Netkama Punch!!!

Thanks to that, both Yuna and Sim Woohyun were being this cooperative. If they’d known I’d gotten the money back, neither of them would’ve gone along with any of this awkward crap. They’d probably have tried to talk me out of it, telling me to let it go.
‘I know I’m being weird right now.’

But sometimes, even when you know it’s wrong, you just can’t stop. That’s what this was for me.
‘First, I need to see that damn face.’
I didn’t have a plan beyond that. I didn’t even want to think any further. I marked the date I was supposed to meet Yuna in my phone and tossed it next to the bed.

* * *
Finally, the long-awaited weekend morning arrived.
I had asked Yuna in advance what she wanted to eat, then found a restaurant that served it and made a reservation. I even dressed up properly for once.

Yuna seemed genuinely pleased when she found out I’d arrived ten minutes early. She didn’t hide her interest in me, but I didn’t push her away either.
During the meal, I deliberately avoided bringing up Kim Seyoung. I’d already decided to devote the whole day to this, so ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) I ate leisurely and listened intently to whatever Yuna brought up. Slowly, the awkwardness on her face melted away.
I offered to pay for the meal, but she insisted, so we split it. Afterward, we moved to a café.

We mostly talked about work. Turns out Yuna had started out as a model for an online shopping mall, then opened her own, which did well enough that she handed it off to her family and just shares the profits now. She even casually mentioned how much she made—it was way more than I expected.
Still, she was very interested in the streaming world, and she seemed serious about trying it. So I answered everything I could, sincerely. We ended up talking about that alone for nearly two hours.
“Oh, then I guess it’s better to use ××× as your platform.”

“I heard that’s better for female streamers… I’ve only done YouTube. I know someone who streams there though—should I ask them for you?”
“Huh? Oh… that’d be amazing, thanks! Also… um, would you maybe help me out when I start streaming?”
“Me?”

“Yeah… I’m thinking of switching servers to yours.”
“Then let’s stream together sometime.”
“Really? Thank you!”

Yuna blushed and kept thanking me over and over. Then she stared at me for a few seconds, hesitating.
“Hey, uh… weren’t you here to ask me about that netkama thing? Feels like I’ve just been talking about myself the whole time…”
Finally, the moment I’d been waiting for.
I shrugged and answered.

“Not really… it’s fine.”
Usually, that line got things going the way I wanted. This time was no different. Yuna fully dropped her guard and told me everything she knew about Kim Seyoung. She even started trash-talking him.
“Isn’t it seriously disgusting? He’s even older than me. He should be making money from a real job… why the hell is he pretending to be a girl in a game to earn cash?”

“……”
“If you ever need more help, just ask, okay? I’ll keep poking that oppa about it.”
After I parted ways with Yuna, I tried calling the number I’d gotten.

[We are open Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM…]
Of course, being the weekend, I didn’t expect anyone to answer. Still, I opened the map app and searched the center’s address. One of the numbers was in Seoul, the other was about two hours away by car. Both were doable in a day.
“Phew…”

My heart started pounding. Was this what it felt like for a detective right before catching a suspect?
Sim Woohyun
You seriously found him??

Yeah.
Sim Woohyun
So you’re actually going to meet him?? wtf

Yeah.
Sim Woohyun
But like, what are you gonna do; you’re not gonna hit him, right??

You’ll go to jail, dumbass
Just don’t go—he’s not gonna give the money back anyway
I didn’t have an answer to what I’d do if I met him. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Of course I wanted to punch him in the face, but the law was in the way, so I couldn’t exactly act on it. So I figured… at the very least, I’d make him apologize…

‘But… do I have to forgive him just because he grovels?’
Honestly, I wasn’t even in the mood to accept an apology anymore. Like that’d make it square? If you toy with someone’s emotions, you should suffer a bit too.
‘How do I make him suffer emotionally?’

How could I make it so he’d shoot up out of bed in rage like I did, boiling with frustration just thinking about me?
‘Public humiliation?’
I could storm into his workplace and cause a scene—that’d hit him hard. But then the only piece of info I had on him would lose its value.

‘You have to leave a way out if you want them to panic properly.’
I rested my chin in my hand and thought for a while.
‘First, I need to find out why Kim Seyoung ran.’

Why he vanished, even returning the money to me. I had a feeling that’s where the answer I wanted lay.
‘To do that, I have to meet him—’
Have a long, deep conversation with Kim Seyoung.

‘And make sure… he never gets the chance to run again.’
But meeting him didn’t go as smoothly as I’d imagined.
* * *

Monday. The moment I found out the Seoul center’s rep was a woman, I called the other one.
“Hello?”
The voice was a bit soft, but definitely a man. I lowered my own voice deliberately and threw in a rasp, just in case.

“I’m looking for the rep in charge of Kim Seyoung.”
I added a bit of a metallic edge to my voice just to be safe. After a short pause, he answered.
“…Yeah, that’s me.”

The second I heard that, I hung up.
I was nervous he might call back, but nothing came. I immediately started the car and headed to that center.
But when I arrived, I was told you could only enter for job counseling with an online or phone reservation. I tried to sneak a peek at least, but the frosted glass blocked any view. So I holed up in the one café on the first floor of the building and waited for lunch break.

As expected, a bunch of center employees wandered in during lunch. When I saw people with government badges flooding into the café, I leaned back and hid behind the book I’d brought, pretending to read.
With most of my face hidden, I peeked out with just my eyes, scanning the crowd. And then I saw him. I don’t know about Kim Seyoung, but for me, that was our first IRL meeting.
“…Iced Americano, please.”

Somehow, even in the noisy café, I heard his voice clearly. Then he took the coffee, chatted briefly with some woman nearby… and smiled.
‘You’re smiling?’
I knew it was just normal social behavior, but it made me feel sick. He kept nodding and listening intently as they walked side by side. He even held the door open for her when they left.

I watched it all, every last second. And with that, I ripped up and burned the option of [Just let it go and pretend I don’t know him].
‘Wow… he doesn’t even think about me?’
Kim Seyoung was… completely fine.

Before I met him, I’d held onto some faint hope. Maybe he was wracked with guilt, regretting the way he ended things. Maybe he was hesitating to reach out, even checking up on me now and then.
But after observing him for a couple days, it was clear—he was going about his life just fine. Same routine, same calm face. No sign of turmoil or regret.
I don’t know what he did at home, but he didn’t look tired. Didn’t look like he’d been losing sleep. That chill face, that shameless grin—he was glowing compared to my sorry, stalker-ass self.

‘You turned me into this pathetic loser… and you get to walk around smiling like nothing happened?’
Eventually, I decided I had to meet him. I was waiting for him to get off work when I spotted him in the side mirror, cheerfully carrying takeout chicken. He glanced at my car and said something, but luckily didn’t seem to notice anything weird.
I waited until he walked past and then got out, trailing behind at a safe distance.

When he stopped in front of a building and started walking down the steps, I briefly wondered if I’d gotten the wrong guy. Maybe this wasn’t even him.
“Seyoung noona.”
That’s the form of address I chose.

“…What?”
That’s when, for the first time since I’d started following him, his face went completely pale and he turned around.
“…S-Shin Heejae?”

He said my name perfectly.
And that shocked expression—God, I loved it. This was exactly the Kim Seyoung I had been picturing. Not some carefree asshole scarfing down chicken without a care—
“So it is you, noona.”

The closer I stepped, the more drained he looked.
I’d thought from a distance he was pretty small, but up close, he looked even scrawnier. I scanned him head to toe, and noticed his thin fingers trembling as he clutched the chicken bag.
“Hah…”

If you were this scared, what made you think you could pull one over on me? You’re a total wimp—not even punchable.
And when I glanced at the chicken bag, his face went bright red. That miserable look told me everything.
I just knew—he bought it with the gifticon I’d sent him.

I let out a hollow laugh.
“Noona… are you actually insane?”