HWAMB — Chapter 18

He grinned playfully, and I shrugged it off with, “Same difference.”

What a relief.

I’d worried things might feel awkward after what happened that day, but maybe that had been pointless.

Hyun-woo seemed calmer than I’d expected.

“Did your class pick your sports festival events yet?”

“Uh… yeah, roughly.”

“What’re you in?”

“Tug-of-war, relay, and soccer.”

“That’s a lot.”

“It’s just a hassle… What about you?”

“Me? Same as always. I stick to the big group ones. Dodgeball, long rope jump. Why…?”

He gave me a strange look, then shook his head quickly.

“I thought you’d be running this time, but I guess not.”

“Oh, that? Our class already has plenty of fast runners, not just the rep and vice rep. So I didn’t need to join.”

“…I see.”

He looked a little downcast.

Was it just me?

I rubbed my eyes and looked again, but no, he still looked the same. Slowly, he spoke.

“Then I won’t get to see you much that day.”

“…Really?”

“….”

An oddly long silence stretched between us.

When I glanced at him with a puzzled face, Hyun-woo sighed and said,

“All your events are like swarms of planaria splitting in two.”

Planaria splitting in two…

The bizarre metaphor left me speechless. The fact that he’d said it with a serious face made it even more impressive.

So that was why he said he wouldn’t get to see me—because of that childish reasoning.

“Planaria? What kind of comparison is that… Just look from a distance and think, ‘Oh, there he is,’ and cheer.”

“We’re on different teams. Why would I cheer?”

His childish reply made me answer just as childishly.

“You said you wanted to see my face. If you keep looking long enough, you’ll spot me eventually.”

“But when I want to see you, I can’t see you properly.”

The sudden words made me freeze.

That was Hyun-woo for you.

He always drove those embarrassing words straight into my chest without hesitation.

If you thought about it, it wasn’t even anything special.

But whenever he said things like that to me, it felt like a heavy truth.

Of course, I was the one left blushing.

When I muttered, “It’s just one day, no big deal,” Hyun-woo doubled down, putting on a sorrowful face and adding, “And on top of that, we’re on different teams,” as if we were tragic lovers torn apart.

When I snapped at him to stop joking, he pouted and insisted he was serious.

I could only shake my head and sigh. Hyun-woo looked at me with steady eyes, then gave a faint smile.

“Kang Eun-jae, you just thought I was being childish, nitpicking every little thing, didn’t you?”

“N-no, I didn’t.”

How did he always know?

Flustered, I denied it too quickly, basically confirming it.

Taking it as a yes, he gave a crooked little smile.

The laugh that followed was low and quiet, somehow leaving me unsettled.

“You know, you’re part of the reason I turned out this way.”

“Me?”

“Of course. You kissed me first, even though I confessed to you.”

“Hey…! That, that was—!”

“And you still haven’t even given me an answer.”

“That’s… um…”

“Why did you kiss me then?”

“….”

As always, I admitted fault quickly. But that didn’t mean I gave him a real answer.

Seeing me neither confirm nor deny, Hyun-woo gave a short, knowing laugh.

“See? You were going to avoid the question again. How can I not act childish?”

He laughed helplessly, as if it were absurd.

Sensing danger from the tone I’d learned to recognize after years of knowing him, I tried to bolt toward home, but he caught me easily.

His piercing gaze was unbearable, so I covered his eyes with my hand and shouted,

“Hey! I know I was wrong, but just calm down, okay? Calm down!”

“Yeah… so we’re going all the way, huh? Fine, let’s do it.”

“Do what…”

At that moment, Hyun-woo smiled sweetly.

Just a second ago, he’d been chasing me with a terrifying look, but now he was glowing like nothing had happened.

“I like you.”

“What…”

Another sudden confession left me flustered, unable to meet his eyes.

Hyun-woo just smiled again, as if he were satisfied.

Even without a proper answer, he seemed perfectly content. For better or worse, Shim Hyun-woo’s face was a weapon.

In the end, all the way home, I kept hearing him say, “I like you.”

* * *

A few days after the day Hyun-woo kept showering me with “I like you,” his behavior suddenly changed.

He had always walked home with me, always waited for my homeroom to end. But starting yesterday, he’d just left after dropping me a single text.

We’d been together for fourteen years, and this was the first time he’d acted like this.

At first, I thought, “He must be busy,” and let it go. I figured, “It’ll go back to normal soon.” But the same thing happened the next day, and the day after that.

Whenever I tried to probe casually, wondering if he had some secret situation, Hyun-woo either brushed me off or clammed up without answering.

And today was no different.

With a sigh, I turned off my phone and slung my bag over my shoulder. Young-ho and Sang-su, watching from beside me, tilted their heads in confusion.

“Huh? You’re going home alone again? What’s up? You haven’t been with Shim Hyun-woo lately.”

“Dunno. Must be busy.”

“Sounds fishy… Could it be… cheating?”

“Cheating, my ass. You wanna die?”

I smacked the laughing idiots on the back with my fist.

That word would only apply if we were actually dating. Friends like them only wanted to tease me.

Even before Hyun-woo confessed, they used to joke, “No matter how close childhood friends are, nobody does all that unless he’s got feelings.” Back then, I scoffed. But now, those words had come back to hit me like a boomerang.

“Whatever, let’s go to the PC café. Today’s the day I finally make you into a true noob.”

“Ugh, hate that tone.”

The two of them threw their arms around my shoulders, laughing as we headed into the hallway. Startled when they told me to cheer up already, I grabbed my face with both hands.

Did I really look that mad?

A sigh slipped out of me.

I hadn’t even properly answered Hyun-woo yet, so what right did I have to be angry?

It was true his behavior had been strange lately, but that wasn’t something I had the right to resent.

Fine. I’ll just unwind for a bit.

“Argh!!”

The shout Young-ho let out was loud, but quickly drowned in the noise.

Everyone else was too focused on their own screens.

Grinding his teeth, Young-ho slammed furiously at his keyboard.

[짱ㅇㅏ찌: tlqkf;; how the hell is he a noob]
[짱ㅇㅏ찌: you lied about being new, didn’t you]
[SquirrelG: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[SquirrelG: trash player, gg]
[SUSU: lol losing to a newbie, what a joke]
[ZㅣZㅣ 대마왕: hahahahaha]
[SUSU: just quit lmao]

Unable to stand the flood of “ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ” directed at his character “짱ㅇㅏ찌,” Young-ho looked at me with wounded eyes. Sang-su was holding back laughter, shoulders shaking.

I shamelessly typed a demand.

[SquirrelG: hand over some good loot, you said you’d make me a true newbie]
[ZㅣZㅣ 대마왕: free welfare, nice]
[SUSU: hahahahahahahahaha]
[짱ㅇㅏ찌: wa, wait a sec]
[짱ㅇㅏ찌: st, stop—]

I circled the nearly dead “짱ㅇㅏ찌,” who had only 1 HP left. Young-ho had challenged me to a duel under the pretense of teaching me how PK worked.

To be fair, he’d stripped off all his weapons and armor, saying the fight had to be balanced.

Though really, it was less about fairness and more because bullying a newbie with full gear would’ve gotten him mocked.

I could see right through him.

I hadn’t been gaming much lately, but when I was younger, I’d been insanely competitive.

At arcades in the neighborhood, I used to slam the controls alongside Hyun-woo. It wasn’t just PC games—board games, yut-nori, chess—I always played with everything I had.

In the end, “짱ㅇㅏ찌” still refused to drop any good loot and met his end against the raggedly dressed “SquirrelG.”

Sure, I’d adapted quickly even though it was my first time, but Young-ho’s clumsy controls had helped too.

Served him right.

He’d acted like he was helping me, but of course he’d only wanted to boost his win rate.

I swore never to game with them again.

Leaving Young-ho sulking behind us, I exited the game and busied myself with classic Tetris.

As each block fit neatly into place, my tangled mood settled little by little.

Fighting games could be cathartic, but nothing calmed the mind like Tetris.

I was deep in concentration when my phone lit up.

It was a message from Hyun-woo. I paused the game and checked it quickly.

[You didn’t go straight home?]

I could almost imagine what face he’d worn writing that. It felt sharp, a little on edge.

Or maybe it was just my own mood reading into it.

I sent back a short reply.

[Yeah]

Barely a second after “Read” appeared under my text, my phone buzzed.