I hurriedly logged onto the website and checked the messages Kwon Dajeong had sent me.
[Sender: kdj0313
Content: Hanyoung-ah, what happened all of a sudden?
You blocked me and won’t even answer my calls……
Did I do something wrong?]
[Sender: kdj0313
Content: Are you doing well?
Please contact me if you see this.
I’m getting worried something might have happened]
[Sender: kdj0313
Content: Can’t we meet and talk face to face?
Even if we’re going to break up, I want to clear up any misunderstandings]
There were dozens of messages piled up like this.
I was horrified looking at the content of the messages that reeked of being from an ex-boyfriend.
Banye saw this…? At this level, wouldn’t anyone be able to guess what kind of relationship Sisi and I had……
“What do you mean ‘even if we’re going to break up,’ you crazy bastard……”
A bastard with so much to be guilty about should just accept it if contact suddenly got cut off, so why the hell did he keep reaching out, seriously……
Well, I guess it would be troublesome since his meal ticket suddenly disappeared.
I reflexively started to write a profanity-filled reply to the message, then stopped. I didn’t want to get involved with him in a messy way, and also because if a reply came here, Banye would see it all.
“Ah, seriously……”
It was a moment when I regretted my past words and actions.
I typed on the keyboard with trembling hands. First, I needed to deal with this situation.
[Aang] No, I had something bad happen with this crazy bastard……
[Hwang Hyunjung] What happened?
[Aang] I did transfer servers
[Aang] But I transferred servers because of this bastard
[Aang] He’d act friendly to my face and talk shit behind my back
[Aang] Every time he opened his mouth he’d lie
[Aang] He’s a really awful bastard ㅡㅡ;;
Even as I said this, I was conscious of how this contradiction of me also talking behind his back might look to Banye, since I was doing the same thing.
But Banye just silently listened to what I had to say.
[Hwang Hyunjung] He talked behind your back?
[Aang] Yes
[Aang] So… we were kinda close originally
I desperately hoped that the nuance of being “close” would be seen as close as friends.
Fortunately, Banye didn’t ask any particular questions. So I didn’t explain my relationship with Sisi any further and just diligently tattled (?) on that guy’s flaws.
[Aang] This kdj0313<< This guy is Sisi and this bastard
[Aang] He was the guild master of my old guild and he kinda had this skill of manipulating people? Should I say
[Aang] You know those people who seem nice when you first talk to them
[Aang] But when you get to know them they’re not…
[Aang] I was fooled too ㅡㅡ
[Aang] His personality was complete trash
[Aang] No, he’d talk behind people’s backs in a way that was kinda confusing
[Aang] For example, let’s say there’s a guild member called xx?
[Aang] He’d always say he tried to be good to xx but it seems like they misunderstand him
[Aang] So he’s upset, he’d talk like that
[Aang] Then naturally what would you say? Why is xx like that, you must be upset, the conversation would go like that right?
[Banye] ㅇㅇ
[Aang] So then it becomes talking behind xx’s back like xx-nim is weird?
[Aang] But when you find out, it was because he said weird things to xx so of course xx wouldn’t respond with a good attitude and things like that……
The more I explained, the more I felt frustrated not knowing whether I was explaining this properly, or if Banye really understood what I was saying when he answered [ㅇㅇ].
So I did a mid-check.
[Aang] Do you understand?
[Banye] So Sisi was your former guild master and he drove a wedge between guild members, isn’t that it?
[Aang] Oh right!ㅠㅠ That’s what I’m saying…
Fortunately, smart Banye immediately understood and compressed my long-winded explanation into one line.
I continued talking about what a petty bastard Sisi was, hoping Banye would now understand just how bad of a bastard Sisi was.
[Aang] Also, he pretends not to on the outside but
[Aang] When kids would exchange guild points for point potions
[Aang] He’d subtly give them a hard time saying even though it’s points they collected themselves
[Aang] They’re exchanging them too often…
[Aang] While he’d exchange everything
[Aang] Just because he’s the guild master ㅡㅡ
[Aang] Ah! And he’d always be like Aang-ah we need to recruit guild members
[Aang] Can you lend me one megaphone? And then not pay me back fuck
[Aang] He’d always ask to borrow small cash items so I just charged 50,000 won for him
[Aang] And he’d always talk behind my back
[Aang] Talk behind my back to others
[Aang] Total trash
[Hwang Hyunjung] ㅇㅎ
[Aang] He’s got a lot to be guilty about so he’s just trying to provoke me!
Then I said what I really wanted to say.
[Aang] So just ignore him
[Hwang Hyunjung] I was ignoring him
[Aang] …
Of course he was…….
I suddenly felt a reality check. And when I scrolled up and saw the chat history with my long string of excuses laid out, my face flushed hot.
Actually, it was true that Sisi was a bad guy, but what I really wanted to explain to Banye was…….
[Hwang Hyunjung] But were you and Sisi dating?
This exact question…… I wanted to avoid.
I covered my face and collapsed onto my desk.
“Ugh……”
What on earth should I say?
I couldn’t say no, because actually…… Banye seemed to be asking with almost certainty.
I continued to stay silent in a situation where I couldn’t answer and also couldn’t not answer. I really didn’t want to say with my own mouth that I had at least an online relationship with that bastard. That was truly a terrible dark history.
But then Banye suddenly threw a completely unexpected question at me.
[Hwang Hyunjung] Are you a net-kama?
[Aang] What?
[Hwang Hyunjung] It seems like you did date but you’re both guys
I was speechless, then got angry and frantically pounded the keyboard.
[Aang] No
[Aang] I’m not a net-kama ㅡㅡ what are you talking about seriously
[Aang] I’ve never done net-kama stuff like that, if anything I was the one deceived by Sisi
[Aang] Not that Sisi was a net-kama!
[Aang] I was deceived ㅡㅡ
[Hwang Hyunjung] ㅇㅋ
It seemed that bastard Banye couldn’t even imagine two guys dating, and thought I had deceived Sisi by pretending to be a woman and dated Sisi.
I frantically sent [ㅡㅡ]s, and Banye answered [Got it] and the conversation came to an end for now.
But when I thought about it, I ended up inadvertently admitting that I dated Sisi. I cleared myself of the net-kama accusation but……
“Is this okay……?”
This means I confessed to doing gay stuff online…… Will Banye keep his distance from me now?
Actually, I do like Banye, but I like him as a close friend, and I’ve never felt romantic feelings like I did with Sisi, so if Banye distanced himself from me because of this, I’d be really hurt.
So after agonizing, I tried to test Banye.
[Aang] But Banye-ssi…
[Hwang Hyunjung] Yes
[Aang] I’ve really
[Aang] Sworn off online dating now…
[Hwang Hyunjung] What are you suddenly talking about?
[Aang] No
[Aang] I mean……
[Aang] You know how I always jokingly called you jagi and joked around saying I liked you……
[Hwang Hyunjung] ?
[Aang] But
[Aang] You’re not thinking now
[Aang] That I was serious
[Aang] Like I like you romantically or anything right?
[Aang] I was just joking
[Aang] ㅜㅜ
[Aang] We won’t… get awkward right?
Banye didn’t answer for a while, then replied as if somewhat dumbfounded.
[Hwang Hyunjung] So you’re saying it’s not like with Sisi?
[Aang] Why is that bastard’s name coming up
[Hwang Hyunjung] You’re saying only Sisi was real?
[Aang] Fuck stop talking about Sisi
I got annoyed and sternly told Banye [Mentioning Sisi is prohibited]. Only then did Banye stop going on about Sisi and replied to me.
[Hwang Hyunjung] I never thought that in the first place
A sigh of relief escaped me at Banye’s answer.
[Aang] Phew, thank goodness
[Hwang Hyunjung] Please don’t have weird fantasies about me
I was happy to see Banye’s usual tone returning, so I quickly joked around.
[Aang] Hehe that might be difficult
[Hwang Hyunjung] ㅉㅉ
Banye let my joke slide without much comment. As expected…… Banye is kind.
That day, I joked around with Banye a lot. Banye would scold me when it was time to scold, and let things slide when it was time to let them slide, treating me no differently than before hearing about Sisi.
It was the moment my slightly anxious heart became completely at ease. And after that, Banye never mentioned Sisi again.
However, the bad connection with Sisi didn’t end there.
