Netkama Punch!!!

Kim Seyoung didn’t look at me, even after I asked. But instead of getting angry, I found myself almost smiling at that sulky face—one that had clearly decided to ignore me on purpose. Of course, I didn’t actually smile. If I did, he’d definitely get even more sulky.
‘What happened to make him act like this?’

I tried to figure it out and realized it was probably because I broke our plans to go grocery shopping together last week.
‘So he really was looking forward to it?’
Just as that thought brought a tiny wave of excitement, Seyoung broke the silence.

“Because I don’t want to hear your voice.”
“……”
His voice was sharp—razor-thin and cold. My hand flinched involuntarily. But all he did after saying that was stare at me, unblinking. There was something dangerously serious in his eyes.

“Are you mad at me?”
“…What?”
“Oh. Is it because I canceled our grocery trip?”

“……”
But instead of looking flustered, Seyoung’s face only darkened, eyes sweeping over me with even more hostility.
He looked like he’d throw a punch the second he got up. Still, I sat on the edge of his bed like I didn’t care and tapped him gently. It was my version of a peace offering—an attempt to coax him out of his mood—but the way his brows instantly furrowed told me I’d made a mistake.

‘…Was it really something worth getting this mad about?’
Now I was starting to get irritated too. Who gave up their entire weekend to work just to make time for today? Did he have ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) to blow up on me the second I walked through the door?
“Don’t touch me. Just go home and sleep at your own place. I’m really done with you this time.”

He was actually telling me to leave—when I’d just arrived. He had no idea how anxious I’d been on the drive here, worried sick that he might’ve disappeared.
‘If you’d just picked up your phone, I wouldn’t have come!’
He was the one who ignored my messages and calls. Telling me to get lost after I rushed over out of concern? That wasn’t okay. Still, instead of arguing, I poked his cheek. It was supposed to be my way of saying “let’s not fight,” but—

Thump—!
He suddenly kicked the blankets off with such force it startled me. Huffing with rage, he jumped to his feet.
I froze, thinking he might actually hit me. But he didn’t. Seyoung stormed right past me without a word. When I turned around after a beat, I saw him at the closet, yanking out a thin windbreaker with jerky, furious movements.
‘Wait… no way…’

I remembered how the alley outside was covered in thin sheets of ice. Was he seriously planning to go out wearing only that? I stood up immediately and went to him.
“Where are you going? It’s freezing out.”
“You won’t leave, so I’ll go. I’m sick of this shit!”

That was the loudest I’d ever heard Kim Seyoung yell.
And then, like he couldn’t stand to be in the same space as me a second longer, he stomped to the door and slammed it behind him. I heard the sound of his footsteps echoing up the stairs.
Just like that, I was left alone in Kim Seyoung’s apartment. Without Kim Seyoung.

“…What the hell.”
It finally hit me how absurd this was, and just as I was about to chase after him, a dull ache throbbed in my stomach.
‘If I go after him now…’

Then I’d have to witness the full-blown screaming fit on the street?
I had my pride too. I had zero desire to go running after him just to play the comforting, apologetic fool. Part of me even wondered—was he acting like this because he expected me to follow?
But five minutes passed. And Seyoung didn’t return, not even in the freezing weather.

“What the hell is this…”
I glanced at the clock, scowling.
‘What’s his problem?’

Up until we split last week, everything had seemed… fine. I even messaged him asking to come back quickly, but he hadn’t even read it.
So I scrolled through our chat history, trying to pinpoint what could’ve possibly made him this pissed off. But even re-reading everything, I came up empty. I’d barely contacted him over the weekend because I was so swamped with work.
‘What the hell happened over the weekend?’

No matter how I looked at it, it just seemed like Seyoung had completely snapped. And now, more than ever, I felt a bitter sting from his temper.
‘…Does he really think I’m that easy to push around?’
Does he think it’s okay to ghost me, ignore me, and act however the hell he wants? If you’re mad, you say what you're mad about. Doesn’t he realize how out of my mind I get when I can’t reach him?

“…Goddamn it.”
I kicked the bed hard. The blanket slipped off with a dull flop.
I wanted to throw a full-blown tantrum like Seyoung does—tear up the room, storm out, take just my laptop and leave. Rip that stupid stuffed cat of his to shreds.

But…
If I did that, this would really be the end.
“Sigh…”

Maybe that’s exactly what Kim Seyoung wanted.
Because this whole relationship—if you could even call it that—had only held together because I kept clinging to it. If I destroyed it in a fit of rage, it wouldn’t leave a scratch on Seyoung. He’d probably feel relieved.
It’s always been this way. I’m the only one who wanted to be close. The only one who missed him when we were apart. The only one who begged and pleaded until he begrudgingly agreed to spend time with me—that forever annoyed expression on his face…

‘…Fuck.’
He thinks I’ll just walk away that easily?
If what he really wants is for me to disappear, then there’s no way in hell I’m giving him that.

But even while I told myself that—filled with spite and determination—something hollow gnawed at me.
Bzzzz—
And to make it worse, when I finally called him again, the phone vibrated… from inside the apartment.

That idiot had left it behind.
So now I had to go find him.
“……”

As I stomped toward the door, there was definitely anger in my footsteps.
Thud.
“……”

But the second I opened the door and his scarf fell at my feet, dangling from the coat rack—it hit me.
I felt like the biggest, dumbest sucker alive.
Because even in the middle of my rage, just seeing that scarf made me picture Seyoung shivering in the cold.

I hesitated a few times, but eventually I bent down and picked it up. Winding it around my hand, I made a firm resolution.
He’s gonna pay for this. I’ll make sure he cries for real when the time comes.
“You’re so fucking dead.”

And then I got even angrier.
The moment I stepped outside, a cold wind—nothing like the temperature indoors—slashed across my face.
The fact that he hated talking to me that much—that he’d rather wander around in the freezing cold—hit hard.

Seyoung really must hate me.
I kept thinking about it as I walked to my car in the parking lot. I tried to refute it, remembering all the little things he’d done for me. But in the end, this pathetic little runaway stunt spoke louder than all of that.
So what—everything he ever did for me was just pity for a poor orphan?

Come to think of it, he’s never even smiled at me. Always pissed off, always shouting…
“……”
I climbed into the driver’s seat and tossed the scarf onto the passenger side, then started circling the neighborhood in search of him.

Eventually, I spotted a familiar silhouette—but I didn’t drive too close in case he ran off. Even from a distance, I could tell he was freezing, stumbling as he walked… yet he kept going, nowhere near home.
What was he even thinking?
Would it be better if I just told him to go home and that I’d head back to Seoul?

As I hesitated, Seyoung turned around.
Even from a distance, his face came into view with crystal clarity.
At first, he looked like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Then his dazed expression slowly morphed into fury as the cold bit into him.

And in that moment, for the first time in my life, I was actually afraid of a guy half my size.
Because I had no idea what kind of verbal hell he was about to unleash on me.
Clack—

“…Haa.”
But I still got out of the car and walked right up to him.
That’s when I noticed—he was wearing slippers.

His exposed ankles looked so damn cold, I instinctively reached out to take his hand.
Smack—!
Just as I’d half-expected, he slapped my hand away. It stung like it had hit my face instead of my hand, but I didn’t let it show.

“What the hell are you so mad about?”
“Think about it. What you’re doing to me—does that seem normal to you?”
“…What did you say?”

“You don’t fucking get it. Just get the hell out. Stop leeching off someone else’s place!”
That ridiculous statement made me laugh in disbelief.
“Who the hell wants to leech off your place?”

I was only there because you were there. Because it’s your place.
“……”
But Seyoung’s face turned red with shame, like he thought I was mocking how poor he was. Still, I didn’t plan to stop.

“Seriously, why the sudden mood swing? I poked your cheek, and that was just too much for you? That’s not even my fault.”
“What?”
“You were already mad on your own. You’re just taking it out on me.”

I grabbed his wrist tightly. I wanted him to admit I was right. I wanted it to be just a moment of misplaced anger—not because he hated me.
“Let go.”
But Seyoung resisted with everything he had, shoving me back.

There was no way I could leave him out here like this, in the freezing cold. I didn’t care if he hated me—he was getting in the car, whether we finished this conversation there or not.
So I dragged him toward the car as we struggled. He thrashed like hell, and I was this close to saying, Fine, I’ll leave, and slamming the door—but I held it in.
And then—

BANG—!
Kim Seyoung kicked my car door.