As he walked to his room, Ji-min opened her eyes a few seconds later.
She could not seem to fall back asleep anymore.
She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes.
Her gaze drifted toward the sofa.
There, she noticed an arcade stick resting beside her.
She stared at it for a few seconds.
“Wasn’t he only supposed to buy groceries?” she thought to herself.
She wondered why Jin-ho had suddenly bought an arcade stick.
Curious, she leaned forward and tried lifting it with one hand.
“…Why is this so heavy?”
Surprised, she used both hands instead and placed it on her lap.
A moment later, she started pressing the buttons.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Inside his room, Jin-ho could hear the sounds through the still-open bedroom door.
Ji-min continued pressing the buttons with both hands, creating a strange rhythm.
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
Then she started humming.
She was recreating one of her group’s songs, Next Level using the arcade stick buttons as instruments.
As time passed, she switched to another song.
Then another.
And another.
Eventually, Jin-ho returned to the living room.
The moment he walked in, his eyes landed on Ji-min happily playing with his brand-new arcade stick.
He immediately pointed at it.
“Stop that.
You’re going to devalue my brand-new arcade stick.”
He said it jokingly.
“Huh?” Ji-min frowned.
“Don’t you know people would be happy if I touched this?”
She crossed her arms.
“You should be grateful that Karina from aespa is using it.”
Jin-ho scoffed and smiled.
“If it were Yujin or Wonyoung from IVE, maybe I’d feel that way.”
Ji-min immediately glared at him.
“In your dreams.
Good luck with that.”
Then, with an annoyed expression, she carefully placed the arcade stick back down.
“By the way, do you want to eat?
The food’s on the countertop.
I’m sure you know where the utensils are.”
Jin-ho said that as he sat back down on the sofa.
He picked up his arcade stick again, this time intending to open it and check the inside.
Ji-min, hearing there was food, immediately stood up with a smile.
She was starting to feel hungry.
As she walked toward the kitchen, the doorbell suddenly rang.
She stopped and looked at Jin-ho.
“Just go to the kitchen, and don’t come back to the living room until I say so.”
Jin-ho stood up and headed toward the door.
He said it seriously.
If someone found out Karina from aespa was alone in an apartment with a man, he could already imagine the headlines and chaos that would follow.
Ji-min nodded and quietly headed to the kitchen.
She saw two servings of pork cutlet on the counter and took one for herself.
Then she opened a nearby drawer and grabbed utensils.
Back at the door, Jin-ho found a delivery man waiting outside.
Beside him were several large boxes.
His PC setup and streaming equipment had arrived.
Jin-ho thanked the delivery man and brought everything inside.
One by one, he carried the boxes into the living room and placed them there temporarily.
He would move them to his room later.
“The coast is clear,” he called out loudly enough for Ji-min to hear.
A moment later, Ji-min slowly peeked out from the kitchen, making sure.
Only after confirming things were fine did she step out.
She was holding the bowl Jin-ho had bought for her.
The first thing she noticed was the pile of boxes in the living room.
“There’s more???”
She looked completely baffled by the amount of things he had purchased.
“This is the last of it,” Jin-ho replied.
Then he walked toward the kitchen to grab his own food.
Ji-min sat down on the floor and placed her bowl on the coffee table.
As she ate, her eyes wandered toward the boxes.
Curiosity slowly appeared on her face.
“What did he even buy this time?” she wondered.
After that, she continued eating while watching TV.
She grabbed the remote and flipped through channels as she ate.
Soon after, Jin-ho returned with his food and sat beside Ji-min, placing his meal on the coffee table.
He unwrapped it and started eating.
Ji-min, however, kept switching channels until a familiar song came on.
It was her group’s comeback.
A snippet of their music video appeared on the screen.
She paused immediately.
It was not the first time she had seen it, but she still glanced at Jin-ho beside her.
He stopped eating for a moment as he watched, then shifted his gaze toward her.
He noticed the small smile on her face, as if she was quietly satisfied with what she saw.
He rolled his eyes but continued eating while listening.
On screen, her teammates appeared one after another.
Winter, Giselle, and Ningning each had their moments in the video.
When the segment ended and a boy group appeared afterward, Jin-ho immediately lost interest.
“How is it?
Our music video?” Ji-min asked, curious about his reaction.
Jin-ho thought for a moment before answering.
“It’s good.
The music isn’t really my type, but it’s still good.”
Ji-min continued staring at him.
Clearly, she wanted more.
Feeling her gaze, he sighed and continued.
“The visuals are great.
The dance is great.
The editing is great.
Winter is great, Giselle is great, Ningning is great.”
“Yah!
What about me?”
Ji-min smacked his arm lightly.
“Oh, I didn’t notice you there,” he replied while trying not to smile.
“I’ll watch it later to see your parts.”
Ji-min immediately pouted.
Even though she knew he was teasing, she still looked visibly displeased.
Seeing her expression, Jin-ho finally gave up.
“You were great too.
Especially that dance break I saw.”
He said it honestly.
“Happy now?”
Ji-min’s face immediately brightened.
She nodded proudly and puffed out her chest.
Jin-ho simply shook his head and continued eating.
The two chatted while eating, with Ji-min subtly bringing up her comeback again and again.
One of her goals was simple.
She wanted Jin-ho to become a fan of her group.
Unfortunately, Jin-ho pretended not to hear any of it.
After they finished eating, they cleaned up their mess and placed the utensils in the sink.
Ji-min volunteered to wash them, and Jin-ho let her.
Instead, he began moving the boxes into his room one by one.
Carefully.
Very carefully.
When Ji-min finished washing the dishes, she dried her hands with a towel.
Seeing Jin-ho carrying boxes into the bedroom, she walked over to help.
Only one box remained.
Just as Jin-ho was about to grab it, he saw Ji-min already carrying it.
“Put it over there.”
Jin-ho pointed toward a corner of the room.
Ji-min placed it down.
Then, without warning, she collapsed face-first onto his bed.
Meanwhile, Jin-ho started unpacking the computer carefully.
Ji-min watched him set everything up before asking,
“Why did you buy all this stuff?”
She tilted her head.
“Just to play games again?”
Jin-ho continued connecting cables as he replied,
“Yeah.
I’m planning to stream.”
Ji-min blinked.
Then she suddenly sat upright.
“What?
Really?”
“Yeah.”
Jin-ho paused briefly.
“I’m also planning to go pro and enter esports.”
Silence.
Ji-min stared at him.
Not expecting that answer at all.
She stood up and walked over before placing a hand on his forehead.
Jin-ho immediately pulled her hand away.
“I’m being serious this time.”
His expression was unusually firm.
“Did you tell your parents?”
“I…
haven’t told them yet.”
He paused.
“But I’ll tell them eventually.”
“Didn’t your parents call earlier?” Ji-min asked.
Jin-ho looked at her, confused.
“How did you know that?”
“Duh.
The only people who call you are either your parents or me.”
Jin-ho thought about it.
…She was right.
“What suddenly made you decide all this?” Ji-min asked.
Jin-ho looked her then said.
“I just feel like I can succeed in this.”
His voice was calm but firm.
“Then what if you don’t?”
Ji-min asked softly.
Jin-ho smiled.
“I won’t fail.”
The confidence in his voice made Ji-min stare at him for a moment.
Then she sighed in relief.
She could tell he had already made up his mind.
Ji-min smiled warmly.
“Then I’ll be cheering for you.”
She grinned.
“I’ll be your first fan.
Hahaha.”
“Yeah…
thanks.”
Jin-ho scratched his head awkwardly.
He felt embarrassed by her reaction, but grateful at the same time.
Ji-min stayed beside him while he continued setting everything up.
She was there purely for moral support.
He had forgotten to buy a few peripheral devices, but thankfully the store had included some freebies, which came with a mouse and keyboard.
After some time, Jin-ho finally finished setting up the PC.
He pressed the power button.
For a moment, he stared at the screen.
Thankfully, it booted up normally.
He let out a sigh of relief.
Then he sat down and started installing programs like Steam and other applications he would need.
Ji-min stood beside Jin-ho, quietly watching him set things up.
As soon as Steam finished installing, Jin-ho logged into his account and immediately opened his library.
Without hesitation, he clicked on Tekken 7 and started the download.
After that, he leaned back in his chair and stretched.
He could figure out the streaming setup later.
One thing at a time.
“When are you leaving?” Jin-ho asked.
Ji-min had already been there for quite a while.
Ji-min turned toward him and put on a fake sad expression.
“Do you want me to leave that badly?”
Jin-ho looked at her for a second.
“…Not really.”
Ji-min smiled in satisfaction before answering properly.
“I’ll go in a bit.”
Jin-ho nodded.
Then he stood up.
“I’m going to take a shower.”
The meaning behind those words was obvious.
Please leave.
Unfortunately, Ji-min pretended not to understand.
“Let me use the computer.
I’ll just watch some videos.”
Jin-ho raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
“Okay then.
It’s all yours for now.”
With that, he grabbed fresh clothes and headed toward the bathroom.
The moment he entered, Ji-min had already stolen the chair.
The first thing she did was search for pictures of aespa.
After scrolling for a while, she found one she liked and immediately changed Jin-ho’s desktop wallpaper.
Satisfied with her work, she opened YouTube and started watching videos from channels she usually followed.
Meanwhile, Jin-ho had already started showering.
His body was lean and well-built, the result of military training and countless workouts.
Compared to before, he looked more like a model now.
Unlike earlier, he was not in a hurry.
He simply took his time.
Warm water flowed down as he relaxed for the first time that day.
A few minutes later, he finished showering and dried himself with a towel.
As he did, a certain quest suddenly came to mind.
Win any tournament while cosplaying.
Jin-ho stared at the bathroom mirror.
“I could probably pull off a shirtless male character…”
He immediately thought of Tekken characters like Jin and Kazuya.
A few seconds later, he shook his head.
“What am I even thinking…”
He quickly threw the thought away and changed into fresh clothes.
When he stepped out, his hair was still slightly wet.
Immediately, he heard laughter coming from his room.
Ji-min was laughing so hard that she had to hold her stomach.
Curious, Jin-ho walked over and looked at the screen.
Turns out she was only watching variety show highlight clips uploaded to YouTube.
Ji-min noticed him standing behind her and turned around.
“Stop sneaking up on me.”
“I’m not.”
She ignored him and continued watching, giggling every few moments.
Seeing that she was occupied, Jin-ho went back to the living room and grabbed his arcade stick.
Since she had taken over his computer, he decided to spend the time changing the lever of his arcade stick instead.
He carefully opened it and replaced the lever with the one he preferred.
It took a while.
He was still unfamiliar with the process, so he watched tutorial videos on his phone while following along.
Eventually, he finished.
He immediately tested it.
Backdash.
Crouch dash.
Quarter-circle motions.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Almost like muscle memory.
He remembered how inconsistent his movement had been during his earlier matches.
He could not allow that to happen again.
Not if he wanted to go pro.
As he thought about future training plans, Ji-min finally walked out of his room.
“I’m leaving now.”
Jin-ho looked up.
“Is that so?
Goodbye.”
Then he lowered his head again.
Ji-min stared at him.
“Don’t you want to walk me out?”
Jin-ho paused.
“…Sure.
I’ll at least walk you to the door.”
He put down the arcade stick and stood up.
The two walked toward the entrance together.
When they reached the door, both stopped.
Ji-min turned around and suddenly hugged him lightly.
Jin-ho froze in surprise for a moment before quickly relaxing.
“It’s nice seeing you again,” Ji-min said softly.
Jin-ho smiled.
“Same here.
Thanks for picking me up today.”
He lightly patted her back.
The two separated and looked at each other.
Ji-min then put on her disguise.
Mask.
Glasses.
Hat.
Jin-ho opened the door.
She stepped outside and waved goodbye while walking away.
Jin-ho watched her leave until she disappeared from sight.
Only then did he close the door.
A small smile still remained on his face.
After standing there for a moment, he walked back to the living room, picked up the arcade stick from the sofa, then headed back to his room.
The first thing he saw as he entered his room was his desktop wallpaper.
A large picture of aespa filled the screen.
Changed by Ji-min.
Jin-ho stared at it for a few seconds.
He sighed.
But he did not change it.
At least…
not yet.
He sat on the chair, an arcade stick already on his lap and connected to the PC.
Tekken 7 was already installed.
He launched it and immediately went into Practice Mode.
He selected Jin as his character and began his training, this time aiming to fully master him.
He opened the command list and started going through it.
He did not intend to memorize everything.
Only the tools that mattered in real situations, with situational awareness for the rest.
Memorizing the entire movelist would take too long, but his trait Fast Learner reduced that burden significantly.
He started with the basics.
Reading move properties.
Checking frame data.
Testing each move one by one.
He would input a move, then immediately study its data and behavior.
He sat in silence, repeating the process, fully focused on learning the character step by step.
After a while, he stopped reviewing and shifted into drills.
Movement first.
Then combos.
Then spacing.
He repeated it again and again, trying to turn everything into instinct.
Almost an hour passed before he finally felt satisfied.
He exited Practice Mode and queued for ranked matches.
The climb to the top started now.
He did not change Jin’s default costume.
He preferred it that way.
While waiting in the lobby, he kept warming up.
Wave dashes into electric.
Wave dash cancels into block.
Wave dash into while standing punish.
Clean repetitions, over and over.
He positioned himself on the right side of the screen, where Mishima movement felt more natural to him.
After a short wait, he found an opponent and accepted.
The opponent was low rank, using Julia.
The match was straightforward.
Jin-ho applied pressure, forced mistakes, and quickly adapted to habits.
Most matches after that followed the same pattern.
He climbed steadily through the ranks.
However, one weakness became more obvious the longer he played.
Throw breaks.
He could not consistently react or input the correct break.
This became especially clear against characters like King, Armor King, and Marduk, who had strong throw-heavy pressure.
King was the worst for him.
He got chain-thrown without fully understanding the breaks.
“Tsk.”
Jin-ho clicked his tongue in frustration after being thrown three times in a row.
He still won the match, but he was not satisfied.
He continued playing for hours.
His training was paying off, but only gradually.
His movement had become more stable.
His wave dashes were sharper, but sometimes too aggressive, causing him to get clipped or punished by hopkicks.
Eventually, he reached promotion matches for Tekken God rank.
His opponent was Kazuya Mishima.
At this level, nothing came easy anymore.
Knowledge, adaptation, and precision all mattered.
One mistake could decide the match.
The match was tied 2–2.
One round would decide promotion.
Jin-ho locked in.
His hands moved rapidly.
Wave dash pressure.
Backdash spacing.
Feints and timing control.
The final round was tense.
A single clean duck from Jin-ho changed everything.
He punished immediately with a while standing 2, launching Kazuya into the air.
The combo carried all the way to the wall.
Kazuya hit the wall with only a sliver of health remaining.
Jin-ho finished it with a clean wall ender.
Down Back 2, 1 into Down Forward 2.
“YES!”
He clapped once and let out a short exhale as the screen confirmed it.
Promotion achieved.
Tekken God.
He leaned back in his chair, relief finally setting in.
Took a quick photo of the screen showing his new rank.
Then he stopped playing.
He stood up, stretched his back, and yawned, feeling the weight of the long session finally catching up to him.
Despite that, Jin-ho did not exit the game.
Instead, he opened his replays to review where he had made mistakes.
One by one, the matches played on the screen as he carefully analyzed them, searching for ways to improve.
Nearly an hour passed with him simply watching and studying.
It was almost midnight now.
More time had passed than expected, but that did not bother him.
Instead, he alt-tabbed and opened YouTube.
Various pro player videos filled the screen.
Jin-ho carefully observed them, noticing how their punish game was top notch, their neutral nearly flawless, and their throw breaks almost perfect.
As he watched, thoughts began forming in his mind.
He started building mental profiles of future opponents, imagining their habits, tendencies, and playstyles.
Still, relying completely on that would be dangerous.
Top players adapted quickly.
They changed rhythm, habits, and strategies constantly.
Because of that, the pace of a match could shift entirely depending on the character or matchup.
By now, it was well past midnight.
Jin-ho finally decided to stop.
Rest was still important.
The PC was shut down before he walked toward his bed.
Pulling the blanket over himself, sleep soon followed.
Night quietly turned into day.
Unexpectedly, he ended up sleeping much longer than expected.
By the time his eyes opened again, it was already close to lunchtime.
The first thing Jin-ho did was check his phone.
A few messages had arrived.
Ji-min.
His parents.
Just before he could open them…
Ding.
The doorbell suddenly rang.
Jin-ho frowned slightly.
Who could it be?
(I guessed)