It had been over a month since Heunjeok suddenly deleted his account and disappeared. I’d been waiting for him to come back the whole time.
Of course I did. The guy I fought with every single day vanished overnight—how was I supposed to just brush that off? Yeah, we fought on sight, but that was still interaction. And I couldn’t deny that ever since Heunjeok showed up, the past year of my game life had been ridiculously fun.
Which only made this whole situation more irritating and uncomfortable.
The guy I used to fight was gone, and now impostors kept popping up in his place. Fine, Ilhwiilbi was my own misunderstanding—but that ‘heunJeok’ bastard? Nothing more, nothing less than a fake.
‘Even dragging the vice master into it and running a full-on scam. What a joke.’
The more I thought about it, the more pissed off I got. What kind of vice master pulls something like that? Why go around making noise that Heunjeok’s back when he’s not—just to prop up a dying guild?
If a guild was doomed without Heunjeok, it deserved to crash and burn. My temper flared, and the way I scrubbed the glass grew rougher and rougher.
‘With all this going on… where the hell is that idiot even now?’
Did he even know his vice master stabbed him in the back and put up a fake in his place? Or… had he really quit Arc Road?
Sure, people quit games all the time when they get bored or move on—but then at least say something before disappearing. Why the hell did he have to delete his account right after losing to me and vanish? Left a bad taste in my mouth.
“Uh… Haejun? You’re not trying to break the glass, are you?”
The owner, who’d been glancing over at me while I aggressively washed dishes, finally spoke up, sounding concerned. I snapped out of it, set the clean glass onto the rack, and gave an awkward smile.
“Sorry. I was thinking about something else.”
“As long as it didn’t break.”
Thankfully, she didn’t seem to think much of it.
I let out a quiet sigh, turned off the water, and dried my hands. I’d barely slept because I was so worked up, and now I was like this at work too. I needed to calm down.
Ding.
Right on cue, the bell rang and a new customer walked in.
There hadn’t been many customers today, so I’d had way too much time to overthink. The presence of a customer was actually kind of welcome. I quickly stepped out from the kitchen and stood at the counter—
—and froze, still smiling.
“Hello.”
“……”
The regular customer smiled back at me.
He’d asked for my phone number just yesterday and got rejected, and here he was again like nothing happened. Shameless didn’t even begin to cover it. Not only was he good-looking, his skin was thick too.
“Welcome. Would you like to order?”
“I’ll have an iced Americano, and… hm.”
He paused, then met my eyes.
“A peach iced tea.”
Not just coffee, but a drink too? No cake today?
I was curious, but I didn’t feel like making small talk, so I silently tapped away at the POS. After he paid by card, I handed him the pager. As he took it, he spoke again.
“By the way, Do Haejun.”
“Yes?”
Since when were we on a first-name basis? We weren’t friends. But he was a regular, so I couldn’t exactly snap at him.
“Are you busy right now?”
Busy? Instinctively sensing something ominous, I answered firmly.
“I am.”
“Really? There’s not a single customer in the store.”
“There were a lot earlier. I’ve got dishes piled up and cleaning to do.”
“Do you have to do all that right now?”
“…Why?”
“If it’s okay, I was hoping you could spare me a bit of time.”
“……”
This guy had to be insane. I stared at him with a flat, deadpan look, and he tilted his head slightly, smiling.
“Just to be clear, I’m not gay.”
“I know.”
“You look like you’re doubting it again.”
He wasn’t wrong, but honestly, when a guy keeps asking for your number and wants you to spend time with him, what else am I supposed to think?
Anyway, I had zero interest in talking to him, so I was about to refuse again when—
“Haejun, Haejun.”
The owner peeked out from the kitchen and beckoned me over. I walked up to her, confused, and she lowered her voice.
“Just go.”
“…What?”
“He keeps coming back, doesn’t he? Wouldn’t it be easier to properly sit down once and turn him down clearly?”
Ah. So she’d completely misunderstood—thought he was into me and hitting on me. Not that I cared what she thought, but her suggestion wasn’t bad.
Yeah. Better to hear him out and reject him properly than keep dealing with this.
After a moment’s thought, I made my decision and asked for permission.
“Then I’ll step out for about ten minutes. Sorry.”
“You’ve got it rough.”
Guess I should be thankful she was easygoing. Letting out a sigh, I headed to the roaster first. Might as well make his drink.
***
I placed the iced Americano and peach iced tea he ordered onto a tray and headed to his table.
He wasn’t using a laptop today. Sitting by the window, he was staring outside when he noticed me approaching and looked up.
“Your coffee and drink.”
I set the tray down a bit more roughly than necessary and sat across from him. He blinked, glancing between me and the table, then smiled.
“So you’re going to talk to me?”
“This is a one-time thing. Say whatever you need to say.”
What I really wanted to say was “Get lost,” but he was still a customer.
He picked up the coffee and placed it in front of himself, then slid the peach iced tea toward me.
“That’s for you, Do Haejun. You seemed to prefer tea over coffee yesterday.”
“You got my name yesterday too?”
“That’s right. I was going to explain that, but you figured it out.”
Figures. I took a sip of the peach iced tea. I was annoyed at him, but the drink didn’t do anything wrong. Besides, I made it myself.
“So, what do you want?”
“Hmm… not sure where to start. Maybe I should introduce myself first? It’s only fair since I know your name.”
“Go ahead.”
Despite my obvious lack of interest, he spoke calmly.
“My name is Seo Jeongyeon. Call me whatever’s comfortable.”
Like I’d ever call him anything.
“You probably guessed, but yesterday I overheard you talking with someone. Not on purpose—it was just close enough that I couldn’t help it.”
That much I understood. He’d been seated there first, and Sohee and I took the seats behind him.
“So, to get straight to the point… Do Haejun.”
“Yes.”
“You play Arc Road, right?”
“…What?”
I reacted a beat late, startled.
Wait—did I hear that right? I’d been half-listening, so I wasn’t sure.
“You’re the guild master of Yoil?”
“Why are you asking—”
“And your nickname is ‘TodayIsSunday’?”
“…Hold on.”
Even in my confusion, something felt off.
‘When I was talking to Sohee yesterday… did I ever mention my nickname? I only said the guild name, didn’t I?’
A cold chill spread through my chest, goosebumps prickling across my skin.
Don’t tell me—
“Hmm.”
Watching my reaction, Seo Jeongyeon crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly. His smooth black hair swayed softly with the movement.
“Guess I’m right. It didn’t feel real, so I wasn’t sure myself.”
“You called me over just to say you know what game I play and my nickname?”
“That’s part of it. But there’s something else too. More like—it came up yesterday.”
Something else? No way this wasn’t related to Arc Road. I frowned, unable to read his intentions.
“What is it?”
“Didn’t you get close to a newbie player recently?”
“…So what if I did?”
“I’m that player. Ilhwiilbi.”
“……”
Leaving me frozen in shock, he curved his eyes into a long smile.
“And I’m Heunjeok too.”
I stared at his smiling face, lips pressed shut. The words echoed in my ears.
I’m Heunjeok… Heunjeok… Heunjeok…
‘This guy… is Heunjeok?’
And Ilhwiilbi too?
The sheer absurdity of it all made my brain feel like it had rusted over.
This made no sense. How could the regular customer at the café I worked at be Heunjeok—and somehow overhear me talking about the game and—
“……”
Inside my cold chest, something hot began to boil violently. My clenched fist turned pale, trembling.
“You—”
“I know, it’s shocking. I felt the same. I wanted to explain it slowly, but after yesterday’s impostor—ugh!”
“You son of a—!”
The anger crashing over me like a tidal wave finally snapped whatever restraint I had left. I grabbed Seo Jeongyeon by the collar.
Clatter—!
The table and the glasses between us rattled violently.