NOVEL NEXT chapter 21
Even though I clearly wasn’t moving at the same speed emotionally, Shin Heejae got even more persistent about trying to meet up after the siege.
“You said you live in XX City, right, noona?”
P-Sesam: yeah
“Perfect.”
P-Sesam: ?
“It’s exactly one hour from my house by car.”
P-Sesam: lol I just moved to Hawaii
“That’s our honeymoon destination.”
P-Sesam: please shut up
And honestly, I didn’t even know what I was doing anymore. Originally, I just planned to take the staff from Shin Heejae and disappear.
But… even after that beautiful staff landed in my hands, I kept logging in every day. And even though I kept mocking Shin Heejae’s lame flirting, I still stuck around and played with him.
“Did I seriously get attached to this bastard?”
Just asking myself that pissed me off. Because I couldn’t deny it outright. At this point, my self-loathing was worse than my annoyance at Shin Heejae.
He probably hadn’t asked for the staff back because he trusted me.
And even though betraying that trust should’ve been the logical next step, I still logged in every day just to hang out with him. The other guild members already assumed we were doing some kind of online relationship, and I couldn’t even bring myself to deny it. That’s how stuck in limbo things had gotten.
It felt like being trapped—unable to do this or that. Honestly, I was stressed and starting to question what the hell I was even doing…
“You’re not, like… anti-marriage, right, noona?”
P-Sesam: I’m anti-marriage with Shin Heejae
“Aww, why not?”
P-Sesam: not into younger guys
“Well, don’t come crying to me later, Seyoung.”
P-Sesam: what the hell are you on about
“A noona I know said it. The older you get, the more you start liking younger guys.”
P-Sesam: then go date that noona lol
“Wait… are you jealous?”
P-Sesam: lol? can you not read?
“Aww, why won’t you just say it. I was totally saying it on purpose.”
P-Sesam: lololololololololol
“Oh no, was it that obvious? Tch.”
“Freakin’ lunatic…”
It was always like this.
Shin Heejae was creepy, but also hilarious. I mean, honestly, I couldn’t even stop myself from laughing sometimes...
But maybe that’s the problem. If he were just a little less funny, I could’ve ghosted him right away. But he was... entertaining, I guess. Even when I berated him, I found myself wondering what dumb thing he’d say next.
“What the hell is wrong with me, seriously…”
I snapped back to my senses.
P-Sesam: I told you I’d never date you
I forced myself to say it dead serious, but...
“I just took a screenshot.”
P-Sesam: of what?
“For when we get married. I’m gonna show it to you.”
Shin Heejae didn’t even blink. His absolute confidence was so infuriating it made my blood boil.
“Seriously, should I just meet up with him? I only held back ‘cause I thought he’d jump off a building if he found out I’m a guy, but this bastard...”
Muttering to myself, I found myself imagining what it’d be like if I did meet Shin Heejae. I pictured his expression when he saw me.
Thinking of that pretty-boy face of his twisting in shock... honestly didn’t feel that great. It wasn’t satisfying. And more than anything, I doubted it would end with just a facial expression.
He’d probably throw at least two punches…
Also, based on the photo, Heejae looked bigger than me.
P-Sesam: hey
P-Sesam: are you good at fighting? lol
P-Heejae: ㅇ_ㅇ?
P-Heejae: yeah lol
P-Heejae: I’m the #1 in Arcadia ㅇ.ㅇv
P-Sesam: not in-game, dumbass. I mean real fighting
P-Heejae: to be the #1 in Arcadia… you have to give up many things… ㅇ_ㅇ
P-Sesam: lol
I cracked a little at his loser-ass answer, then immediately slapped myself across the face. My facial muscles had gone soft lately—responding to nonsense like this.
Still… somehow, his answer gave me a bit of courage. I decided to ask what I really wanted to know, pretending it was just a joke.
P-Sesam: hey
P-Sesam: what if
P-Sesam: someone you thought was a girl turned out to be a guy
P-Heejae: ? ㅇ_ㅇ
P-Sesam: how would you feel about that
P-Heejae: what do you mean ㅇ.ㅇ
But I wasn’t ready to explain everything to Shin Heejae just yet. I stumbled for a while, then managed to improvise a believable story.
P-Sesam: like... I got catfished by a netkama once
P-Heejae: a netkama?
P-Sesam: yeah…
P-Sesam: thought it was a girl…
P-Sesam: turned out to be a dude...
It was a solid cover story—until Shin Heejae suddenly turned on his mic and asked me:
“So is that why you asked if I’m good at fighting?”
P-Sesam: what?
“To beat him up?”
“NO, YOU CRAZY ASSHOLE!”
I shot back, completely deadpan.
P-Sesam: what the hell are you talking about
P-Sesam: why would I beat someone up
“Well, I mean, pretending to be a girl? That’s freakin’ perverted, isn’t it?”
“……”
“Noona, wait... you’re not saying that’s why you won’t meet me, right?”
I sat there stunned as Shin Heejae raged at a completely imaginary netkama. And somehow, I started to feel really fucking awful.
Perverted bastard? I mean, it’s not like I wanted to pretend to be a girl. He’s the one who kept calling me noona and following me around...
I was stewing in my indignation, mumbling defensively to no one, and then—of course—Shin Heejae kept going without a clue. Now he was saying he’d even show me his ID card or whatever… and then added, with a very weird tone:
“Noona. I can verify anything. Honestly... if you wanted… I could show you everything.”
P-Sesam: ?
I paused, trying to process what he meant. And then, all at once, rage boiled over.
P-Sesam: if you send me a dick pic I swear to god I’ll report you
P-Heejae: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
P-Sesam: are you actually mentally ill?
P-Sesam: you fucking freak
Even as I spammed curses at him, that idiot kept laughing like a maniac through his mic.
He kept talking, voice full of amusement, totally ignoring my fury.
“Geez... what kind of imagination are you running with, noona?”
P-Sesam: disgusting
“Noona. I didn’t even say anything, though.”
“You’re the one who misunderstood me first.”
P-Sesam: shut up
“I just meant like… my face or something… sigh.”
And then he burst out laughing again like it was the funniest thing in the world. He started typing rapidly into chat.
P-Heejae: Seyoung, I’m big ㅎ
P-Heejae: in height hehe
P-Sesam: blocked.
P-Heejae: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
P-Heejae: ㅇ.ㅇ lol
P-Heejae: what, can’t even say something’s big when it is…
That’s when I realized this bastard was trying to slide into full-on sex jokes with me. And I immediately made up my mind—I was going to destroy him.
Like hell I was gonna put up with dick jokes just to play this game.
P-Sesam: lol guys who say they’re big are never big
P-Heejae: see? you should’ve met me first, Seyoungㅎ
P-Sesam: go die, stop talking shit
P-Heejae: I finally figured out why you’re always mad...
P-Heejae: you’ve been dating small guys, huh noonaㅎㅎ
P-Sesam: you’re probably the smallest of them all, tbh lol
P-Heejae: hmm lolololololol
Heejae cackled like an idiot and that was the end of the conversation—but I felt ten times filthier than usual.
“Shin Heejae... fuck. It’s just bluster, right?”
Unable to take it anymore, I blocked his character. Then I teleported to another town, but of course, Shin Heejae followed and turned on his mic again.
“What’s with the block?”
“Die. You’re officially on death row now for what you said today, asshole.”
“Hmph. But noona, aren’t you gonna tell me the rest of the netkama story?”
“……”
“I’m nothing like that pervy freak, okay?”
P-Sesam: you just spent ten minutes bragging about your dick, and I’m the pervert?
I meant it as a hard stop, but Heejae just snickered and said:
“‘Bragging’ sounds so naughty...”
“This bastard seriously has some kind of sex addiction…”
At that point, I was sure he was mentally ill and logged out. If I stayed in the call any longer, he’d probably start telling me things I really didn’t want to know.
But the moment I quit both Discord and the game, Shin Heejae immediately tried to call me. I didn’t pick up—I just switched my phone to Do Not Disturb mode.
When the call was auto-declined, he started whining in messenger:
Heejae
Noona
Seyoung ㅇ.ㅇ
LOLOLOLOL come back
I won’t do it again
Heejae
But wait, you started the dirty talk first, noona ㅇ_ㅇ...
I was going to ignore it, but that guilt-shifting bullshit couldn’t be let go unanswered.
Stop talking shit lol. You’re the one whose brain’s always in the gutter, that’s why it sounded dirty.
Heejae
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
true
Before I could even curse him out further, Shin Heejae agreed and I lost all motivation to keep arguing. Unsurprisingly, Shin Heejae was just a degenerate with antisocial tendencies. There was no way a normal person like me could win against someone like that.
“God, this is so fucking gross.”
When he used to call me noona, it didn’t mean much. But after this conversation, I had the sinking realization that this bastard might’ve actually been getting off on me… like, seriously—what if he was using that hand pic I sent?
“…If this bastard finds out I’m a guy, he’s definitely jumping off a roof.”
I tried to laugh it off, but the tension in my brow wouldn’t ease.