Chapter 33: Misunderstood Intentions

[Ah-ang: I’m just bored.]

[ImSoCute: Is Ban-ye not around?]

“Ugh… This has nothing to do with Ban-ye!”

But my heart sank when his name came up before I could even say a few words.

It was nice getting close to Ban-ye, but maybe we got too close, because now whenever I talk to the guild members, they always bring up Ban-ye first.

That used to make me feel subtly proud, but now, with these complicated feelings, it just made me feel resentful.

So when I didn’t answer, ImSoCute was quiet for a moment before starting a new topic that had nothing to do with Ban-ye.

[ImSoCute: Have you tried Euro Truck Simulator?]

[Ah-ang: No, this is the first I’m hearing of it.]

[ImSoCute: Ah, it’s a driving game, but it’s surprisingly fun lol.]

[Ah-ang: Driving?]

[ImSoCute: Yep ㅋㅋ.]

However, ImSoCute’s hobby didn’t pique my interest.

Truthfully, I wanted to talk about something right now, not force myself to play a game I wasn’t interested in.

So I thought about just ending the conversation with ImSoCute and grinding in Chaos Online.

[Ah-ang: Hah… I… can’t even play KartRider well.]

[ImSoCute: ㅋㅋㅋ So you’re not interested in these kinds of games.]

[ImSoCute: Then what do you want to do? Want to run some Chaos Online together?]

[Ah-ang: ! You’d do that?]

[ImSoCute: OK.]

And so, I logged into the game and waited for ImSoCute.

But then, ImSoCute asked if I wanted to join a Discord voice chat.

[Ah-ang: Why?]

[ImSoCute: I usually use voice chat more than text chat.]

[Ah-ang: Ah.]

‘Well….’

It was true that voice chat was less of a hassle than typing while running a dungeon.

I typed [OK OK] and accepted ImSoCute’s offer.

“Hey.”

“Hello.”

We started the awkward voice chat, and surprisingly, ImSoCute’s voice was low and nice too.

But his tone was gentler than in his text chats, and it felt like he was holding back a smile.

“Ah, ah. Can you hear me okay? People say my mic sometimes makes a weird mechanical noise.”

“I can hear you just fine.”

“Good, good. Ah-ang, your voice is a little quiet, though.”

“I-Is it?”

I forced myself to raise my voice a little.

Only then did ImSoCute say he could hear me well.

I was still a bit worried that Ban-ye, who was in his room, might hear me, but I glanced back and trusted the soundproofing of the closed door.

“How about now?”

“I can hear you well.”

“…Ahem. ImSoCute, when are you getting on?”

“I’m loading in right now. Just a second.”

After he said that, a notification popped up saying ImSoCute had logged in.

I sent him a party invitation and waited in front of the dungeon.

ImSoCute came to the dungeon entrance right away.

He used a friendly [Greeting] emote in front of me, so I used an emote to respond in kind.

But just then, ImSoCute said something slightly shocking.

“Ah, but actually… at first, I thought… you were a girl, Ah-ang.”

“What? What? Why?”

“Maybe because you’re kind of cute.”

“What…?”

I wracked my brain, but I couldn’t recall any memory of ImSoCute liking me that much.

The only memory I had with ImSoCute was clearing a difficult dungeon as a duo.

‘W-Was I cute back then…?’

However, that was my own delusion.

ImSoCute soon started chuckling as he explained why he had seen me that way.

“Well, when you first joined the guild, you went ‘Wow, everyone’s max level~’ on the guild board… Ah, just thinking about it again is funny. Hehe….”

“…”

Only after he started that sentence did the memory of my legendary day of embarrassment strike me like a lightning bolt, and I nearly shot up from my seat.

“Ah! Ahh! That…! Ah, sh*t, I did that because I didn’t know any better….”

“You decorated the front and back of your sentence with a bunch of ribbon emoticons and wrote something like ‘Please take care of me, this is Ah-ang,’ so HeyYam had to tell you that wasn’t the place for introductions.”

“Aaaargh! Stop talking!”

“No, I thought it was cute. And actually, HeyYam thought it was cute too and was going to leave it, but he deleted it because another guild member said something.”

“Stop….”

My face turned bright red, but ImSoCute seemed to be enjoying my embarrassment and brought up another story.

“And it was great when you crafted and mailed out guild uniforms for all of us to wear.”

I felt resentful toward ImSoCute for bringing that up.

I had worked hard to make them and distribute them to the guild, but no one had worn them.

I was so hurt back then….

Though Ban-ye did wear it sometimes.

“Ah, sh*t…. In the end, nobody even wore them….”

“Everyone takes them out and wears them after you log out.”

“W-What did you say?!”

“Everyone is very serious about teasing you, Ah-ang….”

“That’s so mean!”

“HeyYam wears it too. It’s in his fashion tab, so try asking him about it sometime.”

“W-Why is everyone so cruel….”

“I wouldn’t say cruel… I think they just want to tease you.”

“That’s really cruel!”

“Aki even has it equipped as the default outfit on his alt character. You should ask him later why he has it on his alt. He won’t be able to deny it.”

“Ugh. He’s dead, that j*rk Aki!”

“Hehehe.”

After tattling on what the guild members had done, ImSoCute told me that they weren’t teasing me out of malice, but because of the guild’s culture of talking harshly.

But, he said he was worried because it seemed like I was getting intimidated and talking less and less.

I was surprised by ImSoCute’s observation skills.

Because what he said was true.

I couldn’t really tell if the guild members were being sincere or just joking….

So at some point, I only chimed in when Ban-ye was around, and kept my mouth shut when he wasn’t, but I never thought anyone would notice….

“It’s really hurtful, you know…. I mean, they’ve all been friends for a long time, so they might know it’s a joke when they talk like that, but I can’t tell….”

“That’s true. They are pretty mischievous.”

“Ah, sh*t…. Starting today, I’m going to torment them too. I’m gonna hurt their feelings.”

“Haha.”

Hearing my resolution, ImSoCute laughed and encouraged me.

“It’ll probably be fine even if you speak bluntly. Everyone wants to get closer to you, Ah-ang.”

“What? Who does?”

“The guild members.”

“Hmph… No way! But, is that really true? I tried talking to Aki earlier and he ignored me!”

“Hmm…. Aki is a bit of an exception. He’s more of a man of action than words.”

As he said that, ImSoCute showed me a screenshot.

It was a picture of HeyYam wearing the uniform I gave him, making a [V-sign] emote.

Looking closely, I could see in the chat window that he was expressing his satisfaction, saying the clothes were cute.

To think a person like that always sneered at me whenever he saw me….

“This is ridiculous…. HeyYam, I thought you hated me.”

“HeyYam’s just like that because of the way he talks, but he’s really dedicated to the guild. He thinks it’s important for the guild members to get along harmoniously. When the uniform topic came up, he was the first one to try it on.”

Now that I thought about it, HeyYam did collect the most guild points…. He also seemed to have the most say among the vice-guild masters.

“Hmm…. Are you sure there are no guild members who hate me?”

I asked ImSoCute, my heart softening a little as I looked at the screenshot again.

ImSoCute replied with a smile.

“I told you, there are none. So don’t be intimidated and just have fun.”

Moved by his kind words, I said to ImSoCute.

“ImSoCute, thank you so much…. If I were actually a girl, I think I would’ve fallen for you….”

Hearing my words, ImSoCute rejected me without a second of hesitation.

“Haha, that would be troublesome.”

“What! That’s so mean!”

“Things are going well between you and Ban-ye, aren’t they?”

“…”

I only said it as a joke, but I fell into an unnatural silence.

ImSoCute seemed a little flustered.

“Is something wrong? With Ban-ye?”

“…N-No, we didn’t fight or anything like that! And what do you mean things are going well with Ban-ye! We’re absolutely not… in that kind of relationship….”

I mumbled, my voice trailing off into a whisper.

ImSoCute maintained his silence without pressing me further.

I was afraid that ImSoCute would start to see my relationship with Ban-ye in a strange way.

To be precise, I was afraid he would see through how I really felt about Ban-ye.

So I said, as if making an excuse.

“Ban-ye is just… good at games, and has a good personality… He’s fun, and he plays with me, so we’ve met up and hung out a few times, that’s the kind of relationship we have….”

“So you’re total best friends, right?”

“…I’m not… sure… if Ban-ye thinks of it that way….”

“Come on… I’ve never seen Ban-ye take care of someone like that before.”

ImSoCute asked why I was overthinking it so much, but hearing his words only made my heart feel heavier.