LS 8

A warm brunch was laid out on a pretty white table placed at the far end of the living room, now more spacious thanks to the opened-up veranda. Yeohoo, glancing nervously at Dohee, was cautiously unwrapping the delivery containers. Alcohol was the real enemy here.

“Fucking alcohol’s the worst.”

Ah, shit, he flinched. Dohee’s words echoed exactly what he had just been thinking, like he could read minds. Yeohoo jerked his shoulders in surprise, nearly spilling the lemon-something salad he was holding. Dohee, slouched in a chair and blankly staring at his phone, slowly lifted his head. Their eyes met. Yeohoo quickly looked away.

“I mean, like… why the hell did I call you at that hour, right? Hahaha…”

Dohee snorted in response to Yeohoo’s dry laughter.

“Why’d you change your door code? What’s Baek Yeojin doing, staying out for three nights straight? Is uncle doing okay? Maybe I should check in on him, it’s been a while.”

“You bastard!”

“Me? I’m the bastard? Or is it you, the one who drank yourself stupid, called me twenty times sobbing at 3 a.m. saying you were gonna die, dragged me out of bed, changed your door code without telling me, and left me stuck at an internet café for two hours?”

“…I’m the bastard.”

“Glad you know.”

Yeohoo gave Dohee a pitiful little smile as he placed the plates and silverware in front of him, fancy ones he’d bought last year in France. Of course, Dohee wasn’t buying it.

“Why do you even drink when you can’t handle alcohol? Is this because of the breakup? You still not over him?”

At that, Yeohoo’s shoulders drooped.
Seriously, is it really necessary to go digging into old wounds right now?

“It wasn’t because of him. Just some classmates wanted to grab a drink together. There are a lot of people still coming to campus during break, so we figured we’d get together. And… it just kinda happened, y’know…”

As his voice trailed off, Dohee’s sharp gaze followed. Yeohoo avoided it, poking aimlessly at his pasta.

Though they were close cousins who’d grown up together, the reason Baek Yeohoo and Baek Dohee were still close enough to share door codes even at twenty-five had more to do with something else entirely.

“Stop dating trash already. What are you, a garbage truck collector? You insane?”

They were both gay.

How they found out about each other’s orientation is a story too long to tell, but once they did, they’d only grown closer. Closer than cousins, practically inseparable. That was Baek Yeohoo and Baek Dohee.

Still within a month of a painful breakup, Yeohoo–the absolute criminal who’d drunkenly summoned his cousin at 2 a.m.–silently stuffed pasta into his mouth. When you’ve got nothing to say, you eat. Pasta had long been his go-to hangover food.

“Hey, do you know the internet café across the street from your place?”

Dohee’s sudden question caught him mid-bite. Yeohoo nodded, mouth still full.

“The one in the white building’s basement? I think it opened last year? Don’t remember it being there before that.”

“Have you ever been there?”

“No? My computer at home’s way better than theirs. Why would I go?”

“The night-shift guy there’s hot.”

“…?”

Where did that come from? Yeohoo blinked, pasta twirling fork paused mid-air.

“You’ve got good eyes, huh? You managed to check out the night-shift guy’s face?”

“It was impossible not to. I walked in, and this fridge-sized dude shot up and bowed. How could I not look?”

Typical, face-chasing bastard.

Yeohoo bit back the comment, twitching the corner of his mouth instead.

Knowing Baek Dohee, who had famously high standards, if even he said someone was handsome, the guy had to be seriously good-looking.
Dohee didn’t throw around the word handsome lightly.

“What’s he look like?”

“Not your type.”

“Oh, fuck off. If you think he’s hot, of course he’s not my type.”

A small mercy, perhaps. The two of them had never once shared overlapping taste in men. Not that taste was something one needed to understand anyway. Still, despite everything, they both tended to go for the kind of guys who were objectively attractive.

“Total fucking heartthrob.”

“A hot-tempered pretty boy?”

“Yeah. Thick brows, sharp nose bridge, pretty lips, small face, and crazy tall. Thought he was a model or something.”

Dohee quickly lost interest and went back to scrolling on his phone. Then added:

“But his fashion sense is trash. He was wearing this green and white checkered shirt–you know, that engineering major check–and these totally outdated mid-wash jeans. What a waste of a face. Still, he was good-looking enough to pull it off, I guess.”

Of course he’d say that.

Dohee had always been stylish. With naturally striking features and a strong, trendy sense of fashion, not in a blindly trendy way, but someone who knew exactly what suited him and wore it with precision.

When Baek Dohee walked down the street, at least eight out of ten people gave him a second glance. Where in the world did this family line spit out someone with a face like that? Must’ve come from his aunt’s genes…

Though he never cared what others wore, Dohee had once been accepted into the fashion design program at Hanguk University (even if he dropped out later), so it made sense he’d feel disappointed seeing a hot part-timer in an ancient checkered shirt.

Listening to him talk, Yeohoo spoke up.

“Even the engineering majors don’t wear checkered shirts anymore.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. They freak out if you mention it. Like, ‘Who the hell wears that now?’”

Unlike Dohee, now a dropout and self-proclaimed bum, Baek Yeohoo was still a student at Hanguk University’s Department of Theater and Film. He remembered hearing somewhere that if you wore that kind of shirt these days, you had no friends.

“Anyway, yeah. He was good-looking. Why isn’t he a celebrity? What’s he doing working part-time there?”

Yeohoo burst into laughter, it was probably the funniest thing he’d heard in days. As far as he knew, no one had ever received more casting offers than Baek Dohee himself. Who was he to say that?

“Says the guy who gave up idol life to dedicate his soul to Sword of God. Didn’t half the entertainment industry chase you down?”

“What are you on about? I didn’t dedicate my soul to Sword of God. I’m quitting.”

“God, not that ‘I’m quitting’ crap again!”

“I mean it. I’m quitting before next week’s weekly quest drops.”

“Are you insane? That’s in two days!”

“Exactly. It’s Saturday.”

“Are you serious right now?”

“I’m quitting in two days. I’m done eating, by the way. I’ve lost my appetite.”

You call that eating? That’s barely bird food, Yeohoo thought, glancing at Dohee’s pasta, barely touched. Why’s he lost his appetite? I’m the one who got drunk!

“Order me a coffee. Iced Americano.”

He got up and confidently strode toward the computer room.

“You gonna game?”

“Yeah.”

There were three computers in Yeohoo’s house, one for Baek Yeohoo, one for Baek Yeojin, and one dedicated entirely to Baek Dohee, who came over often enough to warrant it. So it wasn’t weird for him to hop on.

“Didn’t you say you were quitting in two days? What were you doing at the internet café yesterday?”

“I still gotta play until then. Yesterday I ranked my main in PvP, got Grandmaster. Gotta maintain the ranking. Oh, and tonight at 8, we’ve got unclaimed weekly raids, so tell Baek Yeojin to get her ass home. If she doesn’t, I’m kicking her from the guild and calling Uncle to ask how he’s been.”

“Hey! Like I can control her!”

“Figure it out. Without her, clear time increases by twenty minutes. I’ve got a lot to do today.”

“Baek Dohee! You game-addicted maniac!”

The door to the computer room slammed shut. Staring at the closed door, Yeohoo wearily picked up his phone. He had no choice but to call his other half and pass on Dohee’s orders.

“A guy who says he’s quitting in two days is out here hitting Grandmaster and organizing raids…”

Grumbling, Yeohoo hit the call button anyway.
No matter what, he had to stop Baek Dohee from calling his dad.

💎

Monday, 7:00–11:00 AM. It was Sword of God’s regular maintenance window, also the day Baek Dohee had said he’d quit the game.

Maintenance day meant server stabilization, bug fixes, small patches, and often previews of upcoming content. Sometimes, big patches dropped without a word. Since most updates landed on Mondays, SoG players always looked forward to what new content would show up.

Dohee opened the patch notes and clicked his tongue.

[Notice] December 17 (Mon) Update Info

Hello, Adventurers! This is GM Saena.

The December 17 maintenance is complete! Here are the update details, enjoy your adventures this week! ♥

–
• Fixed occasional invisibility issue with Holy Wizard’s “Holy Staff” skill effect.

• Fixed issue where “Dawn Rose” couldn’t be harvested on certain terrain.

• Slightly reduced the Ice Arrow range in Phase 3 of the world raid “Snow Witch of Vengeance.”

• Fixed summoning transparency bug in server raid “Neon.”

• Adjusted PvP Domination match sizes from 8/16/30 players to 4/12/20.

• Fixed rare bug where the named monster disappeared on Floor 32 of Tower of Gods.

We at Sword of God are always working hard for your enjoyment and convenience. Stay happy, Adventurers! ♥

–

“Motherf… Should I actually quit?”

A more perfect no-pdate had never existed.