Chapter 110

What the hell? Why is he making such a big deal out of it? So what if I hurt my hand a little...

Embarrassed for no good reason, Yeonhoo quickly pulled his hand away. The lingering warmth where Kwon had been holding him felt strangely prickly, and he fidgeted with his fingers.

“A-anyway, it wasn’t me. I don’t know that game, and I’ve never played it. What I was playing was... John Village. Got it?”

Yeonhoo lifted his chin stubbornly after delivering an excuse that barely qualified as words.

Kwon, who still hadn’t taken his eyes off Yeonhoo’s hand, finally looked up.

His gaze had gone strangely still.

His face was expressionless, so Yeonhoo couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but instinctively, he knew.

Like hell he believes this....

Even by the most generous standards, Yeonhoo was throwing a tantrum and insisting on an obvious lie. There was no way someone as sharp as Kwon would let such flimsy bullshit slide.

And yet—

“Okay. I understand.”

...Huh?

“I understand that what you were playing back then was John Village.”

What?

Yeonhoo was the one caught off guard by how readily Kwon accepted it.

Instead of pressing him on his ridiculous claim, Kwon acknowledged it with perfect calm.

Wait. Is John Village actually real?

Kwon was so casual about it that the thought flashed through Yeonhoo’s mind for a second.

But there was no way a game called John Village actually existed!

“I guess I misunderstood. I thought what you were playing back then was Zombie Village. It just happens to be a game I know a little about.”

Kwon’s tone couldn’t have been more matter-of-fact.

Of course, Yeonhoo wasn’t naive enough to believe him.

You saw the screen!

Kwon had seen him playing.

And Yeonhoo had something else he wanted to say too.

And you said you didn’t know the game either!

Back then, Kwon himself had claimed he knew nothing about it. Now he was suddenly saying he knew a little?

It was ridiculous.

“Y-yeah. Right. The two games are kind of similar, I guess. What I was playing was definitely John Village. Haha....”

Yeonhoo was hardly in a position to argue.

He muddled through it with the grim resignation of someone chopping off his own foot to escape a trap.

He had already crossed too many lines to turn back now.

“Of course, Yeonhoo.”

Kwon eased himself away from the wall.

Then he looked [N O V E L I G H T] at Yeonhoo and spoke as though he were about to make an irresistible offer.

“Since this whole misunderstanding brought us together, want to play a game with me?”

How did mutually lying to each other count as fate...?

“I’ve got a lot of free time lately, so I was thinking about starting a game. But starting alone sounds kind of lonely. You’re interested in games too, so I thought it’d be perfect if we played together.”

“What game?”

“Zombie Village.”

Yeonhoo’s brain stopped working.

“Not John Village. Zombie Village.”

Kwon emphasized each word carefully.

Yeonhoo’s mouth fell open.

“Why... why would I play that with you? I’m really busy. I’m not free.”

Play Zombie Village?

With Kwon Mieon?

Have I lost my fucking mind?

The game and the person he least wanted to face in the entire world had just been bundled into one nightmare package.

Just hearing the suggestion made his skin crawl.

“Ah. Right. I guess playing with me would be a little uncomfortable.”

A little? Try extremely!

Yeonhoo barely managed to swallow the answer before it escaped.

Kwon lowered his gaze and let out a deep sigh.

“Honestly, I’ll probably get busy soon too, so it might be difficult anyway.”

Great!

While Kwon’s expression darkened, Yeonhoo practically lit up.

Then Kwon’s next words sent him straight to hell.

“Actually, it looks like some guy’s been hanging around Miyoung lately.”

“What?”

“He shows up at the café every day, keeps trying to talk to her, and apparently stares at her all the time.”

“What? What fucking psycho is doing that?!”

Something like that was happening to his Ms. Miyoung?

Yeonhoo flew into a full-blown rage at the thought of some deranged creep attaching himself to the woman he himself had barely dared to speak to.

“Exactly. Total psycho.”

“And you just watched it happen? How could you let that go?”

“I tried pretty hard to stop it. But the guy’s incredibly persistent.”

“Why? Does he follow her home too?”

“Not that far. But apparently he even follows her around in the game she plays.”

...Huh?

Yeonhoo stopped moving.

Kwon kept talking.

“He showers her with presents in-game, goes crazy trying to get her to say a single word to him... What was it called? An alliance? Apparently he even joined the same group just to follow her there. And that’s not all. You know what else he did? He asked her to call him sweetheart. Even paid her for it.”

Yeonhoo clenched his fists, eyes widening.

When did I ever do that?!

...He didn’t think he had gone that far.

“He even followed her around in the game calling her ‘Ms. Miyoung.’ Creepy, right? Good thing it turned out not to be her account.”

Kwon’s expression went cold.

...The infuriating part was that none of it was entirely false.

Was I really that creepy?

Yeonhoo wanted to grab his past self by the hair and rip it all out.

He desperately tried to control his face, but he had never been particularly good at hiding what he felt.

The moment Kwon saw Yeonhoo’s expression twist into something obviously suspicious, his eyes narrowed slightly.

“What’s wrong? Is this a story you know?”

“N-no. Never heard it before.”

He absolutely had to know nothing.

Kwon stared quietly at Yeonhoo’s shameless face for a moment, then turned his head and gave a small cough.

Yeonhoo didn’t notice the faint curve appearing behind the hand covering Kwon’s mouth.

“The one good thing is that Miyoung doesn’t know about any of this.”

Kwon leaned closer.

Then he cupped a hand beside Yeonhoo’s ear and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

“So I was thinking I’d dig up everything I can about this guy and tell her the whole story. What do you think?”

“......”

If Miu was anything like the person Yeonhoo knew—if he was really that obsessive—then he would find proof that Yeonhoo was 0momo0 somehow.

Especially now that he already suspected him.

“Honestly, shouldn’t this guy be reported? He sounds completely creepy and unhinged. If I catch him, maybe I’ll print flyers with all his personal information and put them up at the café. Post it all over social media too—”

Yeonhoo shot out a hand and covered Kwon’s mouth.

Kwon stopped talking and looked down at him.

Yeonhoo couldn’t even meet his eyes.

His entire face had gone bright red, tears were gathering in his eyes like he might cry at any second, and his lips kept opening and closing as though he had no idea what to say.

Kwon’s gaze darkened slightly as he stared at him.

“I-I didn’t mean it like that. It was an accident... It really was just a coincidence....”

Oblivious to the look in Kwon’s eyes, Yeonhoo mumbled excuses in a voice that had begun to crack.

“Ah!”

A sudden sting made him jerk his hand away.

Kwon had lightly bitten his finger.

At the sight of Yeonhoo flinching like a startled little animal, Kwon’s mouth nearly broke into a smile.

But a second later, his face was perfectly composed again.

“Why are you suddenly defending him? This had nothing to do with you, remember? I have absolutely no idea who the guy is... but it sounds like you do.”

Kwon tilted his head as though genuinely baffled.

Yeonhoo was certain.

He was doing this on purpose.

Absolutely.

One hundred percent.

“Of course, tracking someone down is kind of a pain. I’m only considering it because I’ve got nothing better to do right now. Once I get busy, I probably won’t even have the energy to tell Kang Miyoung about any of this.”

“Don’t you... work? You said you were a model!”

“Haven’t done that in a while. Anyway, I’m bored, so I thought I might as well look into it....”

What should he do?

Would it be better to confess everything right now and beg?

Yeonhoo fell into serious thought, wearing the expression of a man so obviously guilty that anyone could see it.

Watching him, Kwon let the next words drift out in an almost seductive tone.

“Of course... if I started playing a game, I’d probably get too busy to investigate. Might get so addicted I couldn’t be bothered anymore.”

Yeonhoo’s ears practically perked up.

Kwon continued.

“I’ve never played Zombie Village, but I hear it’s really fun.”

Never played my ass. You played it more obsessively than anyone!

Yeonhoo desperately wanted to shout that in his face.

But he couldn’t.

Why is he pretending he doesn’t know the game just to make me play with him?

It couldn’t possibly be because Kwon actually wanted to play with him.

Is he trying to catch me?

That had to be it.

Yeonhoo had gone so far as to smash his phone while pretending not to know Zombie Village. Kwon was clearly playing along so he could eventually catch Yeonhoo proving that he was 0momo0.

But Kwon was the one who lied first...!

The thought made resentment surge up in him, but given the situation, he couldn’t exactly say it aloud.

Kwon swept his gaze over Yeonhoo, whose thoughts were written all over his face, then turned away to hide a smile and continued naturally.

“Well... I don’t know how I’m supposed to play by myself. I’m not very good at games, so starting alone is kind of scary.”

“......”

“If someone played with me, I think I could manage. And then honestly, whoever’s following Miyoung around would stop being my problem—”

Yeonhoo grabbed Kwon’s hand.

Without even managing to open his eyes properly, he blurted out,

“Let’s play. When do you want to start?”

It felt like jumping straight into the fires of hell, but what choice did he have?

Better to play alongside Kwon and interfere with his search than let him freely uncover proof that Yeonhoo was 0momo0.

“I love games! Actually, I’ve had this lifelong dream hidden deep in my heart. I wanted to be a game athlete. That’s always been my dream!”

“A game... athlete?”

“Yeah. A game athlete!”

“You mean a pro gamer, right?”

“...Yeah.”

...Humiliating.

“...Pfft. Sure. Sounds good.”

So humiliating.

“Then let’s play together, champ.”

Goddammit!