TGMND 80

He ran into the guy next door on his way to the swimming pool. However, an hour later, the man still hadn’t shown up at the pool. He thought he would just stop by home and come right back. Without realizing it, Yoon Ji-gu spent more time glancing at the beginner’s lane than actually swimming. He walked to the locker room.

「neutaaaa: I can’t log in to the game today.」

「neutaaaa: I’m sick….」

“Huh? He’s sick?”

Ji-gu inadvertently said it out loud. Then that means he was already sick when they met earlier?

「You suddenly got sick?」

「Where does it hurt?」

Neuta wasn’t usually the type to reply quickly.

「Hyung」

「Hyung?」

But when there was no immediate response, Ji-gu started to feel anxious for no reason.

「Where are you?」

Thinking about the guy who could barely stand made him walk faster. Without considering how Neuta might find it strange when he checked later, Ji-gu rushed over and started pressing the neighbor’s doorbell. After a while, the man came out. His eyes were half-closed and unfocused. He hadn’t looked this sick earlier, but now his eyes and neck were bright red. Moreover, he was even staggering as if he could barely walk. The body Ji-gu caught reflexively was burning hot.

“Why, why are you like this?”

“Cold.”

“A cold? Did you take medicine?”

The man pondered for a moment at those words, then tilted his head. He seemed completely out of it due to the fever. “Yoon Ji-gu? The man mumbled, wondering why he was at his house. As he turned around, his sweat-soaked hair fluttered in the air.

“Hyung!”

Yoon Ji-gu shouted without realizing it as he barely managed to catch the falling man before his head hit the floor. Yeo-woon, who had been dazed the whole time, lost consciousness and fell asleep. Yoon Ji-gu checked the man’s forehead and realized that he would die if he left him like this. The thought flashed through his mind that he was not his usual self as he carried the man to his home.

After giving medicine to the man who had opened his eyes in a daze, he mumbled something unintelligible and fell asleep again. When he woke up much later, his fever had gone down considerably. Although Ji-gu spoke gruffly on purpose, not wanting to reveal that he had been worried, the man stared at him with his characteristically clear eyes and smiled faintly.

“Ji-gu-ssi, thank you.”

It felt oddly embarrassing, even though it wasn’t the first time he had been thanked.

While contemplating how to deal with this odd feeling, the next-door man dropped a bombshell. He said he had Ji-gu’s report card. Judging from his behavior, Ji-gu had guessed he wasn’t the stalker who had been harassing him for over a year, but still. The thought of his grades for this semester being exposed made him want to die a little.

“But it’s you, wasn’t it?”

“…What?”

“When you came to my house earlier, you called me ‘hyung.’”

I did? Ji-gu was bewildered, unable to remember at all.

“If you don’t like calling me ‘hyung’, you can call me ‘Yeo-woon-ssi’.”

“…!”

‘Hyung’ was better after all. Calling him by name seemed too friendly. Not just Lee Yeo-woon, but ‘Yeo-woon-ssi’. There was no way he could call him that.

“…T-then just ‘hyung’.”

Yeo-woon looked satisfied. In the past, Ji-gu wouldn’t have liked his smile, but now he just thought it looked nice.

“Then hyung… you can speak informally to me too.”

“…?”

“You’re four years older than me… and I feel a bit uncomfortable too.”

“Should I? I’m good at speaking informally.”

He switched to informal speech as if he’d been waiting for it. Ji-gu didn’t feel bad about it. No, he might have even liked it a little. Yeo-woon’s voice, still weak from the fever, suddenly became more lively.

“Ah, stop staring! Is it really such a big deal? You’re making me feel awkward…”

Yoon Ji-gu yelled out of embarrassment. Despite this, Yeo-woon didn’t avert his gaze. Ji-gu forcibly made him lie down and insisted he stay and sleep until morning. Yeo-woon agreed without much resistance.

Even while working with his muted laptop in front of him, Yoon Ji-gu could feel Yeo-woon’s gaze on his cheek. It was troubling. Why won’t he stop staring? But he couldn’t really say anything to a sick person… After a while, when Yeo-woon, who had been glancing at him, fell asleep, Ji-gu could freely admire his face.

“…What the hell.”

His features were delicate. Why hadn’t he noticed this before? Yeo-woon was breathing softly with one arm dangling off the couch. His light-colored hair was disheveled with sweat and stuck to his forehead. The sleeping Yeo-woon wasn’t annoying, just peaceful. It felt strange to see him sleeping without saying a word. Yoon Ji-gu pulled the half-fallen blanket up to his shoulders and turned off the soft auxiliary light on the side table.

***

After barely saving him from a summer cold that could have killed him, Lee Yeo-woon played a trick on Ji-gu. He should have known from the moment Yeo-woon put strange clothes on the character customized to look like him, but in the end, Yeo-woon caused trouble during the castle siege finals.

‘Sunset has declared neutaaaa as a target!’

During the siege, some childish jerk kept declaring Yeo-woon as a target and focusing all attacks on him. Ji-gu couldn’t understand why they were doing this to someone who dies easily anyway. Moreover…

[Global] SpadeQueen: She says she doesn’t like how you look.

[Global] SpadeQueen: Says you look like sh*t

[Global] neutaaaa: Wth?

The guild master of Melody’s guild booed and jeered at Neuta’s character. Ji-gu had felt a sense of kinship with her as they had both been chat-banned, but now this… He had wanted to get along well, but this was really unfortunate. Insulting Neuta’s appearance was like insulting Ji-gu himself. Enduring this silently would make him look weak.

…No, this really pisses him off? What’s wrong with how he looks? That crazy bastard was talking nonsense because he didn’t know anything. Says he looks like sh*t? Sh*t? This was really absurd.

Him?

‘Ji9star has declared Sunset as a target!’

Yoon Ji-gu started focusing his attacks on the guy, turning it into a one-on-one battle with Sunset rather than a castle siege. Yeo-woon joined in too, but he wasn’t much help.

[Guild] ParkRoach: What are you three really doing? lololololololol

[Guild] al0ha: lolololololololol It’s just PVP

[Guild] CatMeowMeowMeow: It seems like they’re fighting a different battle from us…

In truth, it was partly true that Neuta’s appearance… was sh*tty. Every time Yeo-woon lurked around him in that strange outfit, Ji-gu got a headache. He was annoyed that he couldn’t chat, irritated by Sunset who kept killing only Yeo-woon, but most of all, Yeo-woon was so frustrating. After respawning, he should have stayed hidden quietly, but instead, he would rush over panting to help Ji-gu, only to be killed by Sunset. That was practically su*cide.

And besides, do you want to keep letting the person you like die?

They won the castle siege, but Ji-gu still couldn’t chat. Above all, Ji-gu didn’t like the person who kept following Yeo-woon’s head around and using the booing emoticon without coming to his senses. That guy needed some mental education.

When Ji-gu requested a one-on-one PVP with Sunset, he accepted without a moment’s hesitation. It seemed she didn’t refuse fights that were brought to him.

The first round was Ji-gu’s victory. No matter how much that person tried with equipment and control, she was still a Moon Fairy. A character that only gives buffs couldn’t possibly be a match for a dealer.

After successfully killing Sunset three times in a row, Ji-gu used the booing emoticon at Sunset’s respawn location. Then, a few seconds later, the respawned Sunset giggled. And right in front of Ji-gu, she wagged her index finger left and right while shaking her head. It was as if she was saying, ‘You’re no match for me.’ This bastard still hadn’t come to her senses even after dying at Ji-gu’s hands several times.

Although both Sunset and Ji-gu were chat-banned and couldn’t have a keyboard battle, there was no problem communicating. Yoon Ji-gu lost the second round narrowly. He lost the third round by a slim margin too. After seven consecutive rounds, it started to get bored. It seemed Sunset felt the same way, as in the last round she completely let go and just kept using the yawning emoticon.

After finishing the fight, the only thing left on the map was the event NPC. Ji-gu reported the match results to the one who caused the fight with Sunset.

「I won all but three rounds lol」

He won four out of seven rounds. It was his victory. This could be considered revenge for Neuta’s humiliation, so Yeo-woon should be happy.

「neutaaaa: Why did you fight?」

“…Isn’t he an idiot?”

Ji-gu took revenge for him, and he’s asking why he fought? Does he need to explain everything in detail?

「That bastard said your character, not even the clothes, looks like sh*t」

「Looks like shit lololol」

「-_-」

「Who does she think she is to criticize someone’s looks, it’s really infuriating;」

But in truth, he was more angry about the criticism of his appearance than about revenge. After all, he had never been second to anyone in terms of looks since birth. Yeo-woon must have fallen for him at first sight too. That’s why he customized his game character to look like Ji-gu, right?

「neutaaaa: Why does that matter?」

But Yeo-woon doesn’t know that he’s an Earth Star. That’s why there’s a difference in how he treats Yoon Ji-gu and Earth Star.

「neutaaaa: Haha」

“…?”

Yeo-woon suddenly laughed for no reason.

「Why are you suddenly laughing?」

「neutaaaa: lololololol Because it’s cute」

「What is?」

「neutaaaa: Because Earth Star is cute lolololololololol」

“Huh?”

「Wgat;」

For a moment, Yoon Ji-gu lost his composure and made a typo. Cute? Me?

「???????」

What is he talking about? It would make sense if he had done something cute, but suddenly being called cute out of nowhere didn’t make sense. He hadn’t used an emoji or shown his game character in front of Yeo-woon. Yeo-woon was in the guild room, while Ji-gu was still in the event map. He wanted to ask exactly what part made Yeo-woon feel that way.

「No realy why are ypu like this???」

He momentarily lost his rationality and unintentionally made typos. Why is he suddenly acting like this? He must be up to something. You can’t trust what someone says until the end. Maybe it was actually a lie…

「neutaaaa: lololol」

Instead of correcting him, Neuta just laughed. He didn’t properly explain his outrageous statement about Ji-gu being cute. It only added to the confusion.

And there was a side effect to this. On a weekday afternoon, as soon as he saw Yeo-woon at the swimming pool, he heard an auditory hallucination.

It’s cute.

You’re cute.

Earth Star is cute…

“…”

No, this isn’t right! He felt like he was under a spell. Yoon Ji-gu shook his head and submerged himself in the water up to his head, trying to control his mind. He blinked underwater and counted to ten.

One, two…

‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen him at the swimming pool…’

It seems his body has recovered enough to swim now. It was good that his cold had fully healed. After all, it would have been unsettling if someone died in the neighboring apartment. After entering the water and swimming to the end of the lane and back, all the distracting thoughts in his head completely disappeared…

“…!”

Aaah! Ji-gu almost screamed out loud.

As soon as he raised his head, Yeo-woon was right in front of him. He didn’t know when he had gotten so close. The look in his eyes was the same as when they first met. His clear eyes sparkled, fully focused on Ji-gu. …Why was he looking at him with those eyes again? Just as Ji-gu was about to tell him to go away because he felt burdened…

“Is it your face that makes you stand out?”

“…?”

“You’re really unnecessarily handsome…”

He blurted out a blatant compliment right to Ji-gu’s face. But Ji-gu wasn’t too flustered. Yeo-woon talking to himself was a daily occurrence. It was a repeated action whenever they met at the cafe, so he was used to it by now.

He really wasn’t flustered. Really.

“How can you say such things to someone’s face?”

Yoon Ji-gu rebuked Yeo-woon for his careless words and firmly repeated himself.

“I appreciate the compliment. But I find this kind of thing burdensome.”

“What?”

“I told you before, let’s, uh, just be friends.”

If I’ve said this much, please understand!

“Huh? I know. Can’t friends tell each other they’re good-looking?”

“…”

But Yeo-woon was a tough opponent. No matter what he said, it didn’t seem to get through to him. This was a difficult issue. How could he make him give up?

“I was just talking to myself and accidentally said it out loud, so don’t mind it.”

“…”

He knew it was a habit of Yeo-woon’s, but how could he not be affected by it? It wasn’t just any comment; it was about how he stood out because he was handsome.

“But why are you speaking formally…”

Thinking Yeo-woon might have forgotten that they agreed to speak informally, Ji-gu kindly reminded him of that fact. Yeo-woon seemed to remember then, his expression showing realization.

“When did you start swimming?”

He immediately switched to informal speech. And somehow, that attitude felt too smooth, making Ji-gu feel strange.

“…You’re really natural at it, hyung.”

“At what?”

“I don’t know if you really don’t know or if you’re pretending.”

It was a subtly sarcastic comment, but Yeo-woon didn’t seem to understand. Ji-gu was just frustrating himself.

“You’re also way too interested in me….”

This was another sarcasm, but Yeo-woon just blinked innocently.

Ignoring everything Ji-gu said, Yeo-woon suggested they leave together when it was time to go.

Leave together…? Ji-gu was a bit afraid that if he answered wrong, Yeo-woon might think of this as a date or something. But it wasn’t like he was asking to go watch a movie or eat together, just to go home together, so there was no reason not to agree. Although showering together was still too much…

“I’ll go out first and wait, then we can go home together.”

Yeo-woon seemed to be overjoyed at Ji-gu’s words. Could that really make him so happy? Seeing him so pleased made Ji-gu feel oddly proud. Yeo-woon’s steps towards the beginner’s section looked light and cheerful.