He Is That Guy

Playing in the same game as Yu Jihan.
Only today did Yoo Chae realize just how moving and wonderful that single sentence could be.
When he first started playing Hiore—replaying Yu Jihan’s matches again and again to study his mechanics—he never once imagined that he would actually meet him in solo queue.
After all, Yu Jihan’s tier was far too high.
Even while clearing jungle monsters on his own side, he couldn’t stop thinking about what Yu Jihan might be doing in the enemy jungle. The curiosity drove him mad.
So instead of taking the lane he was supposed to go to, Yoo Chae kept tailing him around the map.
Even when his own top-laner was begging for a gank¹, or when there was a perfect gank angle in mid, if Yu Jihan went bottom, he went bottom too.
And while staring blankly, completely absorbed by Yu Jihan’s movements, he made one mistake after another without even managing to fight back—and died.
He’d practically spent the entire 30-minute game showing nothing but the worst plays imaginable.
By that point, Yoo Chae didn’t care about winning or losing anymore. All he wanted was to see Yu Jihan a little longer, so he kept following right behind him.
[Team] Penny-by-Penny Bankruptcy (Evitan): What the fuck are you doing, jungler
[Team] Penny-by-Penny Bankruptcy (Evitan): Why the fuck are you playing like this
[Team] Grasshopper3MinCook (Rulruni): LOL
[Team] zxcasqwe (Saltshire): jg dog
Naturally, Yoo Chae’s side lost.
Even as the chat filled with insults aimed at him, he watched the team Nexus crumble with a faint smile.
When it exploded and the game ended, the damage chart popped up.
Yu Jihan, despite being a jungler, had pulled off multiple wins in small skirmishes and leveled faster than anyone else, ending up with the second-highest damage among all ten players.
As for Yoo Chae, who’d fallen apart right from the start—dead last, of course.
Even staring at the post-game screen, the reality still didn’t sink in.
He had just played in the same game as Yu Jihan.
He had seen Yu Jihan’s plays up close, inside the same match.
It was almost too good to be true.
Flooded with happiness, Yoo Chae forgot all about being jealous of Seo Taeyoung and smiled like an idiot—
when suddenly, a friend request popped up.
The sender’s nickname shocked him: Jeo Jolryeoyo.
“…!”
Yu Jihan had sent him a friend request.
Yoo Chae’s cheeks flushed crimson; his hands trembled as he moved the mouse to accept.
[Friend request accepted.]
[New friend added: Jeo Jolryeoyo]
On his tiny friends list—until now containing only Yoo Kyungseok and a few teammates—Jeo Jolryeoyo’s name was now there.
His heartbeat pounded so loud it filled his ears.
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] Hey
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] You
Ding, ding.
While Yoo Chae sat frozen in disbelief, overwhelmed with emotion, Yu Jihan was already messaging him first.
Licking his dry lips, Yoo Chae placed his pale, shaking hands on the keyboard.
[aaaad1212] Yes
[aaaad1212] Hello
…Was that too stiff?
Maybe he should’ve added a “ㅎㅎ” or a “^_^”?
Before he could ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ decide, Yu Jihan sent another line.
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] Screw hello
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] What the hell are you?

[aaaad1212] Huh?
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] What the hell was that game?
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] I looked at your match history—you’ve got good K/D and win rate.
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] Why’d you play like that this time?
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] Did someone else log in? Did you buy the account?
Yoo Chae never expected this interrogation. Panic set in, and he typed frantically.
[aaaad1212] No, no
[aaaad1212] It’s me, I didn’t sell the account…
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] Then what the hell was that
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] You literally followed me around and died to me—what am I supposed to think about that?
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] You think I let it slide because I’m worse than you?
He noticed everything.
Realizing that Yu Jihan had added him only to scold him, Yoo Chae’s eyes welled up.
[aaaad1212] I’m sorry
[aaaad1212] I didn’t mean to
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] What do you mean you didn’t mean to? If that wasn’t on purpose, then what the hell was it?
[aaaad1212] I’m sorry
Yoo Chae’s shoulders slumped.
He’d never actually seen Yu Jihan angry, but just imagining it was terrifying and heartbreaking.
His mood plummeted, and, as always, self-loathing set in.
I really am a fucking idiot…
He couldn’t believe he’d been so happy just because he’d gotten a friend request from Yu Jihan, when this was how it turned out.
After a long pause, Yu Jihan finally replied.
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] You apologized, so I’ll let it go
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] Just don’t do that again
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] If I’m playing worse than you, just stomp me and flame me
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] Half-assing like that makes me feel like shit
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] ㅇㅋ?
[aaaad1212] Okay
[aaaad1212] I’m sorry
[Jeo Jolryeoyo] Alright then, glhf
And with that, the chat window grayed out—Yu Jihan had removed him from his friends list.
“Haa…”
Yoo Chae covered his eyes with one hand and bowed his head.
It wasn’t even a face-to-face talk—just a message exchange in-game—yet his chest felt like it was collapsing.
He realized again just how much power Yu Jihan had over him.
A long, heavy sigh escaped.
 
****
After that day—after completely getting on Yu Jihan’s bad side—Yoo Chae seriously considered changing his nickname.
Even if Yu Jihan hated him now, that name—aaaad1212—was something Yu Jihan might still remember.
Changing it felt impossible.
But in the end, he didn’t have to decide. When his official player contract went through, the team assigned him a new name.
Guess I don’t have a choice. Maybe it’s for the best.
He abandoned the aaaad1212 tag—the one branded as a toxic player—and started fresh under LVS Sensory.
This time, he’d make sure Yu Jihan remembered him as a skilled pro player.
From what he’d seen, Yu Jihan clearly respected people who took their games seriously.
And now that their tiers were similar, they’d be matching more often.
He was determined to make a good impression—no, to earn it.
From then on, every time he encountered Yu Jihan, Yoo Chae fought with everything he had.
But since they both mained jungle, they were always on opposite sides—never teammates, not once.
Still, Yoo Chae didn’t really mind. As long as they were in the same match, it was enough… though a part of him couldn’t help but wish they’d be on the same team someday.
By day and night, he scrimmed or competed at tournaments; by dawn, he played solo queue, occasionally running into Yu Jihan.
A year passed like that, and through it, Yoo Chae learned bits and pieces about him.
According to Seo Taeyoung, Yu Jihan was smart and academically gifted—attending Korea University, of all places.
Well, he was a year older; it made sense he’d be in college.
So that’s why he barely played during semesters.
Not that Yoo Chae had much free time either.
At twenty, his rookie year, he’d alternated matches with the senior jungler.
But at twenty-one, he became the team’s sole starting jungler.
To make up for his lack of experience, he practiced twice as much as everyone else.
Yoo Chae lived his life from his own seat, Yu Jihan lived his from his—and maybe six or seven times a month, they’d meet as enemies in solo queue.
Whenever his grueling schedule was rewarded with a match alongside Yu Jihan, it felt like a small miracle.
He thought his life had finally stabilized.
He even stopped taking the medication he’d been on since childhood.
But everything ends, and circumstances always change.
When Yoo Chae turned twenty-two, Seo Taeyoung retired from pro play and became a streamer under LVS.
And that’s when a new emotion began tormenting him.
“This kid’s my favorite junior. He’s insanely good at Hiore.
Jihan, say hi to my viewers.”
“Ah… I was wondering why you suddenly called me on Discord.”
A low, smooth voice flowed from Seo Taeyoung’s stream—Yu Jihan’s voice.
He laughed awkwardly and greeted the chat.
“Hello. I’m Taeyoung-hyung’s junior.
Is that good enough? Why are you making me say hi on stream?”
“Everyone else did it too.”
“Word is you turned into a bit of a boomer since you retired.”
Yu Jihan joked with an easy grin, and Seo Taeyoung burst out laughing.
The chat flooded instantly—viewers raving about how good the guy’s voice was, asking if he was a pro player.
“Nah, he’s not a pro,” Seo Taeyoung replied.
“But his tier’s insanely high. You still hit Master these days?”
“Yeah, I grind hard every vacation.”
“Wanna duo on your smurf sometime?”
“Hmm… I heard your rank tanked after you retired.
Not sure your skill level’s up to mine anymore.”
“Oh, really now?”
They bantered so comfortably it was obvious they were close.
The more Yoo Chae watched the two laugh together, the hotter something burned at the back of his throat.
“Fuck.”
He tore off his headset and muttered a curse.
That new emotion gnawing at him—
was jealousy.
Until then, just running into Yu Jihan as an opponent in solo queue had been enough to make him happy.
But after Seo Taeyoung started streaming, after seeing exactly how Yu Jihan spoke, laughed, and joked with someone else—
that happiness turned into something else entirely.
Jealousy spread through him like wildfire.
He was so jealous of Seo Taeyoung, he thought he might go insane.