Chapter 16: A Jealous Spouse and a New Friendship

[Guild][Neda] Whoa, Ban-ye…
[Guild][Neda] Was that conversation appropriate for Ban-ye to see…?
[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] What was?
[Guild][Neda] It seems Ban-ye’s spouse is maintaining an overly friendly relationship with another man…
[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] LOL
[Guild][ImSoCute] What are you talking about? LOL
[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] Of course, Ban-ye is the best.

To deny Neda’s words, I rushed over to Ban-ye and habitually attempted the [Hug] emote.

However, Ban-ye didn’t accept it.

[Guild][Ah-ang] Why don’t you go hug ImSoCute?

Ban-ye usually didn’t respond to marriage-related jokes, but for some reason, today they retorted with a tone full of jealousy.

They’re just being like that again.

Excited, I typed on the keyboard and, in a complete reversal, used the shocked emote and slumped to the ground.

[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] Honey… why would you say that?
[Guild][ImSoCute] LOL?
[Guild][Male3] LOL They’re seriously sulking.
[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] ㅠㅠ?

Unlike usual, Ban-ye was playing along with my angry act, so I sneakily whispered to them.

[Whisper][Ban-yeStorage] Ban-ye! I went to the Spire with ImSoCute because you were AFK! If I knew you were back, I would have pestered you to go!

Then, Ban-ye shot back a bewildering question.

[Whisper][Ah-ang] Who said anything?

I was dumbfounded.

“They just told me to go hug ImSoCute a moment ago…!”

But it was obvious Ban-ye wouldn’t listen even if I pointed it out, so I clung to them, feigning pitifulness by typing [ㅠㅠ…].

[Whisper][Ban-yeStorage] ㅠㅠ Why are you sulking…?
[Whisper][Ah-ang] Who’s sulking?
[Whisper][Ah-ang] I said it because you two look good together lol
[Whisper][Ban-yeStorage] !! I look best with you!
[Whisper][Ah-ang] Lol
[Whisper][Ban-yeStorage] Hehe
[Whisper][Ah-ang] Why are you laughing?
[Whisper][Ban-yeStorage] ㅠㅠ

“Ha, they’re being extra grumpy today.”

Even their grumpiness is cute…

I kept typing [ㅠㅠ…] and loitered around Ban-ye. I also tried to win them over with party invites and various emotes.

Ban-ye ignored me for over three minutes, and only accepted the party invite after I genuinely looked dejected and sent a party request with [Are you really not going to accept? ㅠㅠ].

Just then, ImSoCute cheerfully spoke to me.

[Guild][ImSoCute] Ah-ang, let’s go to the Spire together again later!
[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] Okay, lol, if you’re okay with it.
[Guild][ImSoCute] Of course, it’s okay. Lol. Do you usually log in around this time?
[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] Sometimes…
[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] But if Ban-ye is here, I might not be able to go with you.
[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] I have to maintain the party buff.
[Guild][Neda] Supportive spouse, amazing.
[Guild][ImSoCute] Lol, it’s okay, it’s okay.

[‘ImSoCute’ has sent you a friend request. Do you accept?]
[Yes] [No]

Then, ImSoCute sent me a friend request.

I felt a little happy about ImSoCute’s friend request. So, I quickly pressed [Yes] and looked at my friends list, where ImSoCute greeted me with [Hey hey]. I replied with [Hey hey] too.

[Friend][ImSoCute] See you next time then.

And ImSoCute logged out. I wanted to say goodbye quickly, but they logged out before I could.

Meanwhile, Ban-ye had been silently running dungeons.

Belatedly, I joined Discord to watch Ban-ye play and enthusiastically made a fuss, but Ban-ye was unusually quiet today. They barely even made any snide remarks, just completely engrossed in the game.

‘Are they in a bad mood?’

I messaged them on Discord private chat.

[Ah-ang] Ban-ye, are you tired?
[Ah-ang] Shoulder massage

“Smoke break.”

[Ah-ang] Okay!

Ban-ye didn’t reply to my chat for a long time, then went out for a smoke. After returning, they seemed to have seen my message, as I heard a faint chuckle.

Then Ban-ye clicked their tongue at me and said,

___

“Ah-ang.”

[Ah-ang: Yes?]

“You’re in a good mood, right?”

[Ah-ang: Huh? Me?]

Why would I be in a good mood?

Before my confusion could fade, Ban-ye suddenly said something completely out of the blue.

“You’re happy because ImSoCute played with you.”

[Ah-ang: Uh…]

Hit right on the mark, I asked Ban-ye,

[Ah-ang: Is it that obvious?]

“Ah-ang, everything you do is so transparent.”
“…”

[Ah-ang: ……]

No, but… I thought they were just pretending to be jealous as a joke. Was I mistaken?

___

Their voice sounded like they thought I was pathetic, and also somewhat resentful. I was confused.

Ban-ye seemed annoyed by me, but sometimes they’d corner me like this, making it impossible to move… It almost felt like getting close to ImSoCute was a betrayal to Ban-ye.

I couldn’t understand why I felt like I was being scolded, but I had a feeling I’d fall out of favor if I didn’t play along with Ban-ye, so I quickly agreed, [Yes, yes].

[Ah-ang] But it’s so boring when you’re not here, Ban-ye.
[Ah-ang] That’s why I said I’d only play with them when you’re not around…

I tried to explain my side, but after hearing me out, Ban-ye said something absurd.

“You should be bored when I’m not here.”

[Ah-ang: Huh?]

“Why do you always have to be having fun?”

[Ah-ang: ……Is that so;;]

“Yes. Be careful.”

[Ah-ang: Sorry.]

Feeling bewildered, I apologized anyway.

Well, Ban-ye’s mood was always up and down. If I just said sorry, they’d usually cool down quickly.

It was the same today.

At my single word of apology, Ban-ye dropped their grumpy attitude and treated me quite kindly. And I quickly got excited and clingy with them again.

However, I didn’t remove ImSoCute from my friends list. Ban-ye didn’t seem to mind that part either.

But, after that one Spire run, I started going to the Black Spire with ImSoCute every day.

Part of the reason was that Ban-ye’s login schedule became somewhat erratic after that. Ban-ye started logging into the game less frequently.

I wanted to know why, but it was hard to even get in touch with them…

Today, again, I left a message saying [Sending telepathic waves to come quickly…] on our private Discord chat, which had no reply, and ended up running dungeons with ImSoCute while endlessly waiting for Ban-ye in the game.

‘At first, I was trying to level up to get closer to Ban-ye…’

As things turned out, I was getting closer to ImSoCute much faster these days. In any case, this proved that running dungeons together was an effective way to get to know someone.

Apart from my various desires, ImSoCute, with whom I had rapidly become close, was a pretty good person.

[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] ImSoCute, ImSoCute.
[Guild][ImSoCute] Yes?
[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] You’re leveling an Alchemist alt, right?
[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] Did you max out Potion Toss?

Ban-yeStorage’s class was [Alchemist], who fought by creating special potions. It was a class with many support skills rather than direct combat abilities, and [Potion Toss] was one of its few offensive skills.

Even looking at class guides, opinions were divided on [Potion Toss], with some saying to only level it to 3, and others saying to max it out to 10.

So, I wanted to hear ImSoCute’s advice, as they were leveling an Alchemist alt.

[Guild][ImSoCute] If you’re not doing PvP, level 3 is enough.
[Guild][ImSoCute] Maxing it out reduces the cast time and cooldown a bit, but it’s not a huge difference.
[Guild][Bogak] 10.
[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] Then I’ll just go with 3. Hehe.
[Guild][Bogak] Noob, later.
[Guild][ImSoCute] Lol.

Moreover, they answered my rather bothersome questions without any fuss.

I tried to give them small gifts each time, but they always returned them… So, when we met, I expressed my gratitude with emotes like [Hug].

[Guild][ImSoCute] Oh, but I can’t log in from Friday to Sunday.
[Guild][ImSoCute] Something came up suddenly. Lol.
[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] Why?
[Guild][Male3] Riding again?
[Guild][ImSoCute] Lol, yes.

Saying “again” implied they went often. I think I vaguely heard about it before… But I wasn’t very interested at the time and just let it pass.

This time, I mustered the courage to join the conversation.

[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] You’re going for 2 nights and 3 days?
[Guild][ImSoCute] We planned a rather long course.

I sneakily checked the place names ImSoCute mentioned on a map app. To go such a considerable distance by bicycle, even if it was reachable by car, was exhausting just to imagine.

[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] You’re going that far by bicycle?
[Guild][ImSoCute] Yes, lol.
[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] Wow, ImSoCute, you’re amazing.

For someone like me who stays cooped up at home, just going out for 2 nights and 3 days is tiring. Traveling for 2 nights and 3 days on a bicycle was complete madness. ImSoCute was a much healthier person than I thought.

[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] I thought all guild members were shut-ins.
[Guild][HugMeRaiseMe] Self-introduction?
[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] Or otaku.
[Guild][Youngmyeong] Are you picking a fight…?

Slaughter is the #1 guild. Being #1 carries a certain weight, whether for good or bad. It means you have to invest a corresponding amount of time.

Look at Ban-ye, as soon as they started playing the Ah-ang character, they were engrossed in story quests, collection logs, and whatnot. It could be a bit surprising that a member of such a guild had an active hobby…

“Ah, I’m thinking of Ban-ye again.”

What on earth was Ban-ye doing…?

Just then, ImSoCute suddenly asked me a question.

[Guild][ImSoCute] Lol, want to go riding together sometime?
[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] I can’t ride a bike;;
[Guild][ImSoCute] You can learn. Lol.
[Guild][ImSoCute] We can go on a beginner-friendly course.

I was flustered, unsure if ImSoCute’s sudden offer was genuine or if they were just saying it.