Netkama Punch!!!

Party Clan Chat — Whisper
CYeou: Sesam-nim is seriously too cute lol
CYeou: She sent me this whole letter with a Bubble Flower plushie in the mail lmaoo

CHooha: ACKK lol right?? She was just handing out those Bubble dolls left and right
CLemonade: FR I screamed when I saw it
CHeejae: What’s that ㅇ.ㅇ

CLemonade: Wait, guild master didn’t get one??
CHeejae: Nope ㅇ_ㅇ
CYeou: LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

CHeejae: ?
CYeou: …I’m sorry…
Wondering what the hell they were talking about, I pestered Yeou until she finally sent me a screenshot of the mail Sesam had sent her.

From: Sesam
Subject: Reply
Thanks for letting me borrow your gear...

As a thank-you, I’m sending you the ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) plushie I’ve been sleeping with ever since before I changed classes... please take good care of her...
(Her name is Saenyang)
Screenshot.jpg

I had to blink a few times. Was this really the same Sesam I knew?
That message was full-on adorable. Sweet. Affectionate. Like, teeth-rottingly so.
“And this is the same person who tells me to drop dead every day?”
I’ve even carried her through dungeons, and not once have I gotten so much as a “thanks.” If she’s capable of being that affectionate, shouldn’t I be the one she thanks first?

Party Clan Chat — Whisper
PHeejae: Noona ㅇ.ㅇ
PHeejae: You don’t have anything to say to me?

So that day, as soon as she logged in, I asked her if she had anything she wanted to say to me.
Yeou had apparently told her I was the one who suggested she lend the gear—so naturally, I figured she’d say thank you. A bit late, sure, but I was willing to forgive her if she gave me one of those plushies too.
Party Clan Chat — Whisper

PSesam: Actually, I do
PSesam: Go kill yourself
PHeejae: ??

And just like that, she nuked her chance. So I hit back, hard.
Party Clan Chat — Whisper
PHeejae: You scare me, noona ㅇ.ㅇ...

PSesam: Why?
PHeejae: Cuz now I know what it looks like when someone’s worldview shrinks with age ㅇ_ㅇ...
PHeejae: Whew... time really is terrifying ㅇ_ㅇ

PSesam: What the hell is your problem again, asshole??
PHeejae: Watching you stumble around while mobs charge in from behind… makes it clear you didn’t even see them ㅇ.ㅇ
PSesam: That’s—

PHeejae: Not your fault, noona ㅇ_ㅇlolol. Happens with age, y’knowㅠ
But this time, watching her rage out didn’t feel satisfying. It didn’t even feel fun.
Why the hell are you still playing with me if you hate me this much?

At first, I thought she just hated me because of some bad blood in the past—some ranker grudge. But no matter how hard I tried to dig it out, she clammed up and gave me nothing.
She was constantly throwing shade, made it clear she couldn’t stand me—but never told me why. Which only pissed me off more.
If you hate someone that much, why keep gaming with them? It’s not like I’m forcing her. She could log out any time. But she kept coming back.

That meant she had a reason—a purpose for staying near me. But the way she treated me, like I was a disease, made it impossible to figure out what the hell she was thinking.
Party Clan Chat — Whisper
PHeejae: ㅇ.ㅇ Noona, what level are you now?

PHeejae: Can you equip a lord weapon yet?
PSesam: What, you trying to mock me ‘cause I can’t?
God… your attitude is insufferable.

Every time I said something, it turned into a fight. It was getting old. How many times could I just laugh it off before getting sick of the constant knives?
Party Clan Chat — Whisper
PHeejae: You’re quick to pick up on sarcasm, but your hands move slow ㅇ_ㅇ……

PSesam: lol fuck off
Even harmless questions got twisted into jabs. It made me respond in kind. And she never rolled with my jokes—always stiff, always snapping. I started running out of things to say.
I’m not even that chatty, but with Sesam constantly barking and biting, I just didn’t want to talk anymore. So these days, I started running dungeons in silence.

Good thing I’m a patient guy...
Anyone else would've exploded by now.
Party Clan Chat — Whisper

PHeejae: Why are you always so angry, noona? ㅇ.ㅇ
One late night, I finally asked her outright.
Party Clan Chat — Whisper

PSesam: I’m only like this with you
PHeejae: Sounds like you think about me a lot ㅇ_ㅇ
Strangely, she didn’t snap back. Usually, a comment like that would get a stream of cursing, but this time she stayed quiet. I glanced at the clock and figured she might’ve dozed off—it was past 1 AM, and she always zoned out after midnight...

Still, I wanted to know. Was she just ignoring me again? Or really asleep?
So I tried another question.
Party Clan Chat — Whisper

PHeejae: Why do you even play this game, noona? ㅇ_ㅇ
But then she responded—and it was weird.
Party Clan Chat — Whisper

PSesam: Online romance
PHeejae: ??
PSesam: Ugh. I’m logging off. So sleepy.

And then she was gone.
“Online romance? What the hell was that?”
At the time, I brushed it off as half-asleep nonsense. That is, until Sim Woohyun gave me a certain idea.

Party Clan Chat — Whisper
FUrara: You sure she doesn’t like you??
FHeejae: ??

FUrara: Felt like she was testing the waters lol
I’d been talking to Sim Woohyun about Sesam—how weird she acted toward me, and how I couldn’t figure out who she was in the past. That “online romance” line kept nagging at me.
Then, as usual, Woohyun started his delusional fantasies. This romance-addicted bastard had been teasing me ever since I started dragging Sesam around, dropping lines like “You’re no better, huh? ㅇㅅㅇ” —and now he was at it again.

Party Clan Chat — Whisper
FHeejae: You really got no thoughts in that head except romance, do you ㅇ.ㅇ
FUrara: Listen up ㅇㅅㅇ Girls don’t hang around someone they really hate, Heejae...

FHeejae: Are you a girl? ㅇ.ㅇ
He brushed off my sarcasm and kept going.
Party Clan Chat — Whisper

FUrara: I wouldn’t game with you for five hours even if you paid me ten billion ㅇㅅㅇ!
FUrara: Might actually end up dead if I tried
FHeejae: So you’re broke. Got it ㅇ_ㅇ

FUrara: STFU
FUrara: Anyway ㅇㅅㅇlol. I think Sesam-noona’s just lonely...
FUrara: Her brain rejects you, but after spending so much time together, her heart’s getting confused...

Normally, I’d smack him upside the head for spouting nonsense—but honestly, I’d never even considered that scenario. It caught me off guard.
...Sesam? Liking me?
If I looked back at how she treated me, it seemed way too optimistic to call it love. But still... thinking about it didn’t feel bad.

If her bratty attitude was actually just her being shy...
Hmm...
Logically, it made zero sense. The odds were pretty much zero.

But ever since she blurted out “online romance” and logged off, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
I leaned back in my chair and rubbed the corner of my mouth, trying to hide the smirk that kept creeping up.
“Ahem… this is a problem...”

I’m not even into older women. And Sesam’s got the worst personality. Unless she has a cute face, I don’t even know what the appeal is.
“Though... I don’t know what she looks like.”
Right. I’d never actually seen her.

And suddenly, I started imagining what she might look like. With that vicious temper, maybe she had sharp, catlike eyes?
...If she has cat eyes, maybe I’ll let it slide.
Party Clan Chat — Whisper

PHeejae: Noona ㅇ.ㅇ
PHeejae: Are you more cat-like or dog-like?
PSesam: Funeral

PHeejae: ??
PSesam: Focus on DPS before I bury you
Of course, she didn’t give me a damn thing. So I just imagined her however I wanted. Thinking of her as my type—a cute noona with a sharp tongue—made it a lot easier to put up with her crap.

Party Clan Chat — Whisper
PHeejae: You’re jumping again lol
PHeejae: You a flea or something ㅇ_ㅇ??

PSesam: It’s lag
PHeejae: lmaoooooo
PHeejae: That’s kinda tragic, you know? ㅇ_ㅇlolol

PSesam: Shut up already, your chat makes it worse ——
PHeejae: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
PSesam: Fuck off

PHeejae: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
PHeejae: That’s like... three lines past the boundary lol
PSesam: You little shit, I’m about to smash my fingers with a hammer, and if you say one more thing, the next thing I smash is your head

PHeejae: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
...And sometimes, she was dumb enough to be kind of cute.
Eventually, I got used to her way of talking. Once I stopped being thrown off by the cursing, it didn’t even bother me anymore. Besides, when it came to actual gameplay, Sesam was the real deal—no doubt about it.

That’s why I thought—maybe we’d become friends.
Party Clan Chat — Whisper
CSesam: You guys are seriously the best……

CSesam: I love you all ㅠ
At least, I thought that—until she said that to everyone else. Not me.