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Join the ServerWell, of course, it wasn’t my job to sit around worrying about those idiots. But summarizing Sephiroth’s story, it basically meant he had experienced something incredibly unfair and walked out of the guild. And the petty, narrow-minded losers of Endless were still harboring a bitter grudge over it.
“But shouldn’t that have been the end of it once you left the guild?” I asked.
“Ah, well, I kind of stirred the pot on my way out. When I exposed that the netkama piece of trash was actually a guy, the guild completely fractured. The dumbasses sided with the netkama, and the sane people left the guild with me. It was practically a forced disbandment. Back then, that netkama bastard was actually in an online relationship with Cielo, you know? That’s why Cielo completely lost his mind, screaming about how I was ruining things with ‘our beautiful Su-hyun’.”
……Hearing that, the guild master sounded like an exceptionally stupid guy.
“The netkama’s name was Su-hyun?”
“Like hell it was Su-hyun. It was obviously an alias. Anyway, Cielo refused to believe a single word I said and kept digging his own grave trying to play boyfriend to that Su-hyun or Su-jin or whatever, until the netkama took all the gold and bolted. Because of that, Cielo spent a solid chunk of time running around with ‘I don’t believe in online relationships’ written on his profile status.”
……Wow. He had literally witnessed the worst possible side-effects of an e-relationship firsthand.
“Why would anyone even do online dating anyway?”
“Because some people have nowhere else to meet anyone but here.”
“Hmm.”
I suppose that was true. Just looking at the guy standing right in front of me, I couldn’t imagine a text-heavy game addict like Sephiroth managing a normal, healthy relationship in the real world. Maybe it was just a tiny paper-thin difference? Sephiroth happened to be sharp enough to see through a netkama, while that Endless guild master, Cielo, was just utterly blind.
“Beulli-ya. You are making an incredibly rude assumption about me in your head right now, aren’t you?”
“Uh, what?”
Miraculously, Sephiroth had intercepted my internal monologue. Meeting his sharp, narrowing gaze, I offered a stiff laugh and quickly shook my head. Sure, it was a slightly rude assumption, but wasn’t it fundamentally rooted in facts? Did this gaming idiot know the first thing about romance? Though, to be completely fair, I didn’t know the first thing about it either……
“Anyway, it’s nothing.”
“Beulli-ya. Do you know you wear your true feelings on your sleeve a lot more than you think?”
Wait, I definitely heard those exact words today.
The overlapping voice, the mirroring phrasing. I was undeniably listening to Sephiroth speak, yet for some bizarre reason, Na Eun-hyeok instantly flashed through my mind. The image of Na Eun-hyeok lightly laughing, the striking, deep curve of his eyes……
“What are you thinking about?”
“Whoa, you scared me!”
At that exact moment, Sephiroth thrust his face close to mine. Startled, the sudden movement effectively snapped me out of my thoughts of Na Eun-hyeok. Stepping backward, I pressed the palm of my hand firmly against Sephiroth’s forehead to push him away. The metal surface of his helmet, programmed with a subtle hint of digital warmth, slid back.
“I wasn’t thinking about anything.”
“It definitely looked like you were thinking about something.”
“What do you even know about me?”
Snapping irritably, I turned my back to him. But Sephiroth’s hand instantly darted out, wrapping firmly around my wrist. Inexplicably, this action triggered another memory. Specifically, the feeling of Na Eun-hyeok’s solid, unyielding grip locking around my wrist earlier this afternoon……
“Haah……”
“Why are you sighing?”
Unsure of how to even begin answering Sephiroth’s question, I simply gave a firm shake of my head. I thought I had been doing fine lately, but today of all days, my brain kept stubbornly overlaying Na Eun-hyeok and Sephiroth right on top of each other.
‘It’s darkest right under the lamp.’
The proverb Na Eun-hyeok had dropped as a hint suddenly echoed in my head. I stole a quiet glance up at Sephiroth.
No way. No matter how absurd reality is, there’s absolutely no way Na Eun-hyeok is actually Sephiroth.
It was likely just an overreaction on my part. Because I had spent all day over-analyzing every single casual gesture from Na Eun-hyeok, I was now turning around and trying to apply deep, hidden meanings to Sephiroth’s behavior as well. Even if Sephiroth’s recent attitude had felt strangely different lately—remarkably similar to Na Eun-hyeok’s—still, there was just no way……
I forcefully gave up on the train of thought.
“Let’s just finish running the Battlegrounds.”
“Sure.”
A hint of an amused chuckle bled into Sephiroth’s voice. Maybe the one who only knew how to live inside a video game and couldn’t function in a real relationship wasn’t him—maybe it was actually me.
“I think that’s far enough for today’s portion of the assignment.”
The next day, Na Eun-hyeok and I met up without fail. While there was still the minor issue of my brain completely floating away into space every single time he stared intently at me, on average, we had managed to complete a very respectable amount of work. I had even pulled an all-nighter doing extra research just to ensure things went smoothly.
“Then I’ll compile everything just like this and submit the assignment.”
“Yeah. I’d really appreciate that.”
Hearing Na Eun-hyeok’s approval, I nodded. I was gathering the loose handouts and sliding them neatly into a folder when he spoke up.
“Un-ha-ya. What do you want to grab for lunch today?”
“U-Uh, what?”
“Lunch. We agreed to eat together, remember?”
If we had lunch together today, it would mark the third consecutive day of eating with Na Eun-hyeok. Even though I kept reminding myself that this was a purely casual arrangement that required zero deep meaning, my mind kept running wild with implications. I swallowed back a refusal that had bubbled right up to the edge of my throat several times. Lacking the courage to look him directly in the eyes, I glared intently at the word ‘Lucky’ printed across the chest of his T-shirt and mumbled,
“A-Anything is fine.”
Good job, Chae Un-ha. Look at you growing up!
“Then let’s go to the social sciences cafeteria today. I heard they’re serving spicy beef soup.”
“Do you like spicy beef soup?”
“Yeah. I’m really craving it today.”
Exchanging light small talk, our feet fell into a slow, rhythmic pace as we headed toward the social sciences building. We were walking down the familiar sloped path leading to the cafeteria when Na Eun-hyeok suddenly came to a halt.
“Come to think of it, wasn’t it right around here?”
“What was?”
As I asked, the realization slammed into me. This hill was the exact spot where I had first fallen for Na Eun-hyeok.
On that windy day two years ago, when his large hand had unexpectedly reached out to steady me, infusing my entire existence with a sudden, profound meaning.
But I had never in a million years imagined that Na Eun-hyeok would be the one to actively bring it up. To me, it was a tidal wave of a life-changing event, but I had fully assumed that to Na Eun-hyeok, it was just a fleeting, ordinary moment that had long since faded from his memory……
“Don’t you remember?”
“No! I remember.”
Startled out of my daze by his question, I frantically shook my head. It felt like it would be incredibly rude if he remembered a moment that I had somehow forgotten. Not to mention, it would feel deeply heartbreaking. At my reaction, Na Eun-hyeok quietly studied my face. Terrified that our eyes might meet, I quickly cast my gaze downward. A light, soft chuckle hovered over the crown of my head.
“It crossed my mind a little while ago. The fact that I had briefly run into you here.”
“Ah, I see.”
“You looked like you were going through an incredibly rough time back then, so I’m really glad to see you’re doing a lot better now.”
Na Eun-hyeok’s quiet, steady voice drifted into my ears, but my brain was completely stuck on the sheer impossibility of the fact that he actually remembered me. Na Eun-hyeok remembers me. Every single detail of that moment was still permanently burned into my mind like a movie scene, yet I couldn’t stop myself from frantically reviewing the memory over and over again, terrified that I might have made some embarrassing mistake back then.
“Back then…… thank you.”
I managed to squeeze the small, raspy words past my tight throat.
“Don’t mention it. Didn’t you already thank me back then? My memory is a bit hazy on the specifics, so I’m not entirely sure.”
“Ah……”
“Either way, seeing this spot suddenly brought it all back. It was during our freshman year, right?”
“Yeah.”
Na Eun-hyeok’s casual words gave me a bizarre, simultaneous rush of intense euphoria and quiet disappointment. Euphoria from the reality that I existed in his memory, but a sharp undercurrent of disappointment from the reminder that the moment didn’t carry the exact same monumental weight for him as it did for me. The conflicting emotions floated separately inside me like water and oil, utterly refusing to mix. Left entirely unsure of what kind of expression I should even be making, I could do nothing but anxiously bite my lower lip.
“I never imagined we’d end up becoming this close back then. The world is a pretty mysterious place.”
That was a sentiment I could agree with one hundred percent. Instead of verbalizing it, I simply gave a quiet nod.
We grabbed our trays and moved through the food line. Exchanging polite nods with the cafeteria staff as I received my bowl of soup, I quickly scanned the room for an empty table. Spotting a secluded corner, I took long, hurried strides ahead of Na Eun-hyeok. Spending time around him had naturally turned me into a creature that constantly hunted for hidden, out-of-the-way spaces.
“We came all the way to the very back,” Na Eun-hyeok noted, taking the seat directly across from me.
Leaning over my tray, I mindlessly stirred my soup with a spoon and replied,
“You draw a crowd wherever you go, and it gets exhausting. I figured the furthest corner was our safest bet.”
Of course, sitting in a corner didn’t mean we could entirely evade every single glance in the room, but if it minimized the attention even a little bit, it was undeniably the superior choice. Na Eun-hyeok would probably laugh if he knew, but after experiencing a very similar kind of chaotic crowd-control dynamic in Zelphia, I had firmly concluded that forcing someone into the absolute dead-center of public attention was practically a human rights violation.
“You’re incredibly thoughtful, Un-ha.”
But then he went and said something like that, completely freezing me in my tracks.
The hand that had been lazily stirring my soup stopped dead in mid-air. Following right after his gentle, warm tone, a large hand reached across the table and lightly, softly patted the top of my head.
“Thanks. For looking out for me.”
“U-Uh, o-oh…… ugh……”
Squeezing out a bizarre, strangled noise that couldn’t even qualify as a proper sentence, I frantically rolled my eyes around, keeping my gaze pinned firmly to the metal tray. Absolutely none of the side dishes registered in my brain.
What? What just happened? Na Eun-hyeok just patted my head? Wait, what?!
As someone who had virtually zero experience having their head patted in the real world, my system completely short-circuited. I tried to tell myself it was no big deal, but guys like Park Seong-jin or Han Kyu-tae would sooner die than pat my head. In fact, the only other person who had ever done something like this recently was……
Ah. Come to think of it, I think Sephiroth had patted my head once before too.
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