Netkama Punch!!!

More than anything, I couldn’t stop wondering what the hell Shin Heejae was thinking. No, “wondering” wasn’t enough—there was this lingering, gut-deep unease I couldn’t shake.

If he were normal, he’d just punch me in the face. He wouldn’t go around saying he’s into guys.
That’s why every time he said he liked me, it gave me this overwhelming sense of dissonance. What part of his ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) behavior looked like someone who liked another person?
No matter how I looked at it, there was nothing about the recent Shin Heejae that made him seem like someone who liked me. The occasional condescending tone, the way he deliberately did only the things I hated—all of it.

Even ignoring my messages—this was the first time it had ever happened since I’d met him. Back when I was [Sesam], not once had he left me on read. So how could I believe he really liked me?
His attitude was so obviously different that I sometimes felt a pang of resentment. Of course, I’d accepted that he’d treat me differently now than he did when I was catfishing, but if this was Shin Heejae’s “true nature”...
Just hold on… He drives an Audi, right? He probably lives in a nice place. There’s no way he’ll want to stay here for months…

Time was all I could rely on now. Once his anger cooled off a bit, he’d come to his senses and go back to his own home.
I glanced at Shin Heejae sitting across from me. He’d already finished a full bowl and was now staring fixedly at my hand. At first I thought I was imagining things, but even as I poked at the swollen noodles I hadn’t touched, I could feel his gaze following me.
I tried to ignore it, but the deepening furrow between his brows as he stared at my hand started to irritate me.

Annoyed, I snapped.
“What are you staring at?”
Snapped out of his thoughts, Shin Heejae blinked and answered,

“Those really are your hands, huh.”
“What?”
“You sent me that picture, remember? Flipping me off.”

“Oh.”
...Right, I did do that.
Embarrassed, I set my chopsticks down and tucked my hands under the table. Shin Heejae glanced at me and murmured like he was talking to himself.

“I remember wondering, why send a man’s hand? Turns out it was real.”
“…What?”
I looked up, startled. Shin Heejae met my shocked gaze and shrugged.
“You didn’t seriously think I got fooled, did you?”

“You mean… you knew I was a guy back then?”
But didn’t he flirt with me, saying stuff like my hands were pretty? I pressed him again, unsettled by his reaction, and for a moment he fell silent—then muttered while looking down at the floor.
“I just figured you found a middle finger photo on the internet or something. Honestly, I didn’t even expect you to send one when I asked.”

“What the hell…”
So he knew it was a man’s hand but still didn’t think I was actually a man? That was beyond stupid.
As our eyes met, my expression full of pity, Shin Heejae—rare for him—flared up.

“What’s with that look?”
“Let’s be real. Even if it wasn’t me, you’d still get duped with that IQ of yours.”
“Like you’ve got the right to say that, after catfishing me?”

“You’re the one who didn’t even question it when I sent you a photo.”
It was the first time since meeting Shin Heejae that I saw him looking genuinely flustered, and I relished it. So this was the thrill he got from messing with me, huh? I grinned wickedly.
“Next time, make sure you do a video call before you start dating someone. Don’t get played all by yourself.”

Shin Heejae glared at me like he wanted to punch me but still managed to say something fake-sweet.
“…Next time? I’m not dating anyone but you from now on.”
“……”

My good mood plummeted instantly.
Fuck, could you at least manage your expression when you say shit like that?
Who’s going to believe you like someone when your face looks like you want to kill them?

“Ugh, that’s cold. Noona, do you even realize we’re dating?”
And yet he kept insisting on this whole “we’re dating” thing. I replied in a tired voice.
“…Do I look like I do?”

And the moment I answered like that, he got even worse. He suddenly grabbed my hand, and as I recoiled in surprise, he asked in a greasy voice:
“Should we get couple rings?”
“Are you actually insane?”

“Gold’s better, right?”
“No, what the—!”
Is he serious?

Are we really going to get matching rings next?
The very idea made my skin crawl, but at least when I yanked my hand away sharply, he didn’t cling.
As I stared at him like I was going to puke, Shin Heejae smirked like he’d won. Fine, you win. You are officially designated as a goddamn war-criminal-tier gay bastard.

I glared at his smug face and issued a serious warning.
“If you show up with rings, I will break your fingers.”
Shin Heejae just kept grinning like he didn’t give a damn and even said like it was a great idea,

“Then I guess we’ll have to match them in-game.”
“What?”
“You should be logging in soon anyway. We’re dating again, right?”

“What?????”
“Since we’re on the topic, go ahead and log in on [Sesam] now.”
He casually placed the laptop he brought today on my desk. Hearing that nonsense, I scoffed internally.

He doesn’t know yet, does he… That I deleted the Sesam character.
Should I tell him now? Will he get pissed?
But he’d find out soon enough after logging in. Watching him navigate to the game homepage, I said with mock regret,

“Well… I don’t think I can.”
“Why?”
“I deleted the character. I quit.”

But Shin Heejae didn’t look shocked or angry—he just shrugged.
“Try logging in anyway.”
“I told you, it’s deleted.”

“Then show me.”
I figured he didn’t believe me. So I logged in without resistance. Maybe he’d freak when he saw it?
“See? Look—huh?”

But when the login completed, the [Sesam] character I’d applied to delete over a week ago was still there, exactly as I left her.
She was max level, so the deletion wouldn’t go through immediately—but it had already been over a week. Deletion should’ve been complete by now. So why the hell was the character still there?
“You… did you restore my character?”

Wait—did he hack it?
Suspicion flooded in, and I glared at Shin Heejae sitting beside me. Technically, even GMs couldn’t restore a deleted character—but something about this reeked of manipulation.
And yet this bastard didn’t even bother denying it. He just shrugged again.

“When you quit, you gave back or returned all the clan gear, right?”
“What?”
“It looked shady as hell, so I reported it as a suspected hack account. If you report hacked items, the account gets frozen.”

“……”
“I canceled the report yesterday after I found you. So now you can cancel the deletion request too.”
Holy shit…

He stopped me from deleting the character I willingly tried to erase?
I felt like I’d been totally played, but I had no choice. I slowly moved my mouse and clicked the cancellation button. Unlike the deletion process, canceling was just a single click.
Fuuuck…

I swore inwardly, but Shin Heejae just beamed at me, oblivious—or maybe completely aware.
And… that’s when I realized I was completely screwed.
Wait, I have to go back to this game now? After ghosting all my clanmates and quitting, I’m getting dragged back in by Shin Heejae?

Fucking humiliating…
I never imagined I’d return with 100% outside coercion.
Whether I was drowning in shame or not, Shin Heejae didn’t seem to care. He was too busy logging in himself, warping [Heejae] to the same town and parking right next to [Sesam].

Then he sent me an invite.
‘Heejae’ has invited you to join the guild [Degeuldegeul].
Accept / Decline

I immediately clicked [Decline].
“Why?”
Shin Heejae scowled at me.

In a pitiful voice, I pleaded with him,
“Hey… at least let me change my nickname or something…”
“Why would you?”

“I mean, I didn’t exactly leave on good terms.”
“Hm…”
Shin Heejae stared at my frozen, embarrassed self with an odd expression. Then, as if he was going to let me off the hook, he reached out and suddenly hit the [Enter] key on my keyboard.

Congratulations on joining the [Degeuldegeul] guild!
Current online members: 401
“Hey!!”

I protested too late. All the guild members’ chat screens had already lit up with:
[‘Sesam’ has joined the guild ‘Degeuldegeul’!]
“……”

And as expected, the chat of a guild with over 400 active users froze completely the moment I joined.
I hadn’t expected a warm welcome, sure—but seeing familiar names like [Yeou] and [Lemonzzup], who I used to be on decent terms with, made me want to disappear into the void.
Party Guild Friend Whisper

CHeejae: hihi
And just like that, Shin Heejae added fuel to the fire by typing a cheerful “hi” in the guild chat, like he was mocking my suffering.