Chapter 18: An Awkward Welcome

For a while after blurting out my home address, I had to clutch my hair in agony.

“I’ve gone and done it…. d@mn.”

A throbbing headache suddenly washed over me.

“Why did I do that? No… seriously, why did I do that?”

I muttered to myself, anxiously staring holes into Ban-ye’s Discord chat, which still had no real reply.

I had talked a big game, encouraging him to come, but the truth was….

“Argh…!”

The problem was that I didn’t even know my own mind.

I’d acted all nice and put on a big show, telling Ban-ye to come to my house, but then the thought occurred to me: what if he actually says he’s coming?

Why did I so rashly tell him to come?

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out why.

My honest feeling was that I had decided everything far too impulsively.

To be even more honest, I had wanted Ban-ye’s sharp refusal.

My true intention was to think, if he refuses this strongly, well, I shouldn’t push him any further… no, it would become an excuse for me not to be able to push him….

But….

[Hwang Hyun-joong] Then is it okay if I go today?

…Whether it was because I pushed him too much, or because his situation was difficult enough to be swayed by my irresponsible words, a reply that was very unlike him came back.

I hesitated.

My fingers, resting on the keyboard, trembled slightly.

But….

[Ah-ang] Of course lol Just shoot me a text when you arrive

[Hwang Hyun-joong] ok

…It couldn’t be helped.

Separate from my trembling fingers, my hands once again betrayed my mind and put on a show of bravado.

And so, ignoring my fear, I ended up kicking away my last chance to refuse Ban-ye myself.

About an hour had passed since then.

I was still pacing around the house, biting my nails.

“…Do I need to clean the house?”

It wasn’t sparkling clean, but it wasn’t exactly dirty either.

I wiped the desk haphazardly with a dry cloth and picked up a few pieces of trash I could see, tossing them into the bin.

Finally, I ran the vacuum cleaner, which I hadn’t touched in about a week.

There was a surprising amount of dust, so I felt it was a good thing I did.

“And the room… would this one be okay?”

I muttered to myself as I swung open the door to the largest room after my own.

There was no bed, but it seemed better than the other rooms I used as a dressing room or for storage, as it was tidier….

“It’s right next to my room… but, it should be fine, right?”

I scratched my head, decided to give him this room for now, and took out a few thick, out-of-season blankets from the dressing room to lay on the floor.

It started to look like a plausible guest room, which relieved me a little.

Even so, I thought that maybe Ban-ye wouldn’t come today after all.

Because… while I was making all these thorough (?) preparations, I hadn’t received any contact from him.

Same with Discord.

However, just as the clock passed 10 PM, my phone suddenly vibrated.

I had a gut feeling it was Ban-ye.

[This is Hwang Hyun-joong. I’ve arrived.]

As I expected, a text from Ban-ye had arrived.

My heart pounded as I read the message and headed for the front door.

Then, I called him.

Ring, ring—click.

After a few rings, I heard the sound of the call being answered.

[….]

But the other end of the line was silent, and I wondered if I had called the wrong number, so I spoke up.

“Hello?!”

[Yeah.]

Thankfully, I could hear him clearly.

It was a bit more awkward than Discord, but even from the short reply, I could definitely tell it was Ban-ye’s voice.

I fiddled with the drawstring of the hoodie I was wearing and asked him.

“Ah, are you at the apartment entrance?”

[Yeah.]

“Then, can you come towards the lobby? I mean… there’s a lobby here….”

[Where is it?]

“Just look for the building number and walk over!”

And with that, I went down to the lobby.

I barely acknowledged the security guard’s greeting, my eyes fixed on the transparent glass looking outside….

“It’s raining….”

Plink, plonk. I muttered in surprise as I saw a shower starting to fall.

And as if he heard my muttering, Ban-ye replied with a sound like he was shaking something off.

[I didn’t get very wet.]

In that instant, I realized I had spotted the person who was speaking.

Someone had run inside and stopped at the apartment building entrance just outside the lobby… and for some reason, I felt like that person was Ban-ye.

He was much taller than I expected.

His face wasn’t clear from the distance, but the gesture of shaking his hair and the noise from the phone roughly matched up.

I immediately left the lobby and called out to him.

“Ban-ye!”

[….]

And then, Ban-ye turned to look at me.

It was indeed the man I thought it was.

Ban-ye stared intently at me as I approached, then casually swept his bangs back.

And I….

‘Wh-what the….’

I was completely taken aback by Ban-ye’s incredibly handsome face as he got closer.

His fair skin stood out under the bright lobby lights.

Even the way he was slightly damp from the rain that had started pouring suited him perfectly.

It feels a bit weird to say this about a guy, but he exuded a subtly sensual vibe that made me feel like I shouldn’t keep staring….

Of course, it’s not that I was having strange thoughts, it’s just that he had that kind of atmosphere!

Also, Ban-ye was much taller than me.

He was tall enough to feel slightly intimidating standing next to him, yet he didn’t have the lanky, beanpole-like impression that some tall people have.

Rather, his broad shoulders gave him a stable look.

Not that he looked bulky.

His waist, revealed by his rain-dampened clothes, was slim in comparison to his shoulders.

And his hands, the ones that showed such incredible gameplay… they were large, but his fingers were straight and handsomely shaped.

“Y-you’re Ban-ye, right?”

The Ban-ye in my imagination didn’t have a face like this….

Ban-ye looked at me quietly before calmly affirming.

“Yes.”

“Oh, shall we go up… stairs?”

I was so flustered I sounded like an !diot as I led Ban-ye.

All my worries from before I came down—’Is this okay? Is this the right thing to do?’—were tangled into a messy knot and dissipated the moment I saw Ban-ye’s face.

He had a face with the destructive power to completely scramble your thoughts.

Thanks to that, a suffocating silence filled the elevator.

In that silence, I smelled the scent of cigarettes that I hadn’t noticed outside.

The smell was quite strong for someone who had only smoked a cigarette or two, telling me that Ban-ye had been smoking outside for quite some time.

‘Did he smoke while agonizing over whether to come here…?’

That must be it.

Even for someone like Ban-ye, it couldn’t have been comfortable to readily come to the house of a person he barely knew.

Thinking that, I started to feel sorry for having been so repulsed, even for a moment, by the idea of him coming.

I observed Ban-ye with furtive glances, my gaze a mix of pity and curiosity.

Just then, our eyes met through the polished wall of the elevator.

It was a look that seemed to ask, ‘What are you doing?’, reminiscent of Ban-ye’s signature, slightly pathetic-pitying reaction….

The moment I was about to make an excuse without realizing it, a ding sounded and the elevator doors opened.

Thank goodness.

I opened the front door first and held it for Ban-ye to enter.

Ban-ye glanced at me and the inside of the apartment before striding in.

“Pardon the intrusion.”

“Ah, yes. Come in….”

Once Ban-ye was inside, I couldn’t stop fidgeting.

But unlike me, Ban-ye’s demeanor was so composed that it felt as if the homeowner had changed.

I tried my best to feign composure.

“Did you eat… dinner?”

“Yes, I ate.”

Ban-ye quietly looked down at me, who didn’t know what to do.

“Don’t worry. I’ll only stay for a little while.”

“No, stay as long as you’re comfortable! You can stay for a few more days!”

What do you mean, a few more days!

I created this situation by spouting nonsense, and this time it wasn’t my fingers, but my mouth that was running wild.

Ban-ye stared at me placidly.

“You seem uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable? Haha. Of course not.”

I vehemently shook my head at Ban-ye, who had seen right through me.

He stared at me with an unreadable expression.

“You can speak comfortably, hyung.”

[ TL Note : Hyung = what a younger male calls an older male he respects, like “big bro.”]

“H-Hyung?!”

“I’m right, aren’t I?”

“Uh, yes. I mean, you’re right, but….”

Ban-ye was two years younger than me, but honestly, just by looking at him, I couldn’t really tell….

The ranker Ban-ye in the game had a certain charisma, but the real-life Ban-ye was unexpectedly handsome, so maybe that’s why his presence was overwhelming in a different way….

I floundered stupidly, trying my best to agree with him.

“Ah, alright. Anyway… so, you can stay as long as you feel comfortable. Okay?”

“Then, I’ll be in your care for a few days.”

“Yeah. Then, here….”

I led Ban-ye to the room I had prepared earlier.

“You can rest here.”

“Okay.”

“Ah, if you want to wash up, you can use the bathroom in the living room.”

“Then, I’ll borrow it for a bit.”

The dampness from the rain must have been bothering him, as Ban-ye nodded and said so, and I nodded back, telling him to go right ahead as I showed him the way again.

Click.

After Ban-ye went into the bathroom, I finally let out a silent scream.

‘I’m crazy, I’m crazy…!’

I didn’t think letting Ban-ye into my house was the wrong choice, but I couldn’t help being nervous.

‘How long has it been since a guest slept over in this house?’

I paced around the living room frantically before downing a glass of cold water to get a grip.

Of course, it didn’t bring back my departed sanity; it just made my head throb.

Before I had time to mentally prepare, Ban-ye came out of the shower.

I scurried over to Ban-ye.

Now, instead of the smell of cigarettes, he only smelled of the body wash I use.

I smiled at Ban-ye, pretending like nothing was wrong.

“Well, good night.”

“Yes. You too, hyung.”

But contrary to my nonchalant words, that night, I couldn’t sleep a wink.