LS 43

“What are you apologizing for again?”

— “Well… I thought maybe you’d feel weird if I was the only one thinking we were close…”

Dohee unconsciously raised his hand and tapped his chest a few times.

God, why is he so frustrating?

Honestly, at this point, Dohee felt more hurt that Knockoff kept walking on eggshells around him.

Baek Dohee wasn’t the type to define a relationship by how long he’d known someone.

Sure, he seemed friendly with everyone, but the truth was, there were only a handful of people he actually let in. Even in the MMORPG Sword of God, there were less than five people he genuinely considered close.

Being guildmates didn’t automatically mean everyone was treated the same.

In that sense, Knockoff was an exception, someone who, despite the relatively short time they’d known each other, had gotten close very quickly.

This was the first time Dohee had ever used GameTalk with someone one-on-one like this, or done silly quests while chatting over voice.

Not long ago, he wouldn’t even accept party invites or trade requests. Now here he was, doing a couple avatar quest with this guy.

Dohee even remembered blowing a few tens of millions in gold just to avenge Knockoff after some jerks ganged up on him. That’s how much he considered him a friend.

And here this guy was, acting like he might’ve been the only one thinking that.

Was he just slow? Lacking self-esteem? Or was it just his overly timid, people-pleasing nature? Dohee couldn’t quite tell.

One thing was certain: Baek Dohee was feeling pretty damn hurt now.

“I thought we got pretty close.”

— “Ah…”

“No?”

— “I thought so too, it’s just… I worried you might feel weird about it.”

“Why do you overthink everything?”

— …

“I’m not scolding you, okay? I’m not mad. I’m just curious. Do I intimidate you?”

— “I like you, AssaGo.”

…What?

He asked if he was intimidating, and the guy replied with I like you.

Dohee was caught off guard.

“You like me?”

— “Yeah. I like playing games with you. I like that you pay attention to me. I think it’s cool how good you are at games… And, um, well… it’s just that, I’ve, uh, always–since school, actually…”

“What?”

— “Don’t think I’m weird, okay? It’s just… I, um, I don’t have any f-friends… So I don’t really know how to do this stuff. I sometimes end up upsetting the younger coworkers at my part-time job or making classmates feel left out… I like you, AssaGo, but I’m scared I might be accidentally making you uncomfortable too…”

“Damn. That’s a long way of saying you’re bad at socializing.”

— “…Huh? Uh? Ah… y-yeah. I guess I am bad at socializing…”

It was a joke, but he took it seriously.

Hearing Knockoff mutter like that made Dohee both laugh and think he was kind of adorable.

The fact that playing with this frustrating guy didn’t actually annoy him all that much was sort of baffling.

Sure, he was clumsy and sometimes acted totally out of left field, but Dohee had never actually disliked him or gotten seriously irritated.

He was just kind of… a funny guy. Fun to be around.

“You didn’t have any friends?”

— “No…”

“Why? Is it hard for you to make them? Is talking to people stressful?”

Dohee asked without thinking too much, figured maybe Knockoff was just really shy.

But the answer he got made him instinctively rub his forehead.

— “Ah… no, it’s not that. I just… didn’t have time to hang out ‘cause I was always studying. And then over time, my friends kind of drifted away. Eventually no one really wanted to hang out with me. I think maybe I was just… too boring, since all I ever did was study. But it’s not like I was bullied or anything.”

So he was just a top student nerd, huh.

Still, how hard do you have to study that you never have time to hang out with friends?

Dohee thought back to his own exam-cramming days.

Except for Yeojin, who had already given up on college, Yeohoo and Dohee were always together, going to the library, hanging out at study cafés, taking the same tutoring sessions. Even when they went to separate cram schools, they’d meet up on the way home.

At least he wasn’t bullied or anything. That was a relief.

Without thinking much of it, Dohee asked Knockoff,

“So how hard were you studying, exactly? Did you get a perfect score on the CSAT or something?”

— “Ah, no. I got five wrong.”

“…What?”

— “I’m a little weak in math…”

“Wait, all together, just five?”

— “Yeah!”

“…What the hell? Are you, like, top of your class or something?”

— “Well, not always, but most of the time! I really wanted a scholarship… I had to take a year off after the military because I was working part-time to save money. When I came back, I missed out on being top of the class just once. I was second that semester… it was kind of disappointing.”

What the hell kind of alien is this guy?

It was honestly unbelievable.

So he was a top-tier nerd, painfully polite, and socially clueless in the most harmless way possible.

A hardworking, overly earnest little cinnamon roll.

Dohee couldn’t help but laugh.

Hearing Knockoff explain in painstaking detail how he’d never really made friends because he was too busy studying was somehow both hilarious and endearing.

It felt strange. He’d never thought someone he didn’t even know the face of could be “cute,” and yet here he was.

Still, he didn’t think too hard about it.

It was probably just because he’d never met anyone quite like this before.

“You really live your life to the fullest, huh. So are you saying I have to be your first friend now?”

— “Huh!? AssaGo-nim, are you saying… we’re friends? Friends… we’re friends!”

First he says are we friends?, then immediately follows up with we’re friends!

Dohee couldn’t help it, he burst out laughing.

He could hear Knockoff smacking his lips awkwardly through the earphones, probably flustered.

Was he scratching his head or something right now?

Just imagining it made Dohee laugh again.

He spoke with a voice full of amusement.

“Then how about we start being real friends from today?”

— “Uh, y-yeah! I’d love that!”

Dohee had said it just to tease him, but Knockoff answered with such determined enthusiasm his voice even went up a pitch.

Unbelievable.

“Alright then.”

— “I’m happy…”

That simple I’m happy made something flutter faintly inside.

Dohee let out a soft laugh again.

“Well, now that we’re officially friends, if you’re curious about anything, don’t hold back and just ask. And since we are close now, if anyone asks, you tell them we’re friends. Got it?”

— “Yes, yes! I will!”

“What’s with you, why do you like everything so much?”

— “Just because, hehe… Um… then, AssaGo-nim, can I ask you one more thing I’m curious about?”

“What is it?”

— “Um, well, since we’re friends now…”

“Since we’re friends?”

— “I was wondering… your name. I mean, only if you don’t mind telling me! I’m not saying I want to call you by it! I’ll still keep calling you AssaGo! It’s just… everyone usually introduces themselves and, uh… I was just curious…”

“Why?”

— “Huh?”

“Even if I told you my name, why would you still call me by my character name instead?”

— “Well… because it’s SoGod…?”

Wow. The ultimate gamer has logged on.

In Sword of God, aside from Yapdeuk and Cha Jinhee, no one knew Dohee’s real name. Not even his guildmates.

It wasn’t that it was a secret, it just never came up, and he never saw a need to tell anyone.

“Baek Dohee.”

— “Huh?”

“That’s my name. You said you were curious.”

— “Whoa…”

A quiet gasp came through the earphones.

— “That’s such a pretty name.”

“What about you, Knockoff? We’re friends now, so I should know your name too, right?”

Dohee asked playfully, and he could hear Knockoff’s hesitant breathing on the other side.

“What? You don’t want to tell me?”

— “Huh!? No, no! It’s not that. It’s just, your name, Baek Dohee, it’s so pretty that I kind of hesitated. My name isn’t that nice…”

“Did you think I was asking for a pretty name or something? What is it, Kim Cheolsu?”

— “N-No!”

“Then what is it? Let me be the judge.”

— “Moonhyuk.”

“Moonhyuk?”

— “Kwon Moonhyuk. That’s my name.”

Hearing Knockoff say his name shyly through the earphones, Dohee blinked slowly. His chest fluttered strangely. He couldn’t explain why, it just did.

This was the same guy with a name like GoingSupporter knockoff, who he’d always just called Knockoff.

The timid guy he dragged around, half-worried he’d get scammed somewhere.

But the three syllables he’d just spoken felt completely different.

It was hard to put into words, but something about it felt… odd in a way he couldn’t define.

“…It’s a nice name. Why?”

— “Really? You’re teasing me again, aren’t you?”

“Nope. Definitely better than Kim Cheolsu.”

Laughter floated through the earphones again.

— “Um… then, AssaGo, do you have anything you’re curious about?”

“You can just call me Dohee, you know.”

— “Ah! I–uh… I’ll do that once I’m… mentally ready…”

He needed mental preparation to call someone by their real name. Dohee couldn’t stop laughing.

He had meant to log off after this, but somehow he’d ended up deep in conversation.

Still, he wasn’t in a bad mood. In fact, there was something he’d been wondering for a while. He’d asked once before but never got a proper answer.

He had considered just dropping it, maybe it wasn’t worth knowing. But with the way things were now, it felt like the perfect time to ask. Might as well go for it.

“Then I have something I’m curious about too.”

— “O-oh! I’ll tell you!”

“What’s so great about GoingSupporter?”

— “Uh… wh-what? You mean GoSupp?”

“Yeah. Your nickname is literally a knockoff of his.”

— “No, it’s not…”

Oh, come on, of course it is. Anyone could see that.

— “But why are you asking all of a sudden?”

“It’s not really sudden, though? I asked before too. You said the explanation would be long. I’ve seen some of GoSupp’s videos and streams too, actually. But I’ve always wondered, was there really something that amazing about him that made you want to start playing just because of that? I’ve never felt that way about a streamer before.”