LS 136

Dohee shrugged. That alone was probably enough of an answer.

“Oho~”

Yeojin grinned teasingly.

“Is it that obvious?”

Dohee’s question slipped out, and Yeojin burst into laughter. Each time she laughed, white breath fogged in the cold air. She flicked her cigarette toward the ashtray and finally managed to calm herself.

“He’s head over heels. Honestly, from where I’m standing, IngSupp-chan is like a literal angel, though kind of a pushover too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. So?”

“So what?”

“So what happened? You’re not still in the ‘just curious’ stage, right?”

Yeojin stuffed her hands into her coat pockets as they walked side by side toward the officetel entrance. Dohee fell quiet, lost in thought. He was long past the stage of simply being curious. At this point… well, he was thinking about how to seduce him and get him into bed. But he didn’t feel like explaining all that to Yeojin.

“Just… yeah. It’s whatever for now.”

“Ugh. Boring.”

“You’re enjoying it though.”

“Does IngSupp-chan know?”

After pressing the elevator button, Yeojin brushed back her bangs and asked. Dohee raised his brows while watching the floor numbers change. Know what? He doesn’t know shit.

“You think he does?”

“Does he have a girlfriend?”

“Obviously not.”

“Why? He’s good-looking.”

“He’s clueless.”

“Ahhh.”

Yeojin nodded immediately. Don’t agree that fast, it’s depressing.

“And he knows you like guys?”

“Uh-huh.”

“What? How’d he find out?”

“It just kinda happened.”

“Wow, could you be any more vague?”

“I’m serious.”

“So what do you think? About him?”

Yeojin’s eyes sparkled as she stepped into the elevator. Dohee just smiled.

“Aww come on~ Tell me! Do you think he likes you? Has he dated before?”

“Mind your business. I’ll let you know if things go well.”

“Stingy poophead.”

Yeojin pouted. Dohee ignored her and turned his head.

When they entered the apartment, Moonhyuk was standing at the entrance.

“Gah! Holy shit!”

Yeojin screamed when she saw his tall frame looming silently. Moonhyuk flinched and apologized right away.

“Uh… s-sorry. I just, uh, I heard the door…”

“What are you, a guard dog? You come out to greet people now…?”

Yeojin muttered as she wandered into the living room.

Moonhyuk slouched his shoulders and glanced at Dohee nervously. Dohee just smiled and closed the inner door behind him, worried the cold might reach Moonhyuk.

He followed Dohee into the living room. The sound of his footsteps trailed closely behind, probably because two strangers in the house made him uneasy. The way he stuck so close was honestly adorable.

Even when they were cleaning up after eating noodle soup, or when Dohee lounged around checking his phone, Moonhyuk stayed glued to his side.

Dohee met Yeojin’s eyes from across the sofa. She smiled, and he couldn’t help but smile back.

“What’s taking so long?”

After lunch, the four of them had ordered coffee and pastries while chatting. Dohee offered to make capsule coffee, but Yeohoo had flat-out refused, he wanted freshly brewed Americano.

It was ridiculous, but Dohee just pulled up the delivery app. He was lazy anyway, so it worked out.

“It’ll be here soon.”

Dohee glanced at his phone. Still no news.

While waiting for the delivery, he and Yeojin had gone out for a smoke and cleaned up the food. Meanwhile, Yeohoo and Moonhyuk were chatting about their classes.

Watching the two of them sitting close and laughing together made Dohee irrationally annoyed.

Seriously, if I knew it’d be like this, I wouldn’t have dropped out.

But it was too late now. Then Dohee’s phone buzzed.

“Coffee’s here!”

Yeojin shouted excitedly, but when Dohee picked up the phone, he raised an eyebrow.

“Nope.”

At first, he thought it was a wrong number.

The screen showed a number he’d been introduced to recently, the editor recommended by Jinhee.

Dohee tilted his head and answered.

“Yes, hello?”

💎

Dohee shot awake like he’d been struck by lightning. He checked the time, it was already 1 p.m. He had a few missed calls from Yeohoo and a pile of DMs from guildmates on GameTalk.

Dohee jumped up and opened his door.

Moonhyuk was sitting at the living room table, studying.

“Oh, you’re up?”

“…Good morning.”

“Uh… I mean, it’s already one, but… good… morning?”

His whole body was sore from hosting Yeohoo and Yeojin so late into the night.

He didn’t even feel like turning on the computer, let alone playing the game.

He had items to distribute to the raid team, but even that felt like a chore.

Yeohoo had offered to log in and handle it for him, so they ended up just messing around until late. Dohee yawned widely as he opened the fridge.

One can of canned coffee was left from the stash he’d ordered yesterday. These days, deliveries even came with freshly brewed coffee in cans. Amazing.

He sat down across from Moonhyuk and sipped the coffee. His mind finally started to clear.

“You’re back to working today, right?”

Daeyoung’s shift coverage ended yesterday. Moonhyuk had to return to his part time job.

He nodded.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll take you after dinner.”

Moonhyuk opened his mouth like he was about to say no, then quietly closed it again.

He probably still felt awkward or guilty, but at least now he wasn’t saying no anymore.

Seeing him get used to things bit by bit like this didn’t feel bad at all.

“What about lunch?”

“Not yet…”

“You should’ve woken me up if you were hungry.”

Moonhyuk smiled wordlessly.

Dohee thought, It’d be nice if one day he could just come wake me up without hesitation.

He stared off blankly, lost in the thought.

“What should we eat for lunch?”

“Uh, should I make something?”

Moonhyuk closed his book with a snap, eyes shining.

Dohee almost imagined a tail wagging behind him.

He chuckled and waved a hand.

“Just… how about ramen?”

“I’m down!”

So ramen it was.

Dohee stayed put while Moonhyuk hopped up to cook, he claimed he made killer ramen.

Dohee watched the now-empty chair across from him, then picked up his phone.

He checked the Sword of God official website. Still no new announcements. He skimmed the forums, no new bugs, either. He decided to call Yeohoo after lunch.

There were no urgent texts or messages, so it probably wasn’t important.

After lunch, he’d log in and start catching up.

He’d already skipped two days of weekly and daily quests, enough was enough.

Maybe he’d rope Moonhyuk into playing an hour with him. Not a bad plan.

The smell of ramen wafted through the air. Dohee recalled what happened yesterday.

The editor who called him had hesitated before opening up. He said he’d also suffered because of Yapdeuk, the streamer at the center of the recent online post.

One of the reasons they’d cut ties was unpaid wages, which Dohee hadn’t known until now.

Then he asked,

— I want to expose Kim Hawon. Would it be okay to mention your experience too?

At first, Dohee didn’t understand what he meant. But then he realized: the editor was referring to the incident from years ago, when Kim Hawon had hired people to sabotage his stream.

Dohee hesitated. It felt icky digging up old stuff, and he didn’t want to be back in the spotlight. But then he agreed. It wouldn’t hurt him. He’d already steeled himself for attention when he started streaming again.

If adding a little more fuel to the fire could bury Yapdeuk for good, then so be it.

Even without Dohee’s input, Kim Hawon’s image was already ruined.

Still, putting the nail in the coffin didn’t seem like a bad idea. And truthfully, he was still bitter. A few hours after the call, another post went up, and public opinion turned decisively against Yapdeuk.

When people learned the truth about why GoSupp had stopped streaming, they rallied around him.

Dohee didn’t feel grateful. Or sad. Was he satisfied? Not really. He thought he’d feel a sense of justice, but even that wasn’t quite there.

The Sword of God community stayed ablaze late into the night. Dohee turned off his phone and went to bed without a second thought.

There was nothing else left to do. As far as he was concerned, his bad history with Yapdeuk was now finally over.