TGMND 81

As soon as he confirmed that Yeo-woon had left, Yoon Jigu hurriedly put on some clothes, still with a towel on his head. He didn’t want Yeo-woon to wait and suffer from the heat, only to faint again. Yeo-woon looked a bit dazed when he saw Jigu come out so quickly, but soon smiled with his eyes curved. He looked genuinely happy. What’s so joyful about just walking home together?

He chattered away as they walked out of the pool and down the street. The topic was the new instructor for the beginner class. He hadn’t even realized it had changed until Yeo-woon mentioned it.

“The instructor is the same age as you.”

Right.

“He was handsome.”

Hmm? I have no idea.

“He remembered all our names.”

There aren’t many of us; he’d be stupid not to.

“He’s very talkative and seems to have a great personality. Don’t you think?”

Listening to this, Ji-gu felt strange. This new instructor seemed to be the opposite of him.

“Then what about me…?”

He hadn’t meant to say that, but he found his mouth moving on its own.

“If I don’t talk much… do you dislike it?”

“…”

“…It feels like you’re subtly criticizing me, which makes me uncomfortable.”

He meant that Yeo-woon should stop talking about someone he didn’t even know. But Yeo-woon, after a moment of thought, said,

“Don’t worry, you talk a lot too. You might think you’re the quiet type, but that’s not the case at all.”

It was a nice attempt, but he chose the wrong words. What nonsense. Ji-gu was dumbfounded, but at least satisfied that the instructor talk had stopped.

In front of his house, Yoon Yeong happened to see Yeo-woon, resulting in the strange situation of them all eating dinner together. It felt odd introducing Yeo-woon to his mom and older brothers. Since it had been nearly ten years since he’d brought a friend home, his family showed too much interest in Yeo-woon.

Ji-gu glared at his brothers, wary they might say something weird to Yeo-woon. While he was tense, Yeo-woon dropped another bombshell:

“You’re cute. Really like the youngest.”

What…! What are you saying!

Ji-gu couldn’t help but be baffled by that comment. A few days ago, he called “Earth Star” cute, and now him? Did he just call everyone cute as a hobby? He was curious about how many times Yeo-woon said “cute” in a day.

“He called us ‘hey you’ for years because he was sulking, but he called Yeo-woon-ssi ‘hyung’ so quickly.”

“Looks like Ji-gu really likes Yeo-woon-ssi.”

Oh, no!

“Hey, stop! Don’t say things like that! …He might misunderstand…”

Ji-gu was afraid Yeo-woon might suddenly confess to him. They had just reached the point of Ji-gu calling him “hyung”, and if he rejected Yeo-woon, it felt like they’d go back to being strangers.

‘Wait, wait a minute. …Maybe not?’

Ji-gu blinked, considering other possibilities. Even when he terribly disliked Yeo-woon and avoided him, Yeo-woon still followed him around. So it didn’t seem like Yeo-woon would immediately leave his side just because of one rejection. There were aspects of Yeo-woon that were unexpectedly hard to understand.

Yoon Ji-hyuk and Yoon Ji-ho started badmouthing Ji-gu in front of Yeo-woon. Though expected, it was irritating to actually experience. Yeo-woon, listening calmly to their stories, mumbled as if to himself, “This is a bit unexpected…”

The word “unexpected” immediately made Ji-gu anxious.

‘I didn’t realize just by looking at your face that you had this side to you. It’s a bit disappointing.’ He remembered someone saying this in the past. Jigu knew better than anyone the situations where people used the word “unexpected.”

‘Hey, I thought you’d be really rude just by looking at your face, but your personality is surprisingly different.’

‘Sorry, do you have a lighter? …Wait, you really don’t smoke? That’s unexpected.’

His shallow friends always said things like this to Yoon Ji-gu. They probably meant it as a way to express closeness, but it didn’t feel good to hear.

People had preconceived notions about him, and because he deviated greatly from those expectations, they used the word “unexpected.”

That’s why Ji-gu didn’t particularly like that word. It was even worse that Yeo-woon, of all people, had used it.

If only his brothers had kept quiet, Yeo-woon wouldn’t have known these things about him. He wanted to cut ties with those two troublemakers as soon as possible.

He finished dinner with an uneasy feeling. When they arrived in front of the house, they encountered someone familiar. Yeo-woon had caught the stalker who had been harassing Ji-gu for over a year. Even Ji-gu’s memory of the man’s face was hazy due to the time that had passed, but Yeo-woon, with his keen eye, immediately spotted the man stealing his mail.

The man ranted nonsensical things while his limbs were restrained. He then stupidly started to ramble on about what he’d done, and as much as Ji-gu hated him for it, he was more preoccupied with something else now than the long-standing stress. Even watching the man being dragged into the cafe for a lecture didn’t bring any relief. Perhaps because he had never had feelings for this person anyway, he just wanted to press charges quickly and be done with it. His mind was heavy with other concerns.

“What do you see in me that makes you keep saying I’m unexpected?”

“Sorry?”

“…Why do you keep saying I’m unexpected since earlier?”

Yeo-woon’s eyes had sparkled disconcertingly since their first meeting. There hadn’t been time to gauge his personality then. So at first, it must have started with his appearance.

“If… my personality is very different from what you know.”

If so, what did Yeo-woon expect of him now? Was he disappointed that Ji-gu was so different from his expectations?

“…Would you not like it?”

Whatever Yeo-woon said shouldn’t hurt him. It was obvious. Yeo-woon and he were just neighbors. They weren’t in a relationship where expectations or disappointments mattered.

“I…”

Yeo-woon, who had been pondering, finally spoke, and Ji-gu unconsciously held his breath.

“I don’t think it matters?”

It doesn’t matter?

“What does that mean? …Don’t beat around the bush. What are you saying?”

Does it mean there’s no point? Was he drawing a line between them now? How petty…

He was the one who started talking to him, poking him when he was minding his own business.

He bothered him first.

“I haven’t known you for long, so it’s natural to find new things about you unexpected.”

“…Is that a compliment?”

“So…”

Yeo-woon said this while looking straight into Ji-gu’s eyes. Just as Ji-gu was about to get annoyed again and tell him to stop speaking so cryptically, their eyes met. His thought process froze instantly. The round eyes held a faint hint of a smile.

“You might actually be talkative and different from the personality I know. But that doesn’t mean the side of you I’m seeing now isn’t real. Are you acting right now?”

“…No.”

“So it doesn’t matter.”

“…”

“Because they’re both you.”

Ji-gu had convinced himself he could take whatever Yeo-woon said calmly, but these words, which Yeo-woon probably said without much thought, sent Ji-gu’s mind racing through countless thoughts in a short moment.

Saying it didn’t matter wasn’t an insult. It wasn’t a firm line drawn in their relationship. Rather… his words came as a small comfort to Ji-gu.

As long as whatever side of him wasn’t fake, it didn’t matter… That seemed to be what Yeo-woon wanted to say. It was apparently something Ji-gu had wanted to hear deep down, without even realizing it himself. Every word from Yeo-woon was satisfying.

‘Ah… it’s hot.’

He should have just kept his thoughts to himself instead of asking. It was already hot at night due to summer, and now his nape was burning up too. It’s hot. Unbearably hot. This is all because of global warming. We need to save energy… Ji-gu rambled incoherently in his mind before speaking out loud.

“…I got it.”

“Okay.”

“Ah, I just mean I understand, so don’t read too much into it. Got it?”

Yeo-woon nodded at Ji-gu’s added words, meant to prevent any misunderstanding. It was hard to tell if he understood or not, as his expression was ambiguous.

‘Have I been too harsh?’

Remembering how he had yelled at Yeo-woon and pushed him away, Ji-gu felt a slight regret for his past actions. He wondered if he had been too harsh to someone who liked him.

Maybe from tomorrow, he’d be a little nicer.

…But only to the extent that wouldn’t cause any misunderstandings!

***

After winning the castle siege event, the Poseidon guild flag was raised over the Isis Palace. It was the largest of the main cities, a place everyone passed through at least once when entering the game. It felt strange yet oddly satisfying to see the guild mark there.

And finally, around the start of the rainy season, CatMeowMeowMeow became the first user to reach max level as a Valkyrie. Despite Illusion gnashing its teeth, no one had considered leveling up the notoriously difficult-to-control job class. In the end, CatMeowMeowMeow’s dedication and grind became famous not just on Illusion’s free board but also on other game communities. A few days ago, news came that the game company had contacted them for an interview. All the message boards were buzzing about the Valkyrie’s tear-jerking efforts.

neutaaaa: I just saw the interview news because I’m working overtime… wow

Wandu Wandya: Overtime lolololol ㅠㅠ

Yeo-woon, seeing CatMeowMeowMeow’s message in the guild chat late, sent a congratulatory message.

neutaaaa: Congrats on max level and the interview offer nyang!! It’s even more amazing since it’s the first max level

CatMeowMeowMeow: I know thx thx

al0ha: Bit cocky lol

Halloween Eggplant: Zero humility

These past few days, CatMeowMeowMeow had become quite arrogant. People were taking screenshots and bragging on the boards just for seeing the famous user pass through town.

“Still in high school and already this amazing….”

Although Yeo-woon hadn’t been playing this game for long, he understood the significance of reaching max level first for a class. Especially in Illusion. Everyone calls it a dead game, but Illusion is among the top three largest MMORPGs. These people could only say that because they’d never played a truly dead game. Yeo-woon smiled wryly.

Maybe because it was summer vacation, students from elementary to university seemed to be logged in 24/7. If he had a vacation too, he might have reached max level before CatMeowMeowMeow. If only office workers had vacations too…

Yeo-woon was in the midst of his busiest days this year, dealing with both reviews and the production team’s mistakes. This meant he could only log into the game sporadically, but thanks to Earth Star and Halloween Eggplant sending him links to posts, he could stay updated on the latest game content and in-game trends. Everyone seemed to reply instantly, as if they never slept.

Just as he was stretching his stiff body and getting ready to head home, following his supervisor’s suggestion, a message popped up on his phone. It was fromEarth Star.

Ji9star: What about me?

Ji9star: Why is only nyangnyang amazing? I’ve been max level from the start…?

Ji9star: I was the first to reach max level in our guild too ^_^

CatMeowMeowMeow: Sigh

Wandu Wandya: Attention-seeking time starts lol

neutaaaa: tsk tsk tsk tsk

Ji9star: ?

neutaaaa: Applause for you

Ji9star: ;;;;;;;;

Captain Poseidon: lololololol ah….

ParkRoach: So that’s how you do a stealth brag….

CatMeowMeowMeow: lolololololololololol

Halloween Eggplant: lolololololololol

Was Earth Star just seeking attention? Not knowing what else to do, Yeo-woon gave a half-hearted clap. He left the office with the remaining people and turned off the lights as they stepped into the dark hallway. There was a clacking sound as darkness fell over the office. His colleague, who had joined the company at the same time, bid him a tired farewell, “See you soon,” and trudged towards the subway station.

“Soon?”

Even though he knew what they meant, he felt annoyed, possibly because he was tired. His steps felt heavy as he made his way home, dreading the fact that he had to return to work in just a few hours.

Why do people have to earn money to live? He wished the Earth would just end tomorrow.