He Is That Guy

What did he even mean by "getting along well"? Was I understanding that the right way?
It was so ridiculous I couldn’t even be mad at first. On what basis? We’d only known each other for a few days!

[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: Seriously.
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: I have no idea what you’re talking about.
[Whisper] DrinkWaterPlz: ??
[Whisper] DrinkWaterPlz: Aren’t you flirting with Rahee?
Flirting... The word hit me so hard I felt lightheaded. I never imagined I’d live to hear someone say I was flirting—with someone—in an online game. I pressed my aching eyes with both hands and replied:

[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: Nope.
[Whisper] DrinkWaterPlz: For real?
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: Yeah.
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: Why would you even think that?

[Whisper] DrinkWaterPlz: Ah...
[Whisper] DrinkWaterPlz: You two just seemed close.
[Whisper] DrinkWaterPlz: And Rahee’s a girl and a buffer.
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: A girl and a buffer? lol
What the hell did being a girl or a buffer have to do with anything? I’m not some creep who loses his mind over women or something...

...Wait. A creep who loses his mind over women?
A nasty suspicion hit me like a lightning bolt.
No way... no fucking way.

“Haah…”
I covered my face with both hands and let out a long, heavy sigh. Goddamn it, Yoo Chae, you son of a bitch.
I wasn’t even confused anymore. I was pissed. Really pissed. I slammed my fingers on the keyboard.

[Party] ImSoSleepy: Kim Yoo Chae.
[Party] ImSoSleepy: Get over here. Now.
[Party] Yoo Chae: Huh?
[Party] Hwaseoun: ??
[Party] Haerun: hm?
Yoo Chae, still fixing his gear, saw my message and came running.

[Party] Yoo Chae: Hyung hyung
[Party] Yoo Chae: I’m not even a Kim!
[Party] Yoo Chae: Why, though? :)
He grinned dumbly and came right up to me like he didn’t suspect a thing.
WHAP! A satisfying smack rang out as my staff hit his head.
[Party] Yoo Chae: :( ?

His HP dropped a sliver. Barely a scratch. Mage autos really were trash.
[Party] Yoo Chae: That hurt!
[Party] Yoo Chae: Why’d you hit me??
Oh? So he’s gonna play dumb now? I snorted and smacked his head again. Another microscopic drop in HP.

[Party] ImSoSleepy: You're seriously asking that?
Yoo Chae didn’t back down. He whined like he was the victim.
[Party] Yoo Chae: I don’t know!
[Party] Yoo Chae: I didn’t even do anything this time...
[Party] Yoo Chae: I swear...

Guild members started to gather, smelling the drama.
[Party] Hwaseoun: ??
[Party] Hwaseoun: What’s going on?
[Party] TheHunter: no clue
[Party] Haerun: Guild master probably did something again lol
[Party] Haerun: You can just tell [Party] ParkSeungjin99: for real [Party] DrinkWaterPlz: Hmm...
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: I think I get it now [Party] MochaBbang: o_o? [Party] DrinkWaterPlz: It’s probably Yoo Chae’s fault, lmao [Party] ManaIsDryGuy: knew it, lol [Party] Haerun: munches popcorn
Every time I hit enter, I spam-clicked his head. Yoo Chae must’ve realized I wasn’t playing anymore—he just stood there and took it.

[Party] ImSoSleepy: Kim Yoo Chae.
[Party] ImSoSleepy: No more bullshit. Answer honestly.
[Party] Yoo Chae: Hyung...
[Party] Yoo Chae: I’m really not a Kim ㅠㅠ
[Party] ImSoSleepy: Not that, you idiot;

I sat up straight and took a deep breath.
Might as well get this out now. DrinkWaterPlz opened the door—I wasn’t about to waste the chance.
[Party] Yoo Chae: Then what is it?

I didn’t bother sugarcoating it.
[Party] ImSoSleepy: You’re CottonCandyFox, right?
[Party] ParkSeungjin99: no way
[Party] MochaBbang: wtf
[Party] ManaIsDryGuy: ?
[Party] ManaIsDryGuy: You knew, Sleepy? [Party] MochaBbang: Looks like it.

While the others were freaking out, Yoo Chae stayed completely silent. Was he gonna deny it? Was he just shocked?
[Party] ImSoSleepy: Say it clearly.
[Party] ImSoSleepy: If you lie again, I’m quitting this game and deleting everything.
His character flinched, then started typing in a panic.

[Party] Yoo Chae: No please
[Party] Yoo Chae: It’s true
[Party] Yoo Chae: I’m sorry
[Party] ImSoSleepy: That a real apology?
[Party] Yoo Chae: Yeah...
[Party] Yoo Chae: I was going to tell you after we ran some raids
[Party] Yoo Chae: Once you hit max level
[Party] Yoo Chae: But things changed...

I rubbed my jaw. So that was the plan—help me level through raids and come clean after. But I’d ended up joining another guild and losing the staff, messing everything up.
[Party] ImSoSleepy: If you’re gonna lie, at least be good at it;
[Party] ImSoSleepy: You were so obvious, how could I not notice?
[Party] Yoo Chae: When did you find out?

[Party] ImSoSleepy: After one raid.
[Party] Yoo Chae: That fast?
He sounded surprised, which made it even more ridiculous. Did he really think he could hide it, acting the same as his main?

[Party] MochaBbang: Makes sense
[Party] MochaBbang: You’re just bad at pretending lol [Party] ManaIsDryGuy: yeah, it was obviously him [Party] ParkSeungjin99: Looking back, it was obvious to anyone with half a brain lol [Party] MeLostInHunt: That obvious? [Party] ManaIsDryGuy: Just acted exactly like usual. [Party] ParkSeungjin99: Yep
[Party] ParkSeungjin99: Plus, after Sleepy joined, guild master never logged into CottonCandyFox again lol [Party] Haerun: Oh yeah, true [Party] MochaBbang: Sucks that Sese isn’t here
[Party] MochaBbang: He’d have had a lot to say, lol
Sounded like the people who raided with CottonCandyFox were MochaBbang, ParkSeungjin, ManaIsDryGuy, and SeseSehajaGo.
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: Wasn’t even his alt
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: That was my alt, damn it

He borrowed someone else’s alt? What a circus.
[Party] ImSoSleepy: Whatever.
[Party] ImSoSleepy: If all you cared about was me hitting max level, you could’ve kept things normal.
[Party] ImSoSleepy: Why pull that creepy oppa-netkama routine?
Honestly, it was that lame girl act that gave him away so fast. After a pause, Yoo Chae finally typed back—sounding a little irritated.

[Party] Yoo Chae: You said you liked girls.
[Party] Yoo Chae: You clearly liked her too.
[Party] ImSoSleepy: What the hell?
[Party] ImSoSleepy: When did I ever say that?
[Party] ImSoSleepy: I was nice to CottonCandyFox
[Party] ImSoSleepy: because I knew it was you;
[Party] MochaBbang: ????
[Party] MochaBbang: Wait, you mean that "Oppaaa~" stuff?

[Party] ImSoSleepy: Yeah.
[Party] ImSoSleepy: I was messing with the netkama on purpose.
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: So then...
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: You’re not into Rahee either?
[Party] ImSoSleepy: Nope
[Party] ImSoSleepy: Nothing going on there.

[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: But...
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: She didn’t seem to dislike it...
[Party] DoraHeeImnida: Huh?
Rahee, who’d just returned from repairing gear, glanced up at chat.

[Party] DoraHeeImnida: Oh haha
[Party] DoraHeeImnida: I just thought it was funny
[Party] DoraHeeImnida: Watching guild master react every time Sleepy talked to me lol
[Party] Haerun: wait what LMAO
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: ???
[Party] LaggingLikeHell: oh god lmaoo
[Party] TheHunter: LOL
[Party] Hwaseoun: today’s legendary, I swear
[Party] Yoo Chae: Hyung...
[Party] Yoo Chae: She’s seriously crazy ㅠㅡㅠ

[Party] ImSoSleepy: Watch your mouth.
[Party] MeLostInHunt: Rahee living up to the name LMAOOO
Yeah, I’d suspected. She always laughed whenever Yoo Chae whined.

[Party] ImSoSleepy: Anyway.
[Party] ImSoSleepy: Asking for her number and trying to get her on voice chat—
[Party] ImSoSleepy: That was all on purpose.
[Party] ImSoSleepy: I’m not some loser obsessed with women.
[Party] ImSoSleepy: Don’t get it twisted.
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: Got it, got it
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: This is hilarious, though
[Party] Haerun: How about some e-dating, then?
[Party] ImSoSleepy: fuck no
[Party] Haerun: lol wrecked [Party] Hwaseoun: LOL
[Party] ManaIsDryGuy: hahahaha

[Party] MochaBbang: Sleepy
[Party] MochaBbang: Can I post all this in the guild chat? o_o lol
[Party] ImSoSleepy: Please do. I beg you ^^..
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: LOLOL

Everyone was laughing. I just sighed. At least the misunderstanding was cleared up. No one would think I was into DoraHee now—or that I was desperate for girls.
[Party] MeLostInHunt: Hey guys
[Party] MeLostInHunt: Are we done with Arena?
[Party] MeLostInHunt: Or going again?
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: let’s go again
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: You’re in too, right Sleepy?

[Party] ImSoSleepy: Yeah, I need the practice
[Party] Haerun: Good
[Party] Haerun: Let’s reshuffle teams
As they went back to organizing, I sent a whisper to Yoo Chae. I wasn’t done with him yet.

[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: Aside from CottonCandyFox
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: You hiding anything else?
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: No.
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: I’m sorry, hyung.
After a long pause, his reply was surprisingly firm. Fair enough. We hadn’t known each other long. There probably wasn’t anything else.

[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: You said it wasn’t out of bad intent.
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: So I’ll let it slide this time.
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: But this is it.
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: No more next time.
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: Got it?
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: yessir...
Yoo Chae’s response sounded so defeated, it was almost pitiful. If I kept pushing, he might actually cry.

I’m the one who got tricked, so why does he look like the victim?
Still, his moping tugged at me. Fine. I’d let °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° it go.
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: Long as you get it.
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: And one more thing.
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: Back in the Arena... you let me go, didn’t you?

I thought back to the match. Yoo Chae had paused—at the perfect moment to kill me. It couldn’t have been lag. He did it on purpose.
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: Hmm...
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: I didn’t mean to, but yeah.
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: I was practicing my combos, but
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: You don’t have to do that.
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: Just play for real.
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: Makes it easier for me too.
[Whisper] ImSoSleepy: I’d rather get wrecked and cursed out than be let off easy.

[Whisper] Yoo Chae: lol
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: Got it
He laughed. Why did he sound so happy all of a sudden? Seriously, this guy was impossible to read.
[Party] Haerun: Keeping Sleepy and Rahee together again might be good, right?

[Party] ManaIsDryGuy: That’d throw off the balance too much
[Party] ManaIsDryGuy: Honestly, we only won last round thanks to RNG
[Party] TheHunter: yeah even with all the strong DPS
[Party] TheHunter: it’s rough if the other team has all the tank and heals
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: But we already have a buffer
[Party] DrinkWaterPlz: Adding a tank or healer too seems off

[Party] LaggingLikeHell: What if we just send the guildmaster over there?
[Party] Haerun: If we send all the DPS and the guildmaster
[Party] Haerun: the other team’s toast lol
Even after all that, the teams still weren’t sorted. There wasn’t really a good answer. Rahee was the only buffer, which made things even trickier.

[Party] Yoo Chae: Hmm
[Party] Yoo Chae: brb
Yoo Chae has left the party.
Just like that, Yoo Chae vanished. Everyone was confused. Then a system message popped up in the corner of the screen.

CottonCandyFox has logged in.
“...Huh?”