Wonyoung, who had been listening to the thumping sound of his own heart, barely managed to open his mouth.
“I, told you. That we wouldn’t let go of each other.”
Taerim answered ‘That’s right’ and paused for a moment before speaking.
“But let me say this.”
“What is it?”
“Thank you for giving me another chance, Narae-ssi.”
Wonyoung looked up at Taerim. The ice-cold gaze he’d first seen was nowhere to be found, and he was looking at Wonyoung with infinitely affectionate eyes.
“……I.”
What impulse was it in that moment? Wonyoung almost said that he wasn’t Narae but Heo Wonyoung.
Fortunately, as if to prevent that, choices appeared.
[Not at all, hehe! (★≧▽^))★☆]
[Now that you know, you have to treat me well, okay? Promise? ( ´∀｀)d]
It did feel like they were hastily trying to smooth things over…… but more than that, the content was shit. What the hell were those emoticons?
However, coincidentally, Wonyoung was contemplating whether to try breaking through the choices one more time and ended up missing the timing to select.
“Not at all, hehe!”
Wonyoung unconsciously said that while winking one eye. Taerim laughed as if absurd, and Wonyoung’s face turned bright red. He was truly annoyed in many ways. Heo Wonyoung doesn’t do things like winking.
It wasn’t just annoyance from being toyed with by the game. Somewhere in a corner of his heart, he felt frustrated.
“Narae-ssi?”
“Ah, yes.”
“You look tired. It would be better to go in now. I kept you too long.”
Taerim hurriedly turned Wonyoung’s body toward the front door. When Wonyoung opened the door and went inside, Taerim pushed his back as if telling him to hurry in.
“I’m going.”
“……Director-nim, please get home safely too.”
“See you again.”
Wonyoung nodded and closed the door.
A truly long day was coming to an end.
* * *
After that day’s incident, Siyeon casually came in and out of Wonyoung’s house from the next day. Knowing that was the best Siyeon could do, Wonyoung also naturally accepted him.
But isn’t lying around after eating, crunching on potato chips, a bit too comfortable? He doesn’t have amnesia, does he? When Wonyoung was thinking such thoughts, Siyeon suddenly called out to him.
“Rae hyung.”
“Huh?”
Siyeon seemed to ponder for a moment, then got up from his seat and spoke seriously.
“Hyung, you know. That day…… I think I saw someone.”
“Huh? That day? You mean, the day I went looking for you?”
Siyeon nodded.
“What do you mean you saw someone?”
“Um.”
“Don’t tell me Baek Heegang was hiding again?!”
When Wonyoung asked in alarm, Siyeon waved his hand.
“N-no.”
“Then what?”
“……I mean, hyung…….”
Siyeon, who had been continuing to speak, quietly became lost in thought, then soon smiled as if it was nothing.
“You looked so pretty, hyung.”
“……Don’t mess…… let’s not do that, Siyeon.”
Wonyoung, who was about to ask ‘Are you messing around?’, quickly changed his words. The number of warnings he received had decreased compared to the beginning, but he just couldn’t seem to get used to this damn way of speaking.
“But you know, hyung.”
“What now?”
“Why are you so pretty, hyung?”
“What?”
“Your eyes are pretty, your nose is pretty, your mouth is pretty. And of all things, even your ears are pretty.”
“……Do you like my face?”
“How could I not like it?”
Wonyoung felt ambivalent. He should be happy to hear compliments as compliments. But when he thought about it, since it wasn’t a compliment about him, he just felt needlessly contrary.
Rather, after Narae’s memories returned, Wonyoung felt a sense of distance from Narae. It was because of the thought that he had his own life. And the choices he was making were getting further and further away from the direction the game was guiding. That meant Wonyoung was also getting further away from Narae himself.
Heo Wonyoung didn’t have such cute eyes, nose, and mouth, nor red cheeks, nor fluffy hair.
‘I’m Heo Wonyoung. Not Narae.’
As time went on, he found himself thinking such thoughts more and more often.
“Hyung?”
Awakened from his thoughts by Siyeon’s call, Wonyoung grumbled.
“What if I get ugly at this rate?”
“You’re hyung, so what does it matter whether you’re ugly or not?”
“As long as I’m Narae?”
“Of course? I like you whatever you look like, hyung. When I say you’re pretty, it’s not about your appearance.”
It surely had good intentions. Heo Wonyoung was just wearing Narae’s shell, the essence hadn’t changed. So the Narae that Siyeon spoke of would include Heo Wonyoung too.
“Okay.”
Nevertheless, at Wonyoung’s lukewarm answer, Siyeon made a troubled face and was about to open his mouth but stopped.
‘What I saw then…….’
It must have been a mistake. He didn’t know why he saw such a thing though. Siyeon decided not to think deeply about it.
More importantly, the time spent with Rae hyung was far more important. He smiled and lay down on Wonyoung’s lap.
“I know this is sudden, but I wonder what would have happened if it weren’t for you, hyung.”
“Hm?”
“If you hadn’t saved me at first, we couldn’t have come this far.”
“That’s…….”
“I’ve said it several times, but I’m really grateful. For many things. And…… I’m sorry.”
Wonyoung didn’t know how to answer. He thought he’d answered quite easily before. But in fact, the reason he saved Siyeon back then was because of the mission, and what’s more, Wonyoung had even tried to ignore Siyeon and leave.
The subject of the apology wasn’t him either. It was the real Narae who suffered because of Siyeon’s father, not Heo Wonyoung.
In the end, Wonyoung couldn’t say anything and just gave an awkward smile.
“Haa.”
After Siyeon left, Wonyoung let out a deep sigh, sat down, and opened the affection window.
Kyung Taerim
595/999
Ki Siyeon
638/999
Baek Heegang
651/999
After even Siyeon’s secret was revealed, the affection levels were rising steadily even without doing anything special.
But whether this place was virtual or not, he wasn’t Narae. Heegang recently called him a friend and even paid off his debt, but if he knew he was Heo Wonyoung and not Narae, he wouldn’t call him a friend anymore. Because it was Narae who got stabbed, not him.
The same was true for Siyeon. Saving him was to complete the mission, and the one he felt guilty toward, the one he wanted to stay beside despite that, was all the innocent Narae, not the cold Heo Wonyoung. It was all a fabricated appearance. If they knew that, the sincerity he barely managed to convey to him might feel like a lie.
There was no need to even mention Taerim. He truly thought Taerim saw him as he was, but if he wasn’t Narae, to Taerim who couldn’t smell scents, the existence called Heo Wonyoung would have no meaning at all.
After becoming attached to the game, Wonyoung felt that fact even more bleakly. He felt like he was deceiving everyone, and he felt hurt thinking that what they cherished wasn’t his real self.
It was a foolish thought.
‘I guess I really do have affection deficiency.’
Wonyoung closed the affection window and shut his eyes. Everything was going well, and even though he had resolved to stay here and see a proper ending, he felt like he was gradually losing motivation.
Would it be better to just see the ending quickly? Could he even do that?
‘It’s not like I can say I’m Heo Wonyoung.’
The game wouldn’t just let that happen, and Taerim, Siyeon, and Heegang would all definitely feel great shock and betrayal.
‘And this is…… a game anyway.’
He had vowed not to treat it as a game anymore, but that didn’t mean he could run wild as he pleased and ruin the entire flow. If he did that, who knows what bugs might occur…… or he might be kicked out of this world again with talk of abnormal play or something.
‘……But is this the right thing to do?’
He decided to treat the three people sincerely, yet was it right to still be swayed by choices and penalties, acting as a Narae who wasn’t Narae?
“Ugh, my head hurts!”
Wonyoung, who had ruffled his hair, lay down flat on the spot. And to practice dribbling, he tried calling the System.
“System-ssi.”
At the quiet call, the System appeared with a pop.
“Oh, perfect timing, Player-nim. Here, here, take this.”
The System pulled something out from inside its sphere and held it out to Wonyoung. It was a small book that felt like the booklets they used to make by cutting paper in kindergarten when he was young.
[Game Manual]
“……What is this? At this point.”
“I’ll be away from my post for a while. If you have any questions during that time, please refer to this manual.”
“…….”
No matter how he looked at it, it had an obviously hastily made appearance, with a rather crude form. Wonyoung looked down at the tattered ‘manual’ with displeasure and asked.
“For a System to be away from its post. What’s that about?”
“It’s for a game stabilization patch. I humbly ask for Player-nim’s generous understanding. Boo-hoo.”
“Game stabilization?”
“The game has become a bit unstable.”
“What do you mean the game is unstable? You brought me into this world and now it’s becoming unstable?”
At the System’s out-of-the-blue story, Wonyoung seemed like he’d become unstable instead.
“It’s all thanks to Player-nim. You’re playing the game in such a mess.”
“No, this circle, I’ve been putting up with you but.”
Wonyoung fumed and rolled up his sleeves, when the System brought up an unexpected comment.
“Well, thanks to that, things are going well though.”
“……Going well? Ah, you mean like finding bugs?”
“Something like that. So I’m thinking of giving you a gift.”
“A gift?”
The System floated over toward Wonyoung.
“Would you like to open page 7 of the manual?”
Wonyoung passed the cover that looked like it was drawn with crayons and opened page 7. Inside, the following content was written.
[Ending Conditions]
“Ending?!”
When Wonyoung raised his head in surprise, the System bobbed as if telling him to read more. Wonyoung hurriedly returned his gaze to the booklet.
