“……You want me to leave?”
Seeing Banye’s face turn serious made me flinch slightly, but at the same time I felt a thrill.
Just moments ago, he hadn’t listened to a single word I said and only ignored me, but this time I felt like my words had properly reached Banye.
I didn’t know why he’d acted like he didn’t care about anything until now but reacted to just being told to leave, but I spoke again, enunciating clearly.
“Yeah, get out.”
“Hoo…….”
With an expression that anyone could see was pissed off, Banye glared at me. I glared back at Banye without backing down. I didn’t want to cry, but tears of frustration kept coming out.
‘Ah, shit. Why do I keep crying! Shouldn’t it be Banye who’s crying right now?’
Everything had come to nothing, and he was being unfairly accused and cursed at.
The fact that Banye was being cursed at, that he was trying to give up so easily, that the ones we should be fighting weren’t each other but we were fighting each other—I was frustrated and upset about this entire situation.
But right now, what made me angriest was Banye’s attitude of ignoring my words. I rubbed my eyes with my sleeve and pointed to the door again.
“I said get out!”
“Okay. I got it, so calm down.”
Banye spoke in an uncharacteristically soothing tone.
But to me, rather than soothing, it felt more like he was casually appeasing a kid who was sulking for no reason, which made me even more heated.
“Don’t treat me like a child!”
“Hyung is acting like a child.”
“Who’s acting like a child? I’m angry because of your attitude!”
“Ha, that’s…… I told you several times it can’t be helped.”
The conversation futilely returned to square one.
I felt like I was talking to a wall and my chest felt stuffy. I didn’t want Banye to quit like this. I wanted to somehow persuade him to continue.
“You say it can’t be helped, that it won’t work out anyway—are you just going to let others shake you however they want? Are you really going to just sit still and do nothing like this!”
“Then what do you want me to do?”
“That, it’s definitely Sisi’s doing. If we catch evidence that it’s Sisi’s doing…….”
“Are you upset because of Sisi?”
Banye’s face, which had cut off my words, was distorted like never before. I was irritated and frustrated with Banye who kept fixating on the wrong things.
“No!”
“……Haah.”
Banye seemed to be frustrated too. Silence lingered between us for a moment. I couldn’t understand why we had to fight over this issue, and it seemed Banye felt the same way.
“Don’t you feel bad about everything you’ve worked hard on until now? You’re the most famous creator on Card of Fantasy now.”
“I became famous in a bad way, though.”
“Getting cursed at is also just temporary. It’s boiling over like that now, but everyone will cool down. There’s even a saying that hate comments are better than no comments.”
“So, you’re saying it’s okay to get hate comments?”
“……No, you’re not that affected by things like that. Also, I’ll keep fighting for you on the forums. Okay?”
Now Banye was listening to my words in one ear and letting them out the other. I desperately squeezed out words I could say.
“……And you’re not even working part-time right now, so if you continue as a creator and sign a contract with Almond TV, it’ll actually be good for you. If you keep at it steadily, you’ll make money too…….”
“In the end, you’re telling me to do it because of money?”
Banye cut off my words again and sneered. At those words, my fuse blew again too. I was being serious, so why did he keep twisting my words?
“Why…… why do you talk like that?”
“Because that’s the truth. Everyone’s telling me to quit, so what do you want me to do by continuing now? Everyone’s just cursing at me and it won’t work out anyway, so why should I cling to it?”
“……If you’re going to keep being like that, get out!”
“Stop with that ‘get out’ talk…….”
“Just get out of my house entirely!”
At that moment, Banye’s eyes changed.
Until just now, even though he was annoyed, he still looked like the Banye I usually saw, but now his eyes had completely changed and…… he looked ready to hit someone.
I flinched without realizing it, but I didn’t really think Banye would actually hit me. So I shouted again.
“You, you’re giving up so easily because you’re living comfortably here.”
“…….”
“So…….”
……Did I, go too far with my words?
In truth, I never had any intention of actually kicking Banye out. I just hoped he’d be provoked by my words and reconsider.
Banye glared at me with an expression full of things he wanted to say.
“You really want me to leave?”
“……Yeah, leave.”
I spoke resolutely while firmly holding down my wavering heart. But Banye instead laughed leisurely with a smirk, arrogantly.
“I’m not leaving though.”
“……What?”
Banye strode toward me as I tried to escape. The distance closed abruptly, and Banye looked down at me threateningly from right in front of me.
Slowly lowering his body, Banye whispered in a low voice.
“I’m absolutely not leaving. Why should I leave?”
“I, I’m the landlord. If I tell you to leave, you have to leave!”
The threatening whisper was practically a threat. But maybe because his face was too close…… my face heated up bright red in a different meaning than before.
That unnecessarily handsome face was the problem. He should’ve done a face reveal earlier—then he’d have ten times more defenders than now…….
I pushed Banye with my hand, but just like when I tried to pull him away earlier, he didn’t budge at all. So I tried to open the door and leave, but Banye was faster in grabbing the door and holding it shut.
This guy Banye…… he doesn’t like this, doesn’t like that. Unlike me who was getting increasingly heated, Banye was calm.
“Move, really……!”
“Hyung, how can you tell me to leave when you like me?”
“…….”
At Banye’s words, I froze, forgetting even my anger until now. I felt a shock as if I’d been hit hard on the head.
A hiccup came out without me realizing it and I held my breath. Banye looked at me like I was pathetic.
Feeling my face heat up all over, I stammered.
“H-how did…… d-did you know?”
“When you stare at me stickily every day, how could I not know?”
Banye replied indifferently as if asking what kind of idiot I was. At those words, I felt like my face would really explode.
‘……S-since when did he know?’
I thought he didn’t know. To think he knew I liked him. The countless actions I’d done to Banye thinking he wouldn’t know flashed through my mind.
Then, my head spun.
If he knew all along and didn’t show he disliked it…… then…… why, exactly?
“You…… you, then why…….”
I asked Banye, frozen, why he pretended not to know.
Banye stared at me intently, then let out a big sigh. And then, he said.
“Because I wasn’t interested.”
“……What?”
“Whether hyung liked me or not, I wasn’t interested…… at first.”
“…….”
I stiffened in shock.
Banye looked at my frozen expression, then made a regretful face. Then he moved his lips a few times before speaking.
“Not now though.”
“…….”
“Now…….”
But I found it painful to listen to what Banye was saying anymore. So I cut off Banye’s words.
“……Now, is it just funny?”
“Don’t jump to conclusions.”
At my aggressive words, Banye grabbed my hand, but I shook it off. And I tried to leave the room. But Banye still didn’t budge and wouldn’t move away from the door.
I spoke while gritting my teeth hard.
“If you, if you knew I liked you…… and weren’t interested, you should’ve just told me! Told me not to stare at you like that…… if you had, I would’ve…….”
“Just listen, first. At first it was like that but…….”
“I don’t want to listen…….”
“…….”
“Now…… don’t say you like me. That’s not true…….”
I muttered miserably.
Actually, just now, the moment Banye said ‘I wasn’t interested,’ all of Banye’s actions until now were instantly understood.
Banye made a strange expression for a moment at my words, but he didn’t deny it.
I felt a bit desperate at that attitude, and at the same time realized that while I’d desperately hoped for Banye’s feelings all this time, I’d also been somewhat prepared that I wouldn’t be able to win Banye’s heart.
It was a strange feeling.
I wanted to cry out loud, but no tears came. Banye’s small sigh settled onto my drooping shoulders.
Banye spoke to me in a soft tone that might have been consolation or something.
“It’s not that I dislike you, hyung.”
“…….”
“It’s just…… I have fun being with you, and I thought that was enough.”
In other words, he was fine with being friends.
At those words drawing a line, I hung my head even deeper. When Banye is close to me I still tremble like this…… but the closer I get, the more Banye only feels troubled.
I spoke while gritting my teeth.
“That’s not enough for me…… I, I want to date you.”
“…….”
“So…… if you don’t like that, living together is im…… possible, I think…….”
“Then should we date?”
At Banye’s tactless words cutting off my speech, I ended up shedding a tear.
Banye lifted my crying face while lowering his eyes. With an indifferent and pretty face, Banye asked again.
“Hyung, you’ve dated before. Is it that good?”
“……Hic.”
“Do we absolutely have to date?”
