Dusk (BL Light Novel)

After laughing out loud for a while, I suddenly became aware of the fact that I was bursting out laughing alone in my room. There wasn’t anyone else here, but... somehow it felt a little ridiculous.
Trying to calm down, I cleared my throat and took a few deep breaths. Just then, Retaking shot up from his kneeling position. It seemed someone had followed through with my plea to “tell him to stop crying,” so he finally stopped bawling and apologizing. Instead, he switched to walk mode and started pacing in circles around me.
Straightening up in my chair, I checked the sub-monitor. Retaking’s stream was still up. The chat window was in chaos, so I turned the sound back on and heard him arguing with viewers—“How could you just flip someone off like that?”—to which he responded, “You didn’t expect it to end like this either, did you?” Well, yeah. With reactions like that, of course he was going to tease them.

At any rate, it didn’t seem like the middle finger had been an accident...
I decided to ping the guild chat to ask if anyone was watching Retaking’s stream. Maybe someone caught what Adam actually said.
[Guild] Honeybread: Anyone watching Retaking’s stream?

I waited a bit, but there was no response. I checked the guild tab—only two members were online, and both were in a dungeon. Looked like Ceylontea and Nickjung had found a tank and were farming.
They were busy, so they definitely weren’t watching. Romantic was at work, Solo was in rehearsal, Summoner-hyung had afternoon classes… Who else could I ask?
I picked up my phone, thought about it, then set it down and typed.

[General] Honeybread: Anyone been watching Retaking’s stream?
[General] SockIsSocks: Me
[General] Calmly: Me too

Two Bia players who had been spectating us in-game responded instantly in the public chat. Their characters ran over and plopped down beside mine.
[General] Honeybread: What did Adam say
[General] Honeybread: That made Retaking flip me off?

[General] Honeybread: Did you see?
[General] SockIsSocks: Ah... ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Suddenly, Socks burst out laughing. What was so funny?

As I waited for them to continue, Retaking, who had been AFK chatting with his viewers, started moving again. He scurried over, practically sticking to my character’s side, glancing between Socks and Calmly, then looked up at me.
I clicked on Retaking’s character in response. Honeybread’s head turned toward him, and Retaking stepped in even closer, clearly curious what we were talking about.
[General] SockIsSocks: So like
[General] SockIsSocks: I don’t remember it exactly

[General] SockIsSocks: But it was something like “While waiting, our Supreme Commander was ogling the Bia—any words you’d like to share in this moment?” and
[General] SockIsSocks: Retaking got pissed at the word “ogling” and flipped him off
[General] Calmly: Yep ㅋㅋ just to add

[General] Calmly: While the Bia folks were having a conversation, Retaking got a scout-type exploration prompt
A scouting mission? So Retaking couldn’t join the conversation, and the devs added that to fill his idle time?
[General] SockIsSocks: ㅋㅋㅋㅋ oh yeah that part;

[General] Calmly: The moment you clicked the wing, the NPCs suddenly went dead quiet and the whole scene got super awkward
[General] Calmly: So Retaking was like, “Did I… press something weird??”
[General] Calmly: Totally panicked ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[General] Calmly: Thought he might’ve clicked like… the character’s butt or something and ruined the moment
[General] Calmly: Then realized the awkwardness wasn’t his fault, it was just the actual mood of the scene
[General] Calmly: But then Adam made a comment about “ogling” and that just—

[General] Calmly: Ticked him off ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[General] Calmly: So in a burst of frustration he flipped him off
[General] Calmly: It wasn’t intentional malice ㅋㅋㅋ

So let me get this straight: Retaking was investigating my character’s wings during his scout mission, the atmosphere suddenly turned cold, and he panicked thinking he’d clicked the wrong place. Once he realized it wasn’t his fault and Adam started teasing him, he lashed out and flipped him off?
...He flipped off an NPC over that? That’s one of the few free-text input prompts in Dusk, and that’s what he chose?
You’d think, from his voice alone, he was soft-spoken—but the guy clearly had a temper.

I was still impressed, marveling at the whole thing, when suddenly Retaking mentioned my name on stream.
My ears perked up.
— {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} “Should I invite Honeybread to the stream sometime?”

Stream? Me?
Invite? Me?
I whipped my head toward the sub-monitor, stunned. Retaking was still going, explaining that it was related to the hidden story, and the chat was way more supportive than I expected.

Shortly after, Calmly messaged me in public chat:
[General] Calmly: Looks like Retaking wants to invite you on stream to chat a bit?
I know. I heard it too. But I didn’t want to make it obvious I was watching, so I replied vaguely.

[General] Honeybread: Uh
After hitting Enter, I hesitated. As much as I genuinely enjoyed talking to Retaking, actually going on stream with him felt... off. Our relationship in-game worked best as one where we killed each other now and then.
Honestly, back when fighting me became a core part of his content, I was worried it might be harming his brand. I went digging through forums and community posts to check viewer reactions, and it was only after confirming that most people saw it as the main draw of the stream that I felt relief.

But if that was the limit of what viewers tolerated, then going beyond that might actually hurt him.
Even if the chat was welcoming, those weren’t his only viewers. Plenty of people quietly lurked or only watched edited clips. Some of them might hate me.
I wouldn’t be of any help to Retaking—but I didn’t want to become a liability either.

Chin propped on one hand, I listened as Retaking continued speaking. His tone sounded thoughtful, like he was weighing things carefully. Sounded like he wanted to analyze the storyline together.
— “No other Holy Guardian has reported seeing the hidden story before, and since Honeybread got paired with me, he’s probably the only one who has. I’m super curious what happened before we met, and whether the story splits like it does for the assassin path. I also really want to talk properly with Honeybread. …Oh, and are the Bia standing next to Honeybread stream viewers?”
One of them must’ve typed in chat, because Retaking continued in a chipper voice:

— “Then could you maybe ask Honeybread if he’d be willing to join the stream for a short chat? Voice would be best, but even typing is totally fine!”
I could hear the hope in his voice. Maybe that’s why it made me feel a little guilty to turn him down.
[General] SockIsSocks: Honeybread, Retaking’s wondering if you’d hop on stream for a quick chat?

[General] SockIsSocks: Said voice would be best but chat is fine too
I paused before typing. How could I word this so Retaking would go “Ah, that’s a shame” and just move on?
[General] Honeybread: Umm… sorry

[General] Honeybread: I get super awkward on streams;;
[General] Don’tSmokeOnTheRoad: ?? You do?
“You do?” Really? Can’t someone be awkward on stream?

[Whisper] Honeybread >> Don’tSmokeOnTheRoad: Shut it
[General] Don’tSmokeOnTheRoad: Pretty sure the first time we traded
[General] Don’tSmokeOnTheRoad: You messaged me like we were already friends

[General] Don’tSmokeOnTheRoad: Called me on voice, asked what snacks I liked
[General] Don’tSmokeOnTheRoad: Bro you came off so extroverted I thought you were a freakin’ party animal
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Don’tSmokeOnTheRoad: ┐─┌

[General] Don’tSmokeOnTheRoad: Swear to god if you took an MBTI test you’d come out as E, not I
How the hell did he know?