“Then I’m counting on you to watch the shop.”
“Yep.”
The boss grabbed her handbag, left that cheerful reminder behind, and headed out of the café. Not long after she left, the afternoon part-timers started arriving one by one, and the café officially shifted into full business mode.
Just as I’d expected, the regular customer the boss mentioned showed up at his usual time.
The moment the man stepped through the café door, everyone inside turned to look.
‘Yeah... figures. This is definitely why there are way more female customers around this time.’
The guy was ridiculously popular.
I let out an inward laugh while he set his bag down at an empty seat and walked up to the counter.
“Ready to order?”
“Yes. Um...”
I waited for him to continue while taking a closer look.
For some reason, he looked more tired than usual today.
His eyes even seemed a little bloodshot.
Did he stay up gaming until dawn too, like me?
After staring at the menu for a moment, he finally spoke.
“One iced Americano and a slice of red velvet cake, please.”
“I’ll have that ready in a moment.”
Coffee and cake again.
Judging by how he always left the cake unfinished, he probably didn’t actually like sweets that much.
‘Not that the boss seems to think so.’
That reminded me of the cookies she wanted me to give him.
One was loaded with chocolate chips, and the other had a marshmallow in the center.
Honestly, I doubted the guy would even eat them.
I quickly made the Americano, took the cake from the display case, and set both on a tray.
Last came the cookies the boss had specifically asked for.
Once everything was ready, I rang the pager.
The man, who had been hard at work on his laptop, returned to the counter with the vibrating pager in hand.
He gave it back and reached for the tray—then paused the moment he spotted the cookies.
“What are these?”
“On the house.”
The expression on his face turned strangely complicated.
He looked between me and the cookies, then suddenly smiled like something out of a painting.
“Ah, thank you.”
“...”
What the hell was that fake-ass reaction?
It couldn’t just be because the cookies looked sweet.
The wrapper had a sticker over it, so there was no way he could even tell what kind they were from the outside.
Before my confused brain could even ask what that weird reaction was about, he took the tray and walked back to his seat.
I narrowed my eyes at his retreating back.
‘Don’t tell me... he thinks I’m the one who gave him the free cookies?’
If that was the case, I was the one getting screwed over here.
Like I’d ever personally go out of my way to give some guy free cookies.
Boss, I think your random cookie service might’ve just made the regular misunderstand things for no reason.
This feels weird.
I sighed inwardly and took the next customer’s order.
***
[Guild] IOnlyHave6000Won: Sunday u on rn?
[Guild] Ryupe: pretty sure he was on earlier
[Guild] Ryupe: afk maybe?
[Guild] TurnTheLightsOn: why’s it so quiet today tho
[Guild] rxrx78: so it’s not just me lol
[Guild] rxrx78: feels... weirdly quiet...
[Guild] GoodWeather: Ilhwiilbi probably hasn’t logged in yet
[Guild] rxrx78: ohhh!
I could see the guild chat looking for me, but I deliberately pretended to be AFK.
Instead, I focused on the pet in front of me.
Mreeeow.
The tuxedo cat with the bow tie rubbed its back against the floor, shamelessly acting cute.
It was the automatic affection animation pets did when left summoned and idle for a certain amount of time.
‘It’s still weird...’
Resting my chin on one hand, I stared at the cat and thought of Ilhwiilbi.
No—the similarities between all the irritating shit Heunjeok had done and the way Ilhwiilbi acted were getting way too obvious.
There had to be a reason.
For example...
Just like the guild said, maybe Ilhwiilbi really was Heunjeok’s alt.
‘Come to think of it, Ilhwiilbi said something suspicious before too.’
Something like:
his current character was his main, but this wasn’t his first time playing Arc Road.
At the time, I’d assumed he was just a returning player who came back after quitting years ago.
But now that I looked at it again, it lined up a little too neatly with Heunjeok’s situation.
Heunjeok had deleted the character he painstakingly raised and even withdrawn the account.
So if he came back a month later...
Of course he would’ve made a new account.
Which meant Ilhwiilbi was basically his main now.
‘So it was all just wordplay.’
I shouldn’t have brushed it off so easily.
I should’ve pressed harder.
Mrow.
The cat let out a high cry that almost sounded like it was mocking me.
This is so damn annoying.
[Server] Ilhwiilbi: where r u? 2 min
Right then, a megaphone message popped up.
Ilhwiilbi had logged in and was apparently looking for me.
Wow.
Now he was even using initials-only shorthand?
Guess he was too lazy to type properly.
[Server] TodayIsSunday: far north end of Arden
Didn’t matter.
I had things to ask Ilhwiilbi today anyway.
The second I replied with one of my remaining megaphones, the guild chat exploded.
[Guild] IOnlyHave6000Won: excuse me Sunday;;
[Guild] IOnlyHave6000Won: weren’t you AFK?
[Guild] rxrx78: wait what fr
[Guild] TurnTheLightsOn: so now...
[Guild] TurnTheLightsOn: you’re only playing with Ilhwiilbi now?
[Guild] Astaroth: wow kinda messed up
[Guild] IOnlyHave6000Won: I’ve been looking for you this whole time!!
[Guild] sky004: guess love really conquers all
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: -_-
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: it’s important
[Guild] Maha: important = meeting Ilhwiilbi alone lol
[Guild] Yeoyeorang: lmaoooooooo
[Guild] GoodWeather: kyyaaa~~~
[Guild] TurnTheLightsOn: no but say it clearly
[Guild] TurnTheLightsOn: are you seriously dating Ilhwiilbi or what!
[Guild] MovieIsSoSo: what is this are you marrying Ilhwiilbi or what!!
[Guild] GoodWeather: congrats in advance~
[Guild] TodayIsSunday: **
Fucking lunatics...
Seriously, not a single peaceful day.
A headache throbbed behind my eyes, and while I pressed at my forehead, Ilhwiilbi finally came riding over on horseback.
So after running around on foot every time, he finally bought a mount.
[All] Ilhwiilbi: Oil hiii hiii~
Why did this bastard sound so happy again?
[All] TodayIsSunday: bought a mount?
[All] Ilhwiilbi: oh this?
[All] Ilhwiilbi: got it from clearing a quest
Ah, right.
I had heard the early quests got reworked.
Makes sense.
The map was huge, so giving newbies at least a horse or two early on was probably better for everyone.
Still, this worked out perfectly.
I deliberately pointed at the cat I had summoned.
[All] TodayIsSunday: hey
[All] TodayIsSunday: what do you think of this cat?
[All] Ilhwiilbi: ??
This was the event reward cat I’d found with Heunjeok.
The only one on this entire server.
If Ilhwiilbi really was Heunjeok, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize it.
At my question, Ilhwiilbi seemed unusually flustered before answering carefully.
[All] Ilhwiilbi: um
[All] Ilhwiilbi: it’s cute?
[All] TodayIsSunday: not that kind of opinion;
[All] TodayIsSunday: look at the pet’s name
[All] Ilhwiilbi: ???
[All] Ilhwiilbi: doesn’t really match how cute it looks, kinda intense name tho?
[All] TodayIsSunday: no;
I lowered my gaze to the pet busily acting cute in front of my character.
Its name was The Obstacle In My Life.
An intense name?
If I shortened it to Dori, it was honestly kind of adorable.
But that wasn’t the point.
[All] TodayIsSunday: got anything to say to me?
[All] TodayIsSunday: seriously your last chance
[All] Ilhwiilbi: d-damn
When I asked again, this time with a clear warning, Ilhwiilbi started circling around me and Dori awkwardly.
Apparently he thought I’d hidden something nearby and was trying to find it.
Like I’d hidden anything.
After finding absolutely nothing, he hesitated for a long while before typing again.
[All] Ilhwiilbi: Oil
[All] Ilhwiilbi: is there something you want from me?
[All] TodayIsSunday: yeah
Finally caught on.
At least he wasn’t completely stupid.
I was just about to bring up Heunjeok with a triumphant smile when—
[All] Ilhwiilbi: ahhhhh lol
[All] Ilhwiilbi: Oil you’ve got a surprisingly cute side huh?
[All] Ilhwiilbi: lmaoooooooooooo
[All] TodayIsSunday: ?
[All] TodayIsSunday: what?
[All] Ilhwiilbi: you called me here to show off the new pet right?
[All] Ilhwiilbi: should’ve just said that earlier ㅎㅅㅎ
[All] Ilhwiilbi: the cat’s cute >.<~
“......”
The moment I read that, the temperature in my eyes dropped to ice.
As soon as I silently equipped my weapon, Ilhwiilbi panicked and hurriedly typed.
[All] Ilhwiilbi: wait wait hold on
[All] Ilhwiilbi: if it’s not that then I seriously have no idea either
[All] Ilhwiilbi: I’m not messing with you 😭😭
[All] TodayIsSunday: the fact you even made that fucked-up misunderstanding is already pissing me off
[All] Ilhwiilbi: you’re hiding in some corner with only the pet summoned
[All] Ilhwiilbi: how am I supposed to know anything from that
[All] TodayIsSunday: you really don’t recognize this cat?
[All] TodayIsSunday: even after seeing this you have nothing to say to me???
[All] Ilhwiilbi: then what the hell even is it...
Since I kept pressing him without explaining, even Ilhwiilbi was finally getting irritated.
For the first time, his tone turned sharp.