Chapter 113

Yeonhoo glared at the screen, his face full of indignation.

“Why? Is it a nickname you recognize?”

Cunning. Vicious!

He had gone and picked a name like that just to rub it right in Yeonhoo’s face!

“What nickname are you going to use, Yeonhoo?”

Seeing Kwon grinning from ear to ear made the corner of Yeonhoo’s mouth twitch.

His competitive streak flared.

Oh, so that’s how you want to play this.

He didn’t know why.

For some strange reason, Yeonhoo suddenly wanted to do the exact opposite of what Kwon wanted.

So, purely on impulse, he started typing, determined to get back at the self-proclaimed “Not Miyoung.”

IOnlyWantMsMiyoung

A Mechanic who wanted no one but Ms. Miyoung.

A Judicator insisting he wasn’t Miyoung.

Judging by the nicknames alone, his Mechanic and Kwon’s Judicator had absolutely no reason to be connected.

Which, ironically, only made them look even more like matching couple names...

Of course, Yeonhoo had no intention of actually using it.

It was just a showy little provocation.

“......Huh?”

Kwon’s face twisted viciously in an instant. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

Except the atmosphere coming off him was far too murderous.

Yeonhoo immediately realized something had gone wrong.

I should tell him I’m kidding. Fast.

Obviously Kwon was angry because Yeonhoo had made a joke using his cousin’s name.

“Ah, sorry. I was just jok—”

“Are you insane?”

But then—

“I don’t even want to look at that. Delete it. Hurry up. What are you doing?”

Did he really hate the idea of Yeonhoo being associated with his cousin that much?

Seeing Kwon go completely stone-faced over it made something sting in Yeonhoo’s chest.

Of course he understood Kwon’s position.

Naturally he wouldn’t like someone messing around with the name of a family member he cared about.

Am I not even allowed to like her...?

Kwon seemed irritated by the mere fact that Yeonhoo liked Ms. Miyoung.

It wasn’t as if Yeonhoo planned to do anything.

He hadn’t even had the courage to do anything in the first place...

Feeling inexplicably wronged, Yeonhoo blurted out,

“N-No.”

“No?”

Kwon stared at him in disbelief and reached over.

“I said delete it.”

“No...! I’m using this!”

“Using what? Give it here. I’ll delete it myself.”

“No!”

And so the two of them ended up in a childish wrestling match over that ridiculous nickname.

Kwon tried to pin him down and hit Backspace, while Yeonhoo flailed desperately for the Enter key, refusing to lose.

(Notification) Nickname registration complete.

“I pressed it!”

“What are you talking about? I pressed it.”

“No, you didn’t! Look. Once it finishes loading—”

Both of them fell silent at the exact same moment, each utterly convinced that his own reflexes had won.

Kwon had one hand gripping Yeonhoo’s chair and the other on the mouse, leaving Yeonhoo practically pressed into his arms.

Their reflection showed clearly against the black loading screen.

Isn’t this position kind of weird?

Suddenly self-conscious, Yeonhoo awkwardly tried to ease himself away.

“Wh-Why are you... following me?”

Instead of creating distance, Kwon moved closer.

Yeonhoo stared at him in alarm.

Kwon ignored him and leaned in even farther.

“By the way, what perfume are you wearing today? You smell nice.”

Before Yeonhoo knew it, Kwon had draped an arm over his shoulder and brought his nose close to his hair.

“I’m not wearing perfume! What are you even talking about?”

Embarrassed by the position they were in, Yeonhoo shoved him away.

“You’re not wearing any?”

“You dragged me here first thing this morning! When would I have had time to put any on?”

It was true.

Normally, Yeonhoo would have sprayed on one of his favorite fragrances before going out, but today Kwon had practically hauled him away the moment he stepped out of the shower.

At Yeonhoo’s aggrieved shout, Kwon’s eyes widened.

Then, without warning, he dipped his head.

His handsome face came close, long lashes lowered as he leaned right toward Yeonhoo.

Uh, this is kind of... weird...

Yeonhoo found himself staring at his face as if hypnotized.

Then he grew embarrassed and squeezed his eyes shut.

That turned out to be a poor decision.

Without his sight, every other sensation became sharper.

It was like a dog sniffing someone’s scent.

Kwon’s hair brushed against Yeonhoo’s jaw, making it itch.

The tip of his nose skimmed near the nape of Yeonhoo’s neck, warm breath touching his skin.

Finally, Yeonhoo reached out to push him away.

“That’s enough! You seriously take everything way too—”

Soft.

“......far?”

Soft?

Soft?

What the hell was that?

Why is it soft? The only places my hand should be reaching right now are his face or maybe his shoulder...

A terrible premonition crept over him.

Yeonhoo cautiously opened his eyes, froze, and looked at where his hand had landed.

“......?”

Apparently Kwon had straightened up at some point, because instead of his upper body, Yeonhoo now had his lower body directly in front of him.

But why was it soft?

Kwon obviously worked out. His body should have been hard...

No way...

Yeonhoo’s face slowly drained white as he looked at the place he had just pushed.

His hand wasn’t even at Kwon’s waist.

It was practically down by his thigh.

That makes no sense. If... if it’s that, why is it all the way down here? Isn’t that supposed to be higher up? This is lower. Definitely lower, not higher, so why would it reach all the way down here? No. No way, right?

Yeonhoo desperately denied the possibility on the grounds that basic human anatomy should make it impossible.

Then he slowly pulled his hand away.

A suppressed moan sounded above his head.

“......Hah.”

Yeonhoo went rigid at the languid sound.

Worse, right before he pulled his hand away, he could have sworn that thing had gotten a little harder.

“How did you know?”

Yeonhoo looked up.

Kwon was staring down at him, the back of one hand covering his mouth, his face flushed red.

“That I keep it... over there.”

“...A-Are you insane? What the hell is wrong with you?”

Yeonhoo recoiled as violently as though he had seen a ghost.

“No, sorry... I’m sorry, but—I mean, I am sorry!”

There was no longer any way to pretend he didn’t know what he had touched.

He descended into incoherent panic.

Touching another man there was horrifying enough.

The sheer, overwhelming size of it was somehow even more terrifying.

“...Did you get surgery or something?”

How could it possibly hang that far down?

It had gone beyond a mystery of the human body and entered the realm of outright horror.

Kwon silently watched Yeonhoo flail his hands and retreat with a look of pure shock on his face.

Still slightly flushed, Kwon eventually sat back down.

“......”

Neither of them spoke.

Yeonhoo stood frozen where he had retreated, while Kwon now sat in a noticeably more modest posture than before.

“But, Yeonhoo.”

Kwon was the one who finally broke the awkward silence.

“Do you prefer it if someone’s had surgery?”

“......Surgery?”

“Yeah. This.”

Only after Kwon glanced subtly downward did Yeonhoo realize what he meant.

“W-Why the hell would I prefer that?!”

“Then why are you looking for someone who’s had surgery?”

He had no idea what kind of insane bullshit Kwon was talking about anymore!

“When did I ever say I was looking for that?!”

Yeonhoo screeched at him, his face red as a tomato.

Kwon merely blinked.

“Shut up and play the damn game!”

Kwon kept dragging him into one ridiculous conversation after another.

Yeonhoo whipped his head toward his own monitor.

Apparently the loading screen had finished ages ago.

His character was standing there now.

A fairly handsome man with no shirt on, his muscular upper body on full display...

IOnly

“......IOnly?”

It was the miraculous joint creation of one man desperately trying to finish IOnlyWantMsMiyoung and another desperately trying to stop him.

“Pfft—ahahahaha!”

Kwon burst out laughing.

As he openly mocked the painfully corny nickname, Yeonhoo’s hands flew into action.

I’m changing it. Right now.

No.

Even he couldn’t live with this.

It sounded like the stage name of someone who ought to be standing beneath spotlights in a glittering suit, belting out sentimental old-school songs.

Yeonhoo clicked furiously, trying to find the option to change his nickname.

But—

(Notification) Nicknames may be changed 30 days after character creation.

The only response was the cold system message.

“So, Yeonhoo, when are we actually going to start playing?”

“......”

“IOnly?”

“Shut up. Please......”

And so IOnly and NotMiyoung began their fresh start in Zombie Village.