NOVEL NEXT chapter 89
“hyung, next week is Christmas.”
Facing me at the entryway with a neatly folded paper bag holding the clothes he wore yesterday, Chae Yu-jeong hemmed and hawed.
“Do you have any plans?”
“Christmas?”
Come to think of it, it’s already Christmas.
There’s obviously only one thing to do on Christmas.
“I don’t have plans, but I’m busy.”
“Huh? Then why are you busy?”
“I have to game.”
“……”
It would feel wrong not to game on Christmas. The Christmas event will hand out items or EXP that are pretty sweet.
Finals are over, so it’s time to satisfy the gaming itch I couldn’t scratch.
“Why would you game on Christmas!”
“Because it’s Christmas. I’m already hyped to scoop up event rewards.”
“Go out with me.”
“Go out where. Haven’t you ever gone on a date on Christmas Eve or the day of?”
At my question, Chae pressed his lips together and averted his eyes. So he hasn’t.
“The streets are packed, and if you don’t book ahead you can’t get in anywhere. Unless you booked one or two months ago, you can’t even make a reservation now. Do you have anywhere booked? You don’t.”
“Yeees……”
“On Christmas, not going out and resting at home is the play.”
“But……”
Deflated, Chae said with a listless face:
“From January my schedule’s all set, so I only have a few days left to have fun… I don’t want to just let it pass.”
Right, he said his pro activity starts again next year? Since it came up, I poked the part I’d been curious about.
“So you haven’t been practicing at all? Like scrims and stuff.”
“Contractually I can’t participate in scrims. So I’m just doing solo queue.”
“Yeah? Perfect. Then do solo queue on Christmas too.”
“Ah, hyuuung!”
“Hey. No.”
I shot him down firmly, like stopping a dog begging to go on a walk.
“Going out on Christmas just means getting crushed by crowds and getting tired. Then you end up fighting on a nice day for no reason. Best is we each rest at home.”
Sneaking looks at my face, Chae realized there wasn’t even a window to whine, and was deeply disappointed.
“Okay……”
“See? We can hang out after Christmas.”
“Okay……”
For once he didn’t keep pestering and just nodded obediently.
“hyung, then on Christmas Day you’re not going out anywhere and you’re gaming at home, right?”
“That’s the plan.”
“As long as you’re not meeting someone else besides me, that’s fine.”
Well well. He still makes sure to pack the jealousy in there. I couldn’t help a snort.
“Cut the weird talk and go home.”
“I’ll text you.”
Wearing only the coat he’d had on yesterday over the clothes he got from me, Chae waggled his hand and left the room.
He said he’d take a taxi, so he’ll probably get home in under an hour.
“Christmas, huh.”
Thinking of disappointed Chae, I wondered if I’d been too cold turning him down… but if I imagine the crowds everywhere no matter where you go, staying home is the right answer.
Besides, I haven’t been able to log into Xenorise for over a month already, so it was about time to hop in once.
I’ve been run ragged for weeks; I’m absolutely resting until next week. After that I can look for a part-time job, register at a gym, or find something to do.
****
[Drink Some Water: Happy Clsmus everyone having a good one? ^.^]
[Drink Some Water: Final notice for the meetup~]
[Drink Some Water: Saturday, December 30, 5:00 p.m.! Dues: adults 20,000, minors 10,000 (I’ll cover any shortfall ^.^) 1st round meat, 2nd round drinks!]
[Notice has been posted. Saturday, December 30, Sa…….]
[Drink Some Water: Check the photo below for the meat restaurant location]
[Drink Some Water: (image attached)]
[Drink Some Water: It’s a bit later than the original date but pls show lots of interest (sticker)]
[Haereun: roundup good bbb]
[Mocha Bread Bread Bread: Who made the meetup late?? — —]
[Hwa So-un: Drink Some Water]
[Mocha Bread Bread Bread: ah my bad lololol]
[I’m Lagginggg: lolololol]
[ManaOing-nam: lolol Tal Lula funny]
[Hwa So-un: lolol Drink Some Water had overtime at work so……]
[Drink Some Water: hehe sorry]
[Mocha Bread Bread Bread: I’ll bang my head]
[It’s Staeric: But delaying it is actually good]
[It’s Staeric: If it were earlier I couldn’t go..]
[TheHunter: yeah]
[TheHunter: I might’ve been iffy too]
[SseSseSse: Hmm]
[SseSseSse: Staeric and Hunter always line up every time k]
[TheHunter: ?]
[Haereun: You didn’t know?]
[Haereun: Those two are Twilight’s 2nd ge—couple lol]
[TheHunter: ??]
[Drink Some Water: lolololol]
[SseSseSse: Ah my news was slow hehe]
[Hwa So-un: Why is the 2nd couple so fast..]
[Hwa So-un: Is this the power of Staeric’s experience?]
[TheHunter: what the hell are you even saying ffs]
[It’s Staeric: Whew, we’ve been found out]
[It’s Staeric: I’m that capable lol]
[Mocha Bread Bread Bread: kyah meow-meow~]
[ManaOing-nam: meow-meow~]
[I’m Lagginggg: lolololololol]
[TheHunter: — —?]
The guild group chat, quiet the past few days, was suddenly buzzing—turns out the meetup notice had been posted.
I was just about to log into Xenorise and checked the meetup date.
Nothing scheduled on the 30th yet, so I could definitely attend. I’d said I’d try to make it last time, so I might as well go.
As soon as I logged into Xenorise, more event pages than usual popped up in a cascade.
[Guild] Haereun: oh
[Guild] Haereun: no way Jeo?
[Guild] DoraHeeImnida: hihi~
[Guild] Marinated Crab, Slurp: whoa it’s Jeo
[Guild] ManaOing-nam: college kids log in the moment break starts lololol
[Guild] Drink Some Water: yo Jeo hi
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: hey
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: sry sry been busy couldn’t come
[Guild] Hwa So-un: it’s fine
[Guild] Hwa So-un: most folks barely logged in either ㅠㅠ
[Guild] TheHunter: Jeo h2
[Guild] TheHunter: fr.. I came back like yesterday after exams lol
[Guild] Haereun: thought Jeo wouldn’t come
[Guild] Haereun: it’s Xmas tho
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: uh??
[Guild] Hunting Madman: figured the social butterfly wouldn’t game lol
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: lol
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: anyone who goes out on Christmas is second-rate
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: the one who games at home… that one’s top-tier
[Guild] Park Seungjin99: ka~~~~
[Guild] ReReLaggingYo: insane insane
[Guild] ManaOing-nam: dripping with style;
I opened the friends list to see if Yu Chae had logged in. As expected, he wasn’t on.
After his final message to me, Yu Chae left not only the guild but the guild group chat as well. Since the nickname still remains on my friends list, he didn’t delete the account. It just… ended like that.
As for me, I’d more or less tidied up the tangle of feelings I’d had toward Yu Chae.
Thinking back, after I cut contact with him, I ran into Kim Ui-chan, got a confession that wasn’t like a confession from Chae Yu-jeong, did projects and exams… multiple issues blew up at once and I handled them without rest, and time simply passed this much.
As expected, time is the best for calming and forgetting emotions you can’t understand. I still have unanswered questions about Yu Chae, but……
At this point, what does any of that matter. Let the one leaving, leave—that’s the way to reduce stress.
[Guild] TheHunter: Jeo
[Guild] TheHunter: wanna do the Xmas event together?
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: not sure how to do it that okay?
[Guild] Haereun: there’s an event island
[Guild] Haereun: you just do little minigames there lol
[Guild] TheHunter: yeah and you get cards, collect those
[Guild] TheHunter: you can trade them for enhancement mats or a Tower Dungeon entry ticket
[Guild] TheHunter: it’s a generous event so it’s super worth
[Guild] ReReLaggingYo: if you collect cards you get a pet too!!
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: ok ok
[Guild] Jeo Jolryeoyo: let’s go
As expected on Christmas, the event rewards were pretty good. I hopped into TheHunter’s party and enjoyed the event with guildmates for the first time in a while.
About four hours of gaming later, there was a knock at the front door. I wasn’t expecting anyone, so at first I thought I’d misheard and ignored it, but soon the sound rang out again.
The event quest had just ended and the party had disbanded, so I got up and headed for the entryway.
“Who is it?”
Do deliveries come even on Christmas? Just in case, I raised my voice before opening the door, and a very familiar voice answered from outside.
“hyung, it’s me.”
“Chae Yu-jeong?”
Startled, I hurriedly opened the door, and there was Chae, wearing the beige scarf I gave him, smiling brightly.
Maybe because the temperature had dropped to 7 below, his cheeks and ears were flushed pink. Meeting my eyes, Chae lifted his hand.
“Merry Christmas. I came to give you a present.”
“What?”
I reflexively took what he held out into my arms. Inside the box—just as cold as his hands—was none other than a fresh-cream cake.
“I bought it at a shop I know. They do cakes really well. It’s not too sweet, so I thought you’d like it.”
“You came all the way here just to give me this?”
I asked, bewildered, and Chae folded his hands meekly and fluttered those long eyelashes.
“Yeees. It felt a little sad to let the day pass doing nothing. I wanted to at least give you a present.”
“…I don’t have anything for you.”
“It’s fine since I ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) came on my own. Thinking about it, you were slammed with projects and exams. Of course you’d want to rest, and I think I put too much burden on you last time.”
Apparently genuinely sorry, Chae gave a sheepish smile.
“Today I really just dropped by to give you the cake and go. It’s a cake I like, so I wanted you to try it too.”
“……”
At that, I looked over the cake box this way and that. Judging by the shape and weight, it’s obviously not slices… and it looks pretty big.
He expects me to eat all this alone? And I’m not trash who would slam the door on a kid who braved the cold to bring me a gift.
“Okay, come in. Eat and go.”
“Huh? No! I really just came to give you the cake and—!”
“What’s the bag in your hand?”
I pointed at the plastic bag that obviously held something like a bottle, and Chae hastily hid it behind his back.
“This is, um, when I bought the cake, they gave this as a service……”
“What is it.”
“…wine.”
Oh ho, wine? Seeing my smirk, Chae’s face was now red enough to be obvious.
“Since when do you drink wine? You’re the guy who blacks out off two shots of soju.”
“I swear I didn’t buy it… they told me to take it when I bought the cake……”
“Got it, come in. It’s cold.”
Looks like the shop owner misunderstood and threw it in. Well, if you buy a cake on Christmas, it’s an easy misunderstanding.
Hovering at the threshold, Chae asked carefully:
“Are you sure I can eat and go?”
“I can’t finish it alone anyway. But we’re not drinking the wine.”
“Y-yes!”
Only then did he relax, nodding hard, and hurried in after me.
I’d planned to just spend the day gaming, but it can’t be helped.
Still, it’s been a very long time since I spent Christmas with someone, so I didn’t feel bad. I even found myself smiling.