Dusk (BL Light Novel)

— “I just got home, washed up, and dropped by for a quick flex of the merch and gifts I got today. I don’t think I’ll be able to play tonight—I have work tomorrow.”
…Work tomorrow? Wow. And this guy still pestered me to hang out? Seriously insane. I clicked my tongue.
He said he was going to show off his merch, and right on cue, his cam turned on. As always, it was the same fixed angle showing his upper body and desk, and he lifted the Dusk paper bag he’d been holding earlier into view. Beside it, the big spectacled owl plush I had bought him was rolling around in his palm.

— “This plushie was kind of forced on me by Honeybread. I tried to buy one for him too but… well, things turned out like this. It’s cute though. Super soft to the touch.”
From the way he trailed off, it was obvious he didn’t want to admit he lost that little tug-of-war and couldn’t buy one for me.
He started showing off the gifts he got at the signing event. Most of them were things like bracelets that matched his wrist—which often appeared on cam—or simple sweet snacks.

Then, while rummaging through the paper bag to get to the merch talk, Gang Jaegyung suddenly froze and picked something up with a confused expression.
The corner of my mouth twitched on its own. It was the bundle of coupons I had secretly slipped in earlier.
— “What’s this…?”

Still trying to figure it out, Gang Jaegyung stared intently at the stack of coupons. He must’ve realized they were from the merch shop, but was probably wondering why a whole bundle of them had ended up in his bag. And with that quick brain of his, it wouldn’t take him long to reach the answer.
He was probably recalling the moment I impulse-bought all that merch.
— “...Hold on a sec.”

He suddenly stood up, grabbing his phone. A flood of question marks instantly filled the chat window. Of course the viewers were confused—Retaking a Class, flustered over some bundle of what looked like coupons, and clearly not expecting them? They’d naturally be curious.
Just picturing Gang Jaegyung’s angry or panicked reaction made me feel good. Honestly, I hoped he was pissed.
Before I could even savor the moment, a popup appeared with a KakaoTalk message from Gang Jaegyung.

[Go Yeong-ssi]
[What is this?]
I laughed and swiped the popup away.
The messages didn’t stop coming. He started mixing in random consonants and symbols to make the notifications harder to ignore. After a while, the constant barrage drove me crazy enough to switch to silent mode.

While I continued ignoring every single message, I saw him on cam, sitting back down and furiously tapping on his phone again.
[Hey.]
[Don’t ignore me — —]
[Go Yeong-nim?]
[Kitty??]
[Cat God, please ㅠ]
[I won’t be mad, promise.]
Every message reeked of desperation. I leisurely scrolled through them, enjoying the way his urgency played out in text.
And then…

[Are you home? Or still outside?]
[You got home safe, right?]
[I’m starting to get worried.]
Somewhere along the way, his messages stopped being nagging and started going weird. Asking if I got home okay, if I was still in the car, if I got into an accident—at this rate, it felt like he was one message away from calling 112.
The sheer worry in his texts jolted me upright from where I was sprawled at my desk. Couldn’t help it. It was starting to get hard to just sit and watch.

What the hell... Why does this guy’s brain always jump straight to worst-case scenarios?
Worried he might actually call emergency services, I reluctantly tapped the popup and checked the chat. As I scrolled through the packed KakaoTalk window, I was met with a message that genuinely made me flinch.
[Gang Jaegyung]
Should I call the cops?? 18:59

Now I was the one panicking.
[Me]
No
Why the hell would you do that;
I’m fine. 18:59
I was grumbling to myself about what a damn scaredy-cat he was, but the next message knocked the wind right out of me.

[Gang Jaegyung]
Then why didn’t you read my messages? 18:59
He knew I was deliberately ignoring him and was testing me. Goddamn ghost.
[Me]
Are you serious
How did you even know? 18:59

[Gang Jaegyung]
My instincts
(emoticon)
Now explain yourself. 19:00
[Me]
Explain what 19:00
[Gang Jaegyung]
Don’t play dumb. What’s this all about? 19:00

[Me]
What do you mean ㅇㅅㅇ
I don’t know anythingㅎ 19:00
[Gang Jaegyung]
The coupons
You’re the one who put them in, right? 19:00
[Me]
Eh~~ 19:00

[Gang Jaegyung]
Don’t “Eh~~” me — — 19:00
[Me]
ㅋㅋ 19:00
Even without sound, I could vividly picture Gang Jaegyung chirping angrily with that high-pitched, flustered voice. It was only because it was text that he wasn’t rambling more—he definitely had a lot more to say.

Feeling generous, I gave him the honest answer he was looking for.
[Me]
Pickpocketed it in^^ 19:00
[Gang Jaegyung]
What
That’s way beyond pickpocketing;;
Take it back. 19:00

[Me]
I’m going to shower bye 19:00
[Gang Jaegyung]
Hey
Where do you think you’re going; 19:00
I ignored him and left the chat. Almost instantly, the notification flood started ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) up again, including one that said he was trying to voice call. Of course I didn’t answer. Why would I dig my own grave by answering that smooth-talking machine?

Since I didn’t reply or even read his messages, Gang Jaegyung finally gave up after a while and slumped back into his seat on stream with a heavy sigh. His pale hand, reflected in the cam, reluctantly put down the phone.
A few sharp viewers seemed to have figured it out, and the chat window was exploding with my IGN and tons of “ㅋㅋㅋㅋ”. Like streamer, like viewers. They managed to connect all the dots with the tiniest sliver of evidence—if you could even call it that.
— “...Yeah. Honeybread gave them to me, then ran off when I told him to take them back.”

Like hell I’d take back something I bought as a gift. What kind of guy refuses to just accept a present like a normal person?
— “Just how many of these are there… Haa.”
He sighed deeply, holding up the bundle of coupons tied together with a rubber band. I couldn’t help but laugh.

See that, Gang Jaegyung? That’s how you properly sneak something in.
Apparently still sulking, Gang Jaegyung started ranting to his viewers about everything that happened. Said when he offered to buy me something, I brushed him off, but when he came back after paying, I’d already stacked the paper bag full of merch. Then I handed him a plushie like it was nothing, and when he said he’d buy me something in return, I flat-out refused. On top of that, I’d later stuffed this eco-bag with a folded tumbler and a mug.
He whined so much it reminded me of that viral video of a husky lying in a bathtub screaming because it didn’t want a bath.

But most of the viewers were replying with things like, “Are you bragging about how many gifts you got?”—which made Gang Jaegyung look like he was about to die from injustice.
I watched him sulk a bit longer, then once he finally calmed down and got back to showing off his merch, I took off my headset to go wash up.
God, that was hilarious. I stood up feeling thoroughly satisfied.

I grabbed my coat draped over the bed and started rummaging through the pockets to pull things out. I first took out the big knuckle duster and tossed it onto the bed, then reached in again to collect the rest of the small stuff.
“…Huh.”
…I was sure I had put those paper slips with the numbers into the right pocket. Where did they go? Did I drop them?

Just in case, I checked the left pocket, the inner one—nothing. I even turned the coat upside down and shook it out, but still nothing.
I had planned to tear them up and toss them anyway, but the idea of having lost something with someone else’s personal info on it made me uneasy. I had no idea where I could’ve dropped them, so there was no way to go pick them up. I’d even carefully folded the origami one to keep it neat.
The only place I’d stayed for a while after receiving the notes was the car, so I’d have to ask my uncle to check it for me tomorrow.

With that settled, I busied myself sorting the things I had pulled out. I headed to the dressing room, dropped the emergency knuckle back in the basket, and picked up the job badge that Gang Jaegyung had “pickpocketed” into my pocket…
…Wait a sec. What the hell?
I turned over the crinkling envelope and looked inside again. But no matter which way I examined it, or how many times I searched my pockets again, nothing changed.

I stared blankly at the badge in my hand.
Where did the Divine Messenger badge go? Why is this… a Medical Officer badge?
 

 
「Social anxiety disorder.. X Gets nervous when seeing crowds, but oddly doesn’t feel anxious when people are looking directly at him → trauma from not being seen by others?
Zero

Brazen. Mischievous (kind of pisses me off)
Popular. Got 4 notes. The crane’s mineㅎ
Usually expressionless, but doesn’t hide emotions

Doesn’t care much about nonverbal cues (especially touch) but X about verbal ones.
I want to see him again. 」