Chapter 139

The thought that Kwon Mieon had kept looking for him all that time, while Yeonhoo himself remembered nothing, left him with a strange feeling.

It felt as though the only way to settle whatever was churning inside him was to see Kwon’s face right now. He tried to call a taxi, but—

No. I can’t wait. I’ll just flag one down.

It would take about five minutes for the taxi he’d called to reach him, and even that felt too long. Wanting to see Kwon Mieon even a minute— even a second—sooner, Mo Yeonhoo hurried toward the road and stuck out his hand.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing here?”

Park Taekyun appeared.

“You scared the shit out of me, running off like that. What are you doing out here? You weren’t even answering your phone!”

Apparently he’d gone searching for Yeonhoo after he abruptly vanished from sight. Taekyun was approaching with a startled look on his face.

“...Oh. Sorry.”

Only then did Yeonhoo realize that he’d completely forgotten about everyone else and simply bolted. When he apologized, Taekyun waved it off and came to stand beside him.

“You trying to catch a cab? What happened? Why do you look like that? I’m really sorry, but I can’t stay with you. My family just called me, so...”

“Taekyun. There’s something I want to ask you.”

“What? What is it?”

Yeonhoo stared at him for a moment before asking,

“What does it mean when you desperately want to see someone? Like, it feels as if something terrible will happen if you don’t see their face right this second, and all you can think about is finding some way to get to them.”

“What the hell are you suddenly talking about...?”

“I mean...”

He elaborated for Taekyun, who was staring at him in confusion.

“Someone kept looking for me, but I didn’t know about it. And now that I found out, I want to see him so badly. What is this?”

“What the hell are you even asking me? You know that better than anyone.”

“I do?”

“That’s exactly what you’re like when you have a crush. Don’t you remember the countless people you’ve had crushes on?”

Taekyun answered as though this should have been painfully obvious, but Yeonhoo looked as if he’d just heard something bizarre.

“How many times have you told me you were dying to see someone just from thinking about them?”

Taekyun looked utterly unfazed, as if he’d heard this same story a thousand times before. His expression practically screamed, Here we go again.

“But I’ve never... I’ve never felt it this strongly before. This is different. I’ve never felt like something would go horribly wrong if I didn’t see someone right away...”

“So how is that any different from when you have a crush?”

“But... he’s someone I can’t feel that way about.”

This time, however, Yeonhoo genuinely seemed aggrieved.

“Someone you can’t feel that way about?”

“If you really want to put it that way, he’s someone I can’t like.”

Yeonhoo said it firmly.

“Someone you can’t like...”

Taekyun’s expression changed.

“Hm...”

He rubbed his chin, studying Yeonhoo.

To be fair, Yeonhoo was right about one thing. This was different from usual.

He’d had countless crushes before. Yet throughout all of them, Taekyun had never once seen him this anxious.

Yeonhoo chased after love almost compulsively, as if he were addicted to the state of having an unrequited crush, but he’d never looked this desperate to see the other person immediately.

Which made Taekyun’s conclusion easy.

“Then I guess you really, really like this one.”

He said it with perfect lightness.

“And what do you mean, someone you can’t like? You’re the one who always says it. Love isn’t a crime.”

He’d simply thrown Yeonhoo’s own favorite saying back at him.

And with that single sentence, it felt as though the dam Yeonhoo had desperately built around his emotions collapsed.

It wasn’t Kwon Mieon phobia.

The line he’d believed he could never cross simply because the other person was a man began to wash away beneath the flood.

I was interested in him.

Whether this was love, whether he could actually say he liked Kwon—he still didn’t know.

But he knew enough to feel happy after learning that Kwon had spent all that time searching for him.

I want to see him right now and find out.

Somehow, Yeonhoo felt that if he saw Kwon, he would finally understand exactly what he was feeling.

“...Taxi! Over here! Taxi!”

As luck would have it, an empty taxi happened to pass by, and he managed to flag it down.

“I got one. I have to go. Taekyun, thanks!”

“Hey, wait... Call me, asshole. Today was seriously fucking exhausting, so you’re buying the drinks next time.”

“Of course! Thanks! Seriously!!”

Yeonhoo looked so frantic as he abruptly abandoned him and climbed into the taxi that the words Taekyun had been about to say simply retreated back down his throat.

“Mo Yeonhoo! Get home safe!”

“I’ll call you! Sorry!”

Taekyun watched the back of Yeonhoo’s round head disappear after he rolled down the window to wave goodbye.

“Unbelievable...”

Then he let out a disbelieving laugh.

He wasn’t particularly angry.

Because he had never seen that love-crazed bastard in such a hurry over anyone before.

Somehow, Taekyun had a feeling they were going to have a lot to talk about the next time they met.

“Where to?”

Yeonhoo had been about to give Kwon Mieon’s address when he hesitated.

Wait. Don’t I look like absolute shit right now?

Looking himself over, he realized he was a complete mess after his scuffle with Seunghwan Lee.

He wanted to clean himself up a little before going...

“Sir? Where are we headed?”

“Ah! Gallery Infinity in Yongsan District, please.”

“Sure, sure. Off we go.”

The taxi pulled away.

As Yeonhoo watched the scenery rapidly changing beyond the window, the sheer strangeness of the situation suddenly struck him.

He was going to see Kwon Mieon, yet here he was worrying about his appearance and wanting to dress up for him.

And there was that ticklish feeling around his heart, too.

He still hadn’t given this feeling a proper name, but...

Kwon Mieon.

One thing was certain.

He wanted to see him right now.

******

Traffic must have been light, because Yeonhoo reached home in no time. First, he decided, he was going to shower. He would wash up properly, change into clean clothes, and then go.

First, I’m going to apologize.

He had so much he wanted to say to Kwon Mieon.

He would tell him he was sorry. Sorry that after they’d spent the whole night talking together, after they’d even promised to meet again, Yeonhoo had gone and hit his head and forgotten everything.

Then he would tell him about everything that had happened since.

And Kwon Mieon would surely be happy to see him—

Wait.

The bathrobe slipped from Yeonhoo’s hand and dropped to the floor.

I’m not even speaking to Kwon Mieon right now...!

Only now did he remember that they hadn’t contacted each other for an entire week and that things between them were painfully awkward.

What do I do?

Yeonhoo paced frantically around the room.

Wasn’t there some way to test the waters and figure out what kind of mood Kwon was in before he went to see him?

He clutched his head with a quiet groan until something suddenly occurred to him.

Wait. There’s Zombie Village.

How had he forgotten?

In the end, wasn’t Zombie Village—the game itself—the very reason their connection had been restored in the first place?

I’ll just check whether he’s online.

The instant the idea came to him, Yeonhoo hurried over to his computer and sat down.

But should I log in as IOnly or 0momo0?

After debating it, Yeonhoo decided that since IOnly was the account he’d used most recently, he would start with his alt.

Welcome back, Survivor!

The instant the system window appeared, notification icons with red dots began popping up like crazy in the upper-left corner.

Why are there so many alliance notifications?

They all seemed to have something to do with <System Error>, but that wasn’t what he had logged in to check. Yeonhoo immediately dismissed the notifications and opened his Friend List.

He’s offline.

Yeonhoo was about to quit the game when his fingertips stopped.

What if... he’s playing as Miu?

Come to think of it, after the way they’d stopped speaking, why would Kwon Mieon bother logging into NotMiyoung, the alt he was leveling together with Yeonhoo?

After a moment’s hesitation, Yeonhoo logged out and signed back in as 0momo0.

Welcome back, Survivor!

It was exactly the same window as before, yet perhaps because it had been so long since he’d logged in as 0momo0, it somehow felt strangely good to see it again.

Let’s check who’s online in the alliance first.

Planning to see whether Kwon Mieon was logged in, Yeonhoo dismissed the system window.

Then he froze at the sight that appeared before him.

“...Huh?”

There was no need to check <47>’s online member list.

What stretched across the screen in front of him was...

“What the hell is this...?”

Utter chaos.

Black smoke filled the air in every direction, accompanied by endless gunfire and cannon blasts. Between burning buildings, NPCs screamed as they desperately tried to extinguish the flames and establish defensive lines.

A terrible premonition crept over him.

Yeonhoo stared blankly at the screen for a moment, then opened the Alliance window.

Alliance Members Online

Yeonhoo doubted his own eyes.

(86/86)

...Everyone’s online?