keep myself from tripping, I placed my hand on Kang Jegyeong’s back in front of me. Feeling my touch against his back, he turned to look at me and smiled goofily. What was he smiling about?
Relying on the screen and the dim lighting, we made our way down to the two empty seats, where chairs with name tags greeted us. The seat on the edge connected to the aisle was mine, and the one right beside it was Kang Jegyeong’s.
“The screen should be easy to see from here. Perfect for watching the trailer.”
“Really?”
At my words, Kang Jegyeong bent over toward the seats and looked at the screen. He seemed to be gauging the view he’d have once seated, but seriously, it was his seat anyway, so why was he doing that instead of just sitting down to check? Dumbfounded, I tapped Kang Jegyeong on the back and urged him to just sit already.
Kang Jegyeong went in first, and as I lowered my seat and sat down, a deep voice that wasn’t Kang Jegyeong’s spoke from beside us.
“Sugang and Boss Bread?”
Boss Bread? It sounded like a title you’d use for the owner of a bakery, but he was clearly calling me.
Leaning back in my chair, I tilted only my head back to look at the seat beside Kang Jegyeong. A man I’d never seen before, wearing glasses, greeted us while looking at us with bright, alert eyes. After our nicknames were spoken, I saw the person next to him, then the person next to that one, and even the person beside them all pop their heads up like meerkats and stare straight at us.
“Wow, why are you two both so tall and good-looking? I’m Massacre!”
“Ah.”
The man who offered a handshake while pouring out friendly chatter was Massacre. Come to think of it, this was the section where the participants were all seated in a row. I reached out my right hand and shook his, then looked past Massacre to see the others simply nodding at us. Unlike Massacre, they all seemed very shy. Well, the only people from Server 3 were the three of us, so since we were complete strangers, it would have been a bit awkward for them to greet us like close friends even if they weren’t shy.
“What were you doing that made you come so late?”
“We were doing some IRL PvP.”
“Pfft, who won?”
He didn’t seem to actually believe we’d gotten into a real fight. It was just that, with his energy so high, everything sounded funny to him, and he showed interest in our supposed IRL PvP.
“Obviously, I won.”
“No. I won at first, so it’s still a draw.”
“Ah, counting that is overkill. It only ended because someone intervened.”
If my uncle hadn’t butted in, the two of us would have glared at each other until one of us dropped. I didn’t know whether the one to drop would have been Kang Jegyeong or me, but in any case, since a third party had intervened and stopped it, I couldn’t accept counting that as Kang Jegyeong’s win.
“…Did you actually fight?”
Massacre, who had been quietly listening to us bicker, asked with round eyes. His tone seemed as if he might add, “At your age?”
“Honey Bread and I are still one to one. We’ll do the final round during the arena demo.”
“Fine. Then if I win in the arena, it’s three to zero, and if you win, it’s two to one. Okay?”
“Fine.”
“You two play exactly like you do in-game, huh.”
Massacre made a comment after seeing the childish spectacle the two of us were putting on. Of course we should be the same as we were in-game. It would be weirder for people who had fun together in a game to suddenly act distant after meeting in real life.
“Sugang, you bought that plush?”
“Ah, Honey Bread bought it for me. Isn’t it cute?”
At the question pointing to the plush, Kang Jegyeong proudly held the long-tailed tit out in front of him to show it off. When he’d been making such a fuss about not accepting it, and now here he was bragging that I’d bought it for him, chattering away about how soft its fur was and how squishy it was. In front of me, the one who bought it, all he’d done was complain, and now he was sitting there showing it off to an outsider. Honestly.
“You said you’d been fighting, but it looks like you were on one hell of a date.”
“I guess so.”
He had the nerve to calmly say, I guess so. So dumbfounded I propped my chin on my hand and glowered at him from the side, and Kang Jegyeong looked at me and smiled warmly. “What?” If it hadn’t been for that grinning face, I would have said something, but seeing the corners of his mouth curled up and his eyes gently arched, the words I’d been about to snap at him slipped right back into my mouth.
I had never really understood the ancient saying that you couldn’t spit in a smiling face, but as of meeting Kang Jegyeong today, I felt like I understood it better than anyone.
As I listened to Kang Jegyeong brag about the plush to Massacre, it was already almost exactly one o’clock. The numbers that had been counting down by the minute were now ticking down from sixty seconds. Once that number reached zero, the trailer would play and the event would begin.
Seeing the numbers change, Kang Jegyeong leaned slightly toward me and spoke.
“What do you think the trailer will be like? They did a good job this time too, right?”
They’d better have. Do you know how much money they poured into it?
“Game companies are good at making everything except games, so of course they probably did.”
“I was disappointed the main quest ended like that, so I’m excited because it feels like we’ll get a little more of the story.”
Once the topic of the story came up, Kang Jegyeong grew talkative and chattered beside me, all while snugly hugging the white plush I’d given him to his chest.