Chapter 17
At first, I wondered if I was drunk, but most of the drinking had been done by Jangyeong and Sooki. I only had a couple of drinks, so I definitely wasn’t drunk.
Maybe I’d been gaming too much and was seeing things…
Even after I closed and reopened my eyes, the familiar system window I often saw in Doreso was still floating before me.
Could no one else see this window?
Am I just tired lately…? What even is this?
Meanwhile, the synchronization was rapidly climbing and had already reached 87%.
“Really? You’re going to do whatever I say?”
“Uh, um… yes.”
Truthfully, I couldn’t hear a word Hwanseong was saying because of the window in front of me. I was too distracted to follow the conversation, let alone respond properly.
Beyond the semi-transparent system window, I could still see Hwanseong’s face, and for some reason, he looked a bit tense. But with this window in my face, Hwanseong could wait.
“Then… will you marry me in Doreso?”
“What the—”
“Ahh… finally.”
“Huh? I thought you two were already married.”
The guild members were getting rowdy, but I was too focused on pretending to look at Hwanseong while actually staring at the system window, so I couldn’t process what they were saying.
“Uh… yeah.”
My answer somehow made the commotion around us even louder.
Hwanseong’s face turned even redder.
Is the grill that hot?
When the system finally displayed that synchronization was complete, the window disappeared.
So I was just seeing things from playing too much… I mean, it’s not like I’m in a novel or something. No way a game window would show up in real life.
I shook my head lightly to clear my thoughts and snapped back to reality.
Only then did I start noticing my surroundings again. Hwanseong looked slightly dazed but also… kind of happy?
Now that I think about it, didn’t he just ask me to do something…?
I’d just said “yeah” to whatever he said because I was distracted. Probably something like “let’s go do a boss raid” or something.
As the night deepened, we got up and said our goodbyes in front of the restaurant.
“I’ll take the bus and go this way.”
“Oh! Hwanseong is taking the bus too, you two can go together.”
Issa naturally grabbed Sooki and Jangyeong’s hands and stepped away from us.
“What are you talking about? You know I’m taking the bus home.”
But Sooki looked annoyed and tried to walk toward where Hwanseong and I were. Seeing that, both Issa and Jangyeong quickly reached out to grab Sooki’s hands.
“…Haneul, what are you saying? We agreed you’d stay over at Yuchan’s place tonight.”
“When did I say that?”
Sooki responded irritably.
Three fully grown men holding hands and bickering in the middle of a crowded street was definitely drawing attention.
Sure enough, two women who had just left the restaurant started whispering while looking at them.
“What the… who are those people?”
“…A lovers’ spat?”
“I swear I heard the short guy call the red-haired one ‘honey’ inside the restaurant.”
“What? Seriously? No way…”
My face grew hot with secondhand embarrassment, and I instinctively took a step away from the three.
Hwanseong, though expressionless, also stepped to my side as if feeling the same way.
Whether people were staring or not, the three of them just kept getting louder.
“Seriously, what’s with you two? Why would I be sleeping over at Jeong Yuchan’s place?”
“Yeah, we know. You don’t remember it. But if you had any awareness at all, please…”
The two women’s expressions grew even more serious.
“They all have such pretty faces, but what’s wrong with them?”
“Well, they say handsome guys are either taken or gay.”
“But this… feels like… both?”
“…Yeah, I think so too.”
The three of them seemed oblivious to the whispers around them and kept tugging each other like a tug-of-war.
Then suddenly, Jangyeong yanked his hand free from Issa and smacked Sooki on the head.
“This idiot… no sense at all. Just come with us already.”
…Huh? A dialect?
Surprised by the sudden dialect, I widened my eyes. Noticing my reaction, Hwanseong leaned down slightly and explained that Jangyeong usually spoke standard Korean but slipped into dialect when emotional.
“Why are you acting up too? I’m not clueless. The clueless one is Yoon Hae… huh?”
“Haneul, yes, exactly. That’s why we’re clinging to these missing memories… None of us remembers you sleeping over, but… right now, you’re worse than Sunya when it comes to reading the room.”
Sooki, who had been throwing a fit moments ago, suddenly went still like he’d been hit with a tranquilizer dart.
His sudden shift in behavior was honestly kind of scary. I wasn’t the only one who thought so—the two whispering women also looked concerned and murmured, “What’s wrong with him all of a sudden?”
Issa and Jangyeong, each holding one of Sooki’s hands, pulled him away as they said goodbye to Hwanseong and me.
“See you again next time!”
“Tonight was fun… Okay, Haneul, say bye too. Come on—bye-bye!”
Jangyeong waved Sooki’s hand like a kindergarten teacher, then the three of them quickly disappeared.
I laughed awkwardly and waved back. Whether in-game or in real life, everyone felt a little… off.
I turned to Hwanseong and said,
“Should we get going too?”
Hmm…
I cautiously glanced to the side. Hwanseong was walking straight ahead with one hand in his pocket.
I wasn’t sure if I should say I felt awkward or flustered—it was a weird, hard-to-describe emotion.
I didn’t expect to feel awkward with Hwanseong…
When we played games, I never felt awkward with him. He was always the one to approach first and take care of me, so there hadn’t been a chance for awkwardness.
But now that it was just the two of us, the awkwardness hit me hard.
It was surprising—and a little disappointing—that being with Hwanseong felt this way. He wasn’t like this in the game. Was I just… underwhelming in real life?
I hated awkward situations like this.
Maybe I should’ve just said I’d walk home to get some exercise…
But saying that now would make it seem like I was just trying to get away.
So… I’d have to face it head-on.
Forcing a smile, I carefully struck up a conversation.
“What bus do you usually take, Hwanseong?”
“No idea.”
“…Sorry?”
“I’m just gonna take whatever bus you take.”
What the heck does that mean? I looked at him, puzzled.
He didn’t even know what bus to take home. Why was he heading to the bus stop, then? Shouldn’t he pull out his phone to check?
But instead, he just silently matched my walking pace.
No matter what I said, his responses were short and cold—completely different from how he was in the game. He didn’t initiate any conversation either, so my brave attempt at a “direct approach” quickly crumbled. I ended up quietly waiting for the bus and riding it with him, feeling uncomfortable the entire time.
Of course, the only available seats were the two stuck together. Hwanseong’s broad frame took up space, and with us sitting side by side, our shoulders and arms were pressed together.
The already awkward atmosphere just got worse.
Hwanseong sat by the window and clearly didn’t want to touch me—he even shifted his large body further toward the window.
He kept his head turned to the window the entire time, never once glancing my way.
Is being near me really that unpleasant?
I didn’t understand. In the game, he’d been so kind… but meeting him in person, he was acting like a different person entirely.
It made me a little sad, but I tried to console myself—people are just different, after all.
We rode the bus in silence, like total strangers. Before I knew it, the next stop was mine.
Still… I should say goodbye before I get off, right?
Carefully, I lifted my index finger and lightly poked Hwanseong’s arm. So lightly, in fact, it could’ve been an accident.
But he jolted like I’d punched him.
