Chapter 30: Nothing

༺ Nothing ༻I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.

When I entered the class, I saw Taemin oppa, so I thought I’d greet him, but…

“Isn’t she hot?”

As soon as I breathed in to greet him…

His friend, Yoonje oppa, stole the thunder and sat next to him.

Since I just missed my timing, I figured it’d be awkward to butt in, so I sat right behind them, put my bag down, and got ready for class.

“Is it today?”

“Yeah. Today at 8pm”

…Tonight at 8? Wasn’t he going to play with me?

Hearing their conversation made me nervous.

No, it wasn’t like I didn’t trust Taemin oppa, it was just… The woman’s picture on the screen made me feel insecure.

She looked like someone who had thousands of followers.

When a slight hesitation passed by his face as he was contemplating what Yoonje oppa said, I instinctively answered in his stead.

“…O-Oppa is busy today!”

I managed to blurt that out but…

Thanks to that, they turned around to face me.

Taemin oppa specifically, was looking at me with a confused gaze.

W-Why was he looking at me like that?

D-Didn’t we promise to play some matches tonight…?

The brief silence made me feel uneasy, so in my desperation, I added another word in.

“…Right?”

Yoonje oppa looked at Taemin oppa for confirmation.

“Ah, right, I’ve made plans with Doah already.”

“Is there something going on between you guys?”

Seemingly noticing the strange vibe between us, Yoonje oppa let out a smirk.

“Doah.”

His tone was filled with mischief as he called out to me.

“Yes?”

“What are you two going to do?”

“J-Just… P-Play some games together…”

I’ve only ever greeted him before, so this was the first time we’ve had such a long conversation.

“So, how did you seduce him?”

“Sorry?”

“In my whole college life, this is the first time I’ve seen him doing something with a girl.”

Huh? Did that mean, Taemin oppa never did anything with a girl before…?

“Hey. Seo Yoonje. Stop talking nonsense. Anyway, get someone else to go with you.”

Taemin oppa cut off our conversation with a straight face.

“I can’t believe that you’re keeping this kind of thing from your Hyung, Taemin. Man, I’m disappointed in you…”

“Ugh, just shut the fuck up.”

“I thought you lied when you said you were going on a date the other day. Was it Kim Doah you were going with?”

…Taemin oppa went on a date?

But it had been a while since I got rejected…

New information about Taemin oppa kept pouring out each time Yoonje oppa opened his mouth.

“Let’s start the class.”

When the class began along with the mic-tapping sound, Yoonje oppa stopped teasing and questioning us.

With my chin propped on both my hands, I stared blankly at the front.

As I stared at Taemin oppa’s broad shoulders, I was getting even more confused by what Yoonje oppa said.

If what he meant by going on a date was true, there must have been a girl he was interested in before me.

I wasn’t so conceited to believe that I was in his radar or something.

Anyway, with such handsome looks, I guess it wouldn’t be weird if he was close to a lot of girls every day. But still, his feelings toward me should lean more towards sympathy rather than attraction.

In short, Yoonje oppa asked a good question.

It was something I wanted to know the answer too.

[Why did Taemin oppa open his heart to me?]

Like, why did he, someone who was famous for being an iron wall, only show his kindness to me?

Oppa, what exactly were you thinking right now?

* * *

Annoying.

This fucker Yoonje got even more annoying after Doah appeared.

Actually, before Doah chimed in, we were just having our usual banter.

He’d try to invite me like usual, and I’d reject him as usual.

Then he started to spout bullshit in front of Doah.

What the fuck?! Why did you say all those things?!

Seeing how her face darkened with each word he spouted, I had a strong urge to punch this motherfucker.

I was already in deep shit for cursing at her yesterday, now he added more fuel to the fire, it’d just make the situation worse!

Now I couldn’t listen to class properly anymore.

I was too occupied in thinking about how I should explain everything to Doah.

[Actually, Luka-tan was the person I told Yoonje I was seeing.]

Fuck, what should I tell her?

If I were to tell her the truth, that would be dumb, wouldn’t it?

Argh… Damn it.

Seo Yoonje. I’ll never let you ask a favor from me ever again.

Also, I really needed to give him a piece of my mind.

“Let’s wrap up today’s class here. We’ll learn about media literacy next week.”

As soon as the class was over, I quickly packed my stuff and approached Doah.

“Doah.”

“Yes?”

I wanted to tell her to take what Yoonje said with a grain of salt.

Just think of it as a dog barking or some shit.

But, it wasn’t like I could say that here, it’d be too weird.

There were too many eyes here, and Yoonje hadn’t even left the classroom yet.

“Do you want to eat together?”

“…Eat?”

“Yeah. Lunch.”

This was my last class for the day, but since I didn’t know her schedule, I figured that I should invite her to eat first.

“Yes.”

When Doah gave me a nod, we left the media hall and went to the building where the student cafeteria was located.

2 pm.

The cafeteria was quiet since it was already past the peak time when most people flock together.

“What do you want to eat?”

“I…”

Doah, standing in front of the kiosk, pressed the kimchi fried rice.

Since I was too lazy to think, I ended up picking the same thing.

We grabbed our food and sat side by side…

“So you can’t play games with me today?”

While I was busy thinking about what to say, Doah spoke out first.

“No? What are you talking about? Of course I can.”

“Yoonje oppa seems to be really restless.”

“That’s just the kind of person he is. Can’t sit still no matter what, needs to be saying something.”

Yes, my answer sounded ridiculous, but the important thing here was that I needed to reassure her.

“I see. I thought you asked me to eat because you wanted to tell me that we can’t play together tonight.”

“Of course not. I made an appointment with you first, I wouldn’t just ditch you.”

Screw that, I’d give her all the time in the world even if she were to make a last-minute plan with me.

“That’s a relief.”

Doah smiled brightly as if in a good mood.

“Ah. By the way, Oppa. Something strange happened yesterday.”

Something strange that Doah would likely bring up.

Since I could guess what she wanted to say, I unconsciously swallowed my saliva.

“What is it?”

“So, yesterday you gave me your username, right?”

“Yeah.”

“When I played a norms yesterday, I met you. Did you play last night?”

Take a deep breath.

Keep a poker face.

Poker face.

You can do this Han Taemin!

“No. I wasn’t.”

“Really? But that player has the same username as the one you told me.”

“Ah… Maybe it was my friend?”

“Your friend?”

“Yeah. I share that account with my friend.”

The account I made solely for myself suddenly turned into a joint account.

“I see. That makes sense then…”

Doah nodded several times as if she finally understood.

“What’s up? Was there something wrong with him?”

It felt like I was possessed by a criminal in a detective manhwa, trying to act like an innocent person.

“Ah… Well… Is he the type to pick a fight?”

Don’t laugh. Han Taemin.

If you laugh here, you’re fucked.

“He’s got a very short fuse. I’m sharing my account with him because he keeps getting himself banned.”

“Aha.”

Doah mumbled through her tiny mouth as she took a scoop of fried rice.

“Wait… Don’t tell me this bastard got me banned too.”

I pretended to not know anything and checked my inbox.

“The fuck? I got banned.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yeah. Look.”

I held out my phone screen to Doah. 

[Your League of Legends account has been banned.]

“Huh? Then, we can’t play today…?”

“Nah, don’t worry. I have another account.”

Last night, I bought a new account on the internet.

It was a bronze account, so it was perfect to play with her.

“Anyway, your friend really needs to change his gaming habits.” Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NƟvelFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“Which part?”

“Like, he kept on getting into questionable fights and insisted that he was right.”

My brows twitched.

Hang in there, Han Taemin.

This was Doah you were talking about. It was Luka-tan herself.

You know better than taking a hardstuck bronze seriously.

“Hahaha… He’s kind of like that.”

“Also, he didn’t even look at the map and kept on pinging me. How did he expect to win a 2v3?”

Caught up in yesterday’s memories, she ended up berating me.

“…What a noob.”

Her passionate insult nearly made me jump out of my seat.

I had the strong urge to open up the replay and explain how we could actually win that fight.

Like, if I could get some auto attacks in, get my Conqueror stacks and defended the tower, we could’ve won thaaaat!

“What’s wrong, Oppa?”

“Nothing.”

Don’t worry, Luka-tan.

I was actually a total mess inside, but I just laughed it off.

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