‘What kind of expression does Seongheon hyung make when he curses?’
Last time I only saw his back when he cursed, and this time I only saw it as text in the game, so I couldn’t predict what kind of look he’d have in his eyes when angry. That’s why it was even more frightening.
With his pretty lips that seemed like they’d never cursed in their life, hyung called out to me affectionately.
“Daeyoung-ah.”
“Yeah?”
“Hyung’s not that bad a person. You know that, right?”
“I know……”
“That egg was originally mine, but someone came to the hideout and stole it.”
Since opportunities to talk with hyung about this topic were rare, I casually probed to see how much information he had about me.
“That user called Keyboard Cleaning?”
“Oh? You read all the comments too?”
“Yeah. But hyung, what are you going to do about that person now? You found the egg, so you could just let it go……”
“Would Daeyoung prefer if I just let it go?”
“Yeah. You got the egg back anyway, and that person is probably regretting it too, right? They must be really upset after being betrayed by the guild master.”
“Hmm…… KeyClean aside, I think there’s an accomplice.”
The accomplice Seongheon hyung pointed to seemed to be Dongwoo with the ‘GyeBongmani’ character. I couldn’t let Dongwoo get dragged into this because of me.
“Hyung, do you have anyone in mind?”
“Since they only logged in from home or school, someone must have touched Gangjin’s computer when he briefly left his seat.”
“Ah……”
“Why, do you think you know who it is?”
Yeah, it’s me.
I almost nodded without thinking, then hurriedly shook my head. If I denied it too strongly, I might get caught, so I controlled my speed.
Seongheon hyung looked at my expression and held back his words. He seemed like he wanted to curse up a storm about this incident, but held back because he was afraid I’d be shocked if I heard it.
This is why I’m afraid of Seongheon hyung cursing. My hyung barks like a Chihuahua at all hours, so I’m not scared of his cursing at all anymore, but Seongheon hyung is like a sleeping tiger who hasn’t even shown me his claws, so it’s hard to gauge the gap.
“Daeyoung-ah, are you upset?”
“Huh?”
Why is he suddenly asking if I’m upset? Hyung happened to be stroking the back of my head, and it sounded like he was asking, ‘Are you upset that you got hit in the back of the head by me?’
While I was hesitating, not knowing how to answer, hyung opened his mouth again.
“Hyung lied about it being the Sapphire Server.”
“Ah…… yeah. I didn’t know it was the Diamond Server.”
It’s a good thing I didn’t answer right away, or it would have been a disaster.
“I originally planned to tell you it was the Diamond Server, but as you can see, when we start playing games, we get into conflicts easily. I did that because I was worried even a newbie like you would get dragged in. You understand what I mean, right?”
“Yeah, I understand. You guys have always been a war guild……”
“And I also did it because I wanted to enjoy it alone with just you. I didn’t want a third party butting in either…… We had fun together back then. Right?”
“Huh? Mmhm……”
“But now that you know anyway, if you want to play games with us, I’ll let you join the guild on the Diamond Server. Though the atmosphere isn’t very harmonious.”
“No. I have a game I’m playing with friends these days.”
“Which one?”
I mentioned one of the FPS games that roughly came to mind.
Seongheon hyung seemed like he’d never played that game, as he fell into deep thought. I’d also only entered it once to do the tutorial and left. It was such an obscure game that hyung wouldn’t know it.
“Should I play that with you?”
“No, hyung. I’m going to play it a bit and quit. It’s not as fun as I thought.”
“……That’s strange.”
“What is?”
“Normally you would have begged me to play together…… Now that you’re all grown up, you don’t look for hyung anymore?”
“It’s not that, I was really going to quit because it’s not fun.”
“Then whenever you find a game you want to play with hyung, tell me anytime. Got it?”
“Yeah.”
As I was nodding slightly, hyung cupped one side of my cheek with his hand. His temperature was hotter than usual, so I looked at him with slight surprise and Seongheon hyung smiled broadly.
“I have a hot pack in my pocket. It’s warm, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Give me your hand.”
Seongheon hyung pulled one of my hands and put it into his padding pocket. It was warm just putting it in, and with a hot pack inside too, it was like heaven.
“How is it, good?”
“Yeah. It’s warm.”
“Should we stay like this?”
“It’s my right hand, so I need to use chopsticks.”
“I can feed you.”
“Hey, hyung……”
Just as I was about to say “you’re joking,” the canopy tent was pulled back and Gangjin hyung and Daesu hyung came in. They were each holding trays full of side dishes and stew, and I stood up from my seat to help and pulled my hand out of the pocket.
It was a bit embarrassing to be holding hands in front of the hyungs, but more than that, I pulled my hand out because I felt bad sitting still while the hyungs were setting the table.
As I pulled my hand out, I glanced at Seongheon hyung’s expression—he looked a bit disappointed, then took out the hot pack from his pocket and slipped it into mine.
“You keep it.”
Without giving me a chance to refuse, Seongheon hyung took the raw meat and went outside the tent. Grilling meat outside looked colder and harder, so just as I was about to take the hot pack out of my pocket to give it back to him, I touched something.
“Hm?”
It was a small note that had been passed along with the hot pack, and Seongheon hyung’s handwriting was written on it.
[I have something to tell you, so let’s talk later. You haven’t replied to my phone messages at all.]
Messages? Did Seongheon hyung send me messages? I only just now remembered that I’d shoved my phone somewhere in my room, supposedly to charge it.
That aside, why does he suddenly have something to tell me?
Because he kept talking about the Goldmess Egg in front of me, anxiety crept over me. At least it was certain that Daesu hyung didn’t know I was the culprit. If he knew, he would have cursed me out since breakfast.
Same with Gangjin hyung. If he knew, he wouldn’t have affectionately put a cucumber in my mouth, and most of all, Seongheon hyung would have cursed at me like in the game instead of treating me with smiles like that.
‘It’s okay. There’s no way they’d know it’s me.’
The note asking to meet separately made me unnecessarily anxious. With that feeling, I endlessly stared at Seongheon hyung’s back as he grilled meat outside.
‘He could just say it here now, so why does he specifically want to meet separately? Making people anxious for no reason……’
“Ah, we didn’t bring the alcohol.”
At Gangjin hyung’s words, I sprang up.
“I’ll go get it!”
“Get something for you to drink too.”
“Okay.”
As I was about to go out to get alcohol and drinks, Daesu hyung also seemed about to grill meat next to Seongheon hyung as he flapped the tent open and warned me as he went out.
“Don’t even think about us giving you alcohol.”
“I wouldn’t drink it even if you gave me some.”
I hadn’t expected the hyungs to give me alcohol in the first place, and as I was still a student, I had no intention of drinking. When I need to keep my wits about me even in front of a tiger, what business do I have drinking alcohol?
I passed through the living room and was heading to the kitchen when I hurried up to my room on the second floor. I thought that if I checked the messages Seongheon hyung sent, I could deduce what he meant by wanting to see me later.
My phone was lying at the head of my bed. I picked up the phone and tapped the screen with my thumb to check if any messages had come.
Then the dark screen brightened up and I saw Seongheon hyung’s message briefly displayed in the center. After the question [Daeyoung-ah, can I come see you today?], the text was cut off, so I touched the screen to see it in more detail.
[↳ Daeyoung-ah, can I come see you today? What are you doing now? ─ 13:20]
[↳ Are you sleeping? I’m thinking of coming with the guys later. Is there anything you want to eat? ─ 14:50]
[↳ Daeyoung-ah. Daeyoung-ah. ─ 14:51]
[↳ I should just come. I have to see Daeyoung today. ─ 16:35]
[↳ Daeyoung-ah, can we talk for a bit later? I need to say it before I get drunk. ─ 18:40]
[↳ Our Daeyoung is cute today too. ─ 18:45]
[↳ You’re not checking messages at all? ─ 19:14]
After checking all the messages, I let out a sigh.
“Phew, that’s a relief. It wasn’t anything important.”
I’d been secretly worried that he might have heard something from Ssapseonbi and caught me. Even when talking with Daesu hyung earlier, he seemed like he couldn’t find any clues, but I was strangely anxious.
“But what does he have to tell me? Can’t he just say it when the hyungs are around?”
I couldn’t deduce what Seongheon hyung wanted to talk about alone with me. The girlfriend matter had already passed, and I’d adequately deflected his suggestion to play games together earlier, so I couldn’t really think of any topics for hyung and me to discuss.
“Could it be a worry? Or…… like what his father said, asking me to go with him when he studies abroad? Nah, that was probably just talk. What would he do taking me with him…… Or maybe he wants to give me spending money separately like last time?”
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t think of a reason, so I just shoved my phone in my back pocket and went back down to the first floor.
I went to the kitchen refrigerator, gathered the soju and beer the hyungs bought, along with carbonated drinks for me and paper cups, and headed out the front door. The meat must have been grilling nicely because flames were rising near the barbecue grill, and Daesu hyung was going back and forth flipping the meat.
Daesu hyung and Gangjin hyung just looked at me indifferently as I approached, but among them, only Seongheon hyung stood up and lifted the tent for me.
“Call hyung.”
“It’s okay. I could carry it all. Is this all the alcohol for you hyungs?”
Daesu hyung, who was dipping cheongyang peppers in ssamjang at the very end, answered cheekily, “Yep.” I didn’t care who got the Goldmess Egg since it wasn’t mine anyway, but at least I was against it ending up in Daesu hyung’s hands.
Gangjin hyung picked up the soju bottle and poured for each of the hyungs, and Daesu hyung just received his drink and immediately got up to go flip the meat.
