PP Chapter 22

Was it a few days before he enlisted? The shift part-timer from the cafe where he had quit to enlist suddenly contacted him, asking if they could meet.

Then, perhaps predictably, she began her confession by saying she felt she wouldn’t have another chance if not now. And Won had accepted that confession.

Of course, before accepting the confession, Won had asked if it was okay since he was going to the army, and she had shouted a bright “it’s okay” to that question.

That was only a little over a hundred days ago. He didn’t quite understand what she had been unhappy about in the meantime.

Won, rubbing his smooth chin as he thought about it, soon gave a simple reply.

「Okay, Noona.」

After sending the text and starting to walk, Won spoke up a beat late with a look of “Oh, wait.”

“Is it too short?”

Muttering that, Won tilted his head. After standing in place and thinking for a moment, he shrugged and shoved the phone into his pocket.

“Well, it’s not like we’re going to see each other again.”

Muttering to himself, he adjusted the bag slung diagonally over one shoulder and entered his house.

The house, which no one had entered while Won was away, was exactly as it had been.

Without even looking at the thin layer of dust on the floor, he strode through the house.

Because he couldn’t sleep in small rooms, his bed mattress was sitting right in the middle of the living room. He flopped down onto the mattress and let out a long sigh.

“Ha, home really is the best.”

Spending 100 days rubbing shoulders with a bunch of guys he didn’t even care about was horrific to think about even now.

Lying on the bed, Won felt a bit wronged as he thought about it.

He was the type of person who could find this much peace of mind and body just by not being around guys. So what exactly was the military that it forced him into a place swarming with nothing but guys and made things so hard for him.

Raising his hand to rub his face, Won gave a small yawn.

He felt like he was going to die from exhaustion, but he had to log into Betting Bad.

Part of it was because Won was a born-to-be hardcore gamer, but more than that, it was because of one Peach who had contacted him much more frequently than the person who had just become his ex-girlfriend.

Dohwa had sent messages consistently even when Won didn’t reply.

Won, checking them later, had even wondered for a moment if this Peach was using their chat window as a diary.

Pressing down hard on the bridge of his high nose to steady his breathing, he slowly sat up.

Forcing himself out of bed, he went to his closet room, pulled out some loungewear, and headed to the bathroom.

After finishing his shower, Won walked out, his body steaming from the warm water. With every step, droplets of water dripped from his damp hair.

Sitting in front of his gaming computer, he lightly cracked his neck and turned the power on.

As soon as the large monitor lit up, he launched the game and finished logging in within seconds.

Won grinned as he looked at the standby screen, which was so familiar it felt like a second home.

“This is it.”

As someone who was just as crazy about gaming as he was about women, he couldn’t describe how much he had missed this screen over the last 100 days.

Won tapped his fingers as he waited to connect.

Not long after, upon logging into Betting Bad, Won took a deep breath like a person who had just reached the summit of a mountain.

​[‘Won’ has logged into the guild <Half-Assers Dont Deserve To Live>.]

“Haa…”

The moment he let out a sigh of relief, the chat window began to scroll rapidly.

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Sh♡t, is it really Won??

[Guild] Cherry Coke: You didn’t desert your post because you couldn’t see any girls, did you??

[Guild] FastAndPissedOff: omg, Hyung, did you desert?

[Guild] FastAndPissedOff: Hey, Guild Master… no matter how much you love girls and games, deserting is a bit much…

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Ah… Guys, what should we do. We have plenty of Incident Board stars in the guild but this is our first criminal so I’m a little nervous…

[Guild] Coke Cola: No matter how crazy Won is, do you think he’d really desert…

[Guild] Professor Execution: lol looks like he’s out on leave.

[Guild] FastAndPissedOff: Aww.

[Guild] Cherry Coke: What a shame.

Won smiled faintly as he looked at his guild members, who hadn’t changed a bit despite more than three months having passed.

“The fact that I’m happy to see them… the army really does drive a man crazy.”

Muttering in his uniquely husky voice, Won smiled softly and typed into the chat.

[Guild] Won: Get lost.

[Guild] Won: And where’s Peach?

[Guild] Won: He seems to be in the guild castle, but I don’t see him.

His reaction was like an owner looking for a puppy that didn’t immediately run out to greet him after he’d been away from home for a long time.

‘Cherry Coke,’ who took that impression at face value, let out an absurd laugh behind the monitor.

Repeatedly using the emotion expression that popped a question mark over her polygon head, Cherry Coke spoke.

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Why are you looking for your girl among us?

[Guild] Won: So, do you know or not?

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Nope? I do know. The slave is probably teasing the f♡♡k out of him right now.

[Guild] Won: Teasing?

[Guild] Won: I specifically told you guys to treat the kid well. I guess you didn’t listen to a word I said?

[Guild] Cherry Coke: How do you ‘listen’ to a chat with your ears?

[Guild] Won: Is this crazy b♡♡ch joking with me right now. You heard me with your ears too.

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Ugh look at this creepy bastard still observing proper spelling and grammar even now.

At the sign of a nagging session that looked like it would go on for a long time, the guild members either squeezed their eyes shut or scrolled down the chat window.

Just then, Dohwa, who had been caught and bullied by ‘21st Century No Yeah’ and saw Won’s chat late, came running over in a hurry.

Won smiled unconsciously at the sight of the pink head appearing in the distance.

He immediately hit backspace to delete the flurry of curses he had typed into the chat window. Then, as if he had never been picking out the most foul insults just a moment ago, he typed in a sweet tone.

[Guild] Won: Peach, you’re late.

[Guild] Won: You should’ve been here the moment I logged on.

At those words, Dohwa, who had run up to stand in front of Won, hurriedly typed.

[Guild] Peach: No, it’s cuz No Yeah Hyung kept catching me and saying weird thing-s, so I turned off the chat window so I wouldn’t see it, that’s why I saw it lateee.

It was funny and cute how he poured out excuses as if he’d been wronged.

Won laughed softly while looking at the monitor. He rested his chin on his hand and used an emotion expression to stroke Dohwa’s round head.

Dohwa, who was quietly receiving Won’s strokes, only came to his senses and protested when the chat window was filled with the stroking emotion expression.

[Guild] Peach: And Hyung, you haven’t been checking my messages well either.

[Guild] Peach: Do u know how long I wait-eddd!

[Guild] Won: Did you wait a long time?

[Guild] Peach: Isn’t that obvious??

[Guild] Peach: I seriously seriously waited so much I even looked up how to apply for a military visit

Won laughed out loud at the remark that he was going to visit in person because Won hadn’t been checking his messages.

“Ah, ahahaha! Haha, I’m going crazy.”

Laughing until he tapped his desk, Won wiped the tears forming at the corners of his long eyes with his finger.

​Unable to stand the silence while he was laughing, Dohwa was chattering away, asking if he was ignoring him again.

Barely stopping his laughter, Won placed his hands on the keyboard to soothe the meowing Dohwa.

“Ah, our Peach doesn’t really suit the ‘meowing’ vibe. I interpreted Dohwa as a puppy…”

A simple puppy that clings to you because he likes you, oblivious to his own size; a puppy that only knows one person, gets sulky easily, and cheers up just as easily.

Won, his long eyes curving into a smile, moved his fingers as if tapping on piano keys.

[Guild] Won: Don’t be sulky. I was waiting for your messages too, Peach.

[Guild] Won: I replied every time I had a spare moment.

[Guild] Won: I didn’t even do that for my girlfriend. That’s why I got dumped today.

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Hey Won, are you seriously bragging about that right now??

[Guild] Peach: Really?…

[Guild] Cherry Coke: No, no, sht, that actually works??

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Fine, hell, let’s see how far you two go.

Watching like it was a drama was one thing, but ‘Cherry Coke’ eventually couldn’t hold back and typed into the chat.

​However, both Won and Dohwa naturally ignored the chat as if they hadn’t seen it and continued their conversation.