Chapter 33: In Search of a Home (Part 2)

Several days have passed since then.

During that time, I played a few solo queue ranked games.

It was to check the game atmosphere of solo queue and to finish the placement matches moderately.

The difficulty of solo queue was not as difficult as I thought.

It might be because my tier is still low, but personally, 1:1 seems easier than multi-player.

‘Well, in multi-player, I used to fight several people alone.’

After my rating reached the upper Diamond ranks, I stopped slaughtering five or six people alone.

However, that didn’t mean that I only fought 1:1.

‘At the very least, I kept fighting multiple people.’
There was a reason why I won all my placement matches.

Thanks to that, my allies flew around as if their shackles had been released, and since they were all skilled, we were able to win the game easily.

Of course, the first contributor to the victory was me.

However, it doesn’t mean that my allies were of no help at all.

Anyway.

As I was immersed in solo queue ranked games for a few days, the promised Monday morning arrived.

“Today is….”

And Monday was the day to go see a new house with Kim Ji-eun.

‘It’s the first time I’ve met someone since I returned to the modern world.’

Of course, strictly speaking, it’s not like I haven’t met anyone at all.

I’ve already seen and talked to delivery drivers who come occasionally, or part-time workers at convenience stores.

‘But we don’t call that ‘meeting people’.’

In that sense, the appointment with Kim Ji-eun was the first ‘meeting with a person’ since my return.

It would be a lie to say that my heart wasn’t pounding.

I took out some suitable clothes from the closet and put them on.

Actually, I don’t know much about women’s fashion, so I was worried that I might wear strange clothes, but fortunately, the internet knows all the information.

I dressed according to what I searched on the internet and stood in front of the mirror.

A black-haired woman wearing slightly slim jeans, a black knit, and a brown jacket is visible.

I in the mirror had a somewhat forlorn expression.

That’s the face I unconsciously make!

I was a little shocked.

When I forced the corners of my mouth up to make a smile, it looked like the Joker in a movie.

“…….”

Let’s stop.

It’s an expression that comes out unconsciously anyway, so how can I change it?

It would be much better to just go around with a forlorn expression than to force a smile.

I forced a smile once again, then shook my head and opened the door of the studio apartment.

The warm sunlight pierced my eyes.

I went outside as it was.

It was effectively my ‘first outing’.

-Ding-dong!

At the sound of the bell coming from the entrance of the cafe, Kim Ji-eun turned her head again.

This time too, the person who came in was not Sung Shihyun.

Kim Ji-eun slumped down on the table and stirred the straw in her Americano.

‘When are they coming?’

Of course, the appointment time hasn’t passed yet.

Rather, Kim Ji-eun was there a whopping 30 minutes earlier than the appointed time.

‘I did come a little early, but….’

Don’t people usually come 30 minutes before the appointment time?

Kim Ji-eun muttered so inwardly, but that didn’t make Sung Shihyun come any faster.

It was natural.

There were still 15 minutes left until the appointed time.

When Kim Ji-eun had almost finished the Americano she ordered.

-Ding-dong!

The bell rang and someone entered the cafe.

At the same time, the atmosphere of the cafe part-timer changed.

Until now, it was a relaxed and leisurely atmosphere, but suddenly their body became stiff and the sign of tension was visible even from here.

‘Did they come?’

Kim Ji-eun’s head turned quickly.

And finally, finally!

Sung Shihyun arrived at the cafe.

Her black hair, which reached down to her waist, fluttered like silk.

Her appearance, which attracts the attention of the viewer, gives the illusion that she is an actress who has stepped out of the screen.

Every time her dark blue eyes, which sparkled, scanned the surroundings, the people who were caught in her gaze shivered.

‘Wow, f*ck.’

Kim Ji-eun thought, sipping the remaining Americano.

‘…They’re really too pretty, that.’

It was a different feeling from when I saw them in the game.

Rather, reality is more amazing?

The game couldn’t capture all of her beauty?

I had such thoughts.

The woman’s face, like a sculpture, soon turned to Kim Ji-eun.

Then her eyes widened a little, and then folded nicely into a crescent.

“You came early?”

And then she started walking towards Kim Ji-eun’s table.

How can even her walking look like a model’s walk?

Kim Ji-eun thought so inwardly and swallowed dryly.

“Ah, yeah. I came early. No, but aren’t you supposed to come 30 minutes before the appointment time?! I’ve been waiting here for 30 minutes!”

“S, sorry.”

“Hmph, in that sense, buy me some scones. There were almond scones, they looked delicious.”

“Ah, that’s right. I have to order.”

Sung Shihyun clapped her hands as if she had just realized it and got up from her seat.

And then she went to the counter and started talking.

Kim Ji-eun watched the scene from behind and thought.

‘The part-timer, I feel a little sorry for them.’

Even from a distance, it’s clear that they are completely frozen.

Well, if I suddenly met such a beauty as a customer, I would be momentarily embarrassed and freeze too.

I can understand.

After a while, Sung Shihyun came to her seat with scones and a cup of Americano.

Kim Ji-eun reached for the scones, and then suddenly realized that there was a small note next to the scones.

“What’s this?”

When Kim Ji-eun picked up the note and unfolded it, a phone number was written there.

Wondering what it was, I looked at Sung Shihyun, and she glanced at the part-timer with a subtle expression.

“Uh… they gave me their number.”

“…Ah.”

They weren’t frozen and stuttering, were they writing down their phone number?

Kim Ji-eun glanced at the cafe part-timer’s face.

A moderately handsome face.

Their height is also quite tall.

‘Normally, I would have encouraged them to get along well….’

-Crumple

Kim Ji-eun quietly crumpled the note and smiled.

“I see.”

Even so, it’s a bit much to try to hit on Shihyun with that face.

At the very least, you have to bring a celebrity.

Kim Ji-eun muttered so inwardly and needlessly sucked on the Americano she had finished drinking.

And after a brief scone tasting time.

“So, what kind of house are you looking for?”

At Kim Ji-eun’s question, Sung Shihyun scratched her cheek.

“Well, I just want it to be bigger than my current house, I guess….”

“How many pyeong is your current house?”

“Pyeong?”

At that question, Sung Shihyun tilted her head.

How many… pyeong was it?

There’s no way I know.

Sung Shihyun never even signed a contract for this house.

Didn’t I just return to that house from ‘that world’?

Of course, there’s no way I could know the size of the room.

“You don’t know? Didn’t you look at that when you signed the contract?”

“…I didn’t pay much attention to it.”

But I can’t tell Kim Ji-eun that story.

So Sung Shihyun decided to just act like an idiot.

And Kim Ji-eun fell for that act!

‘I guess I’m better at acting than I thought.’

While Sung Shihyun was having such a misunderstanding inwardly, Kim Ji-eun looked at her, and then suddenly got up from her seat.

“Since it’s come to this, let’s go to your house.”

“Uh, huh?”

“Anyway, we have to take pictures of the house, right? Because we have to put it up for sale at the real estate agency. Let’s take a look at your house at the same time.”

“I, is that so?”

Sung Shihyun nodded absentmindedly.

Seeing that, Kim Ji-eun smiled wickedly inwardly.

‘Good, good.’

Everything was going according to Kim Ji-eun’s plan.

‘If I go to Shihyun’s house like this? It gives me a natural reason to invite them to my house. Then I’ll invite Shihyun to my house and….’

In an instant, a vlog was made in Kim Ji-eun’s head.

Of course, I’m not just using Shihyun.

Kim Ji-eun was clearly setting the settlement ratio more favorably for Sung Shihyun in videos featuring Sung Shihyun.

‘Actually, people aren’t coming to see me, they’re coming to see Shihyun in that video.’

It’s a bit sad, but it’s an inevitable reality.

And Kim Ji-eun decided to use that reality instead of settling for it.

It was already agreed upon with Sung Shihyun, so there was nothing to worry about!

“Then shall we go to my house first?”

“Yeah, yeah!”

So the two turned around and headed back to Sung Shihyun’s house.

And the moment Sung Shihyun opened the door to her house.

“……?”

Kim Ji-eun couldn’t help but gasp.

“No, this….”

Well, in a studio apartment that seems to be less than 5 pyeong, there is a VR device, a bed, a desk, a chair, and a built-in closet, if you don’t get surprised, are you even human?

Kim Ji-eun quickly turned to Sung Shihyun.

And then she said with a serious face.

“This is not good. You have to move immediately, Shihyun-ah.”

Even so, a person should live like a person.

How can you live in a room that’s packed like Tetris?