HFS 39

“Come in.”

Contrary to his expectations, they had arrived at Seo Hee-won’s place where he lived alone. Seo Hee-won held the front door wide open and waited, but Lee Cheong-hyeon felt a strange wariness at the invitation and just lingered in front of the door. Wouldn’t the host normally go in first and then invite guests in? Seo Hee-won was positioning Lee Cheong-hyeon in front while standing firmly behind him.

“Is this your place?”

“Yes. I didn’t want to go to a dirty Internet cafe, so I just brought you to my house.”

This meant that Seo Hee-won had finally decided to trade. Lee Cheong-hyeon, who had been craning his neck to peek inside, quickly stepped into the house.

After taking off his outer clothes and washing his hands in the bathroom Seo Hee-won directed him to, Lee Cheong-hyeon looked around curiously. The house, organized neatly without unnecessary items, looked just like a model home. Despite being quite large for a man living alone, it was so well-maintained that not a speck of dust could be found, and it even had a pleasant fragrance.

After exploring Seo Hee-won’s bedroom, Lee Cheong-hyeon opened the last closed door. It turned out to be Seo Hee-won’s gaming room. With a small exclamation of admiration, he entered as if entranced. Seo Hee-won, who had been following Lee Cheong-hyeon as he toured the house, turned on the computer. Then he seated Lee Cheong-hyeon in the chair, brought a laptop and a portable chair, and sat down right next to him.

Lee Cheong-hyeon wiggled his feet while sitting in the perfectly fitted chair. Trying to guess how much such a chair would cost, he cautiously asked, “Can I start the game?”

“Yes.”

Seo Hee-won looked at him strangely, as if wondering why he would even ask such a thing. Lee Cheong-hyeon felt slightly wronged but kept quiet.

[Seohee1 has requested a trade.]

This was the moment he had been waiting for. Lee Cheong-hyeon quickly accepted the trade. He stared at the [Flying Puppy Mount Exchange Voucher] in the trade window with a broad smile on his face. He looked as if he might jump into the monitor. Lee Cheong-hyeon erased his smile, and with a solemn heart, turned on his phone and opened his banking app.

“How much? I’m ready to hear it.”

Since [Flying Puppy] was never traded, its market price was unknown. As Lee Cheong-hyeon recalled, when the item’s price started rising, it was in the late 100,000s won range. No matter how much the price had increased since then, it wouldn’t exceed a million won. 600,000 to at most 700,000—that was the price Lee Cheong-hyeon had in mind. If it was more expensive, he would have to negotiate somehow. Though he wondered if it was worth spending that much money, he felt this might be his only opportunity to get it.

“The price is…”

Seo Hee-won spoke mysteriously. His low voice clearly resonated in Lee Cheong-hyeon’s ears. Lee Cheong-hyeon slowly turned his head toward Seo Hee-won and his mouth fell open involuntarily. The price was far beyond his expectations. At a glance, it was clearly not a price that could be negotiated down.

“I’m selling it at exactly the price I bought it for.”

“Hahaha. You’re joking, right?”

Seo Hee-won laughed along with Lee Cheong-hyeon, then calmly recited his account number. While Lee Cheong-hyeon was dumbfounded at the unbelievable number, Seo Hee-won reached over, took the mouse from Lee Cheong-hyeon’s hand, and clicked the trade confirmation button.

[Do you want to use the Flying Puppy Mount Exchange Voucher?]

Mount items couldn’t be traded after using the exchange voucher. This meant it couldn’t be returned or resold. Belatedly coming to his senses, Lee Cheong-hyeon urgently tried to stop Seo Hee-won.

“Wait! No, that’s not it!”

[You have acquired Flying Puppy.]

It happened in an instant. Seo Hee-won even reached for the keyboard and mounted Lee Cheong-hyeon’s character on the Flying Puppy. Then he turned to look at Lee Cheong-hyeon with a satisfied expression. Lee Cheong-hyeon felt a trickle of cold sweat down his back. Despite how much he had wanted this mount, it was not welcome at all. Lee Cheong-hyeon didn’t have enough money to spend three million won on a mere piece of online game data.

“You’ve transferred the money, right?”

Seo Hee-won asked with a bright smile.

“N-No…I can’t go up to three million…”

As he stammered in confusion, Seo Hee-won showed a puzzled expression.

The item had already been transferred, but Lee Cheong-hyeon didn’t have the ability to pay for it. Finding himself in this difficult situation, Lee Cheong-hyeon spoke faster.

“If I had known it would cost that much from the beginning, I would have said no. And who gives an item before confirming that the money has been received? You used the exchange voucher on your own…”

The message was that it was all Seo Hee-won’s fault. Lee Cheong-hyeon didn’t know how Seo Hee-won would take it, but from his perspective, he had essentially been forced into buying it. As his voice grew quieter, Lee Cheong-hyeon cautiously observed Seo Hee-won’s expression. Seo Hee-won tilted his head to the side and asked as if he couldn’t understand, “So, you’re saying you don’t have enough money?”

Yeah, you idiot, what ordinary college student can afford to spend that much on a game item? Lee Cheong-hyeon secretly glared at Seo Hee-won with his unreasonable economic sense. Anyway, what’s done was done, and the situation needed to be resolved. After thinking for a moment, Lee Cheong-hyeon proposed a solution that might be acceptable to both of them.

“Since I also made a mistake by not checking the market price properly, I’ll cover about half. It’s difficult for me to pay the full three million.”

“That’s fine. I’ll just consider it given. It’s not like anything terrible will happen if I don’t get that money…But in exchange…”

Seo Hee-won continued with a deep smile.

“Buy me meals. Whenever I ask you to.”

Lee Cheong-hyeon nodded in agreement. The phrase “whenever I ask” made him feel a bit uneasy, but he had no other options. While it was a relief that Seo Hee-won let it go so easily, he wondered if a few meals would really be the end of it. Unlike Lee Cheong-hyeon with his strange uneasiness, Seo Hee-won seemed completely fine.

“Can I look at your account?”

His voice was so calm that it was hard to believe he had just lost 3 million won in an instant. He even seemed to be smiling subtly. Lee Cheong-hyeon told him to do as he pleased, vacated the seat entirely, and lay down on the sofa bed set up in one corner of the room.

In that short time, his energy had completely drained. Lying there blankly, trying to calculate how many meals it would take to reach 3 million won, he just closed his eyes.

The warm air from the heater, the familiar background music of the game, and the keyboard noise as Seo Hee-won typed created a peaceful atmosphere perfect for falling asleep.

“…Keyboard sounds?”

Though he wanted to fall asleep and forget reality, Lee Cheong-hyeon sensed something suspicious and sat up abruptly. Seo Hee-won was still browsing his account.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing.”

Seo Hee-won turned the chair halfway to face Lee Cheong-hyeon and denied it. Brazenly, he was still pressing the ESC key with one hand. Lee Cheong-hyeon approached Seo Hee-won with suspicious eyes. He thought he had glimpsed the friends window open, so he immediately opened it again but couldn’t find anything suspicious. Next, he opened the chat window.

[Guild] Tiramisush: What’s Ittorang doing?

[Guild] Tiramisush: I’m bored ㅇㅅㅇ

[Guild] Ittorang: Hmm…not my business.

[Guild] Ittorang: Don’t act like we’re close ㄴㄴ

[Guild] Tiramisush: …

[Guild] Heekkom: What’s wrong ㅠ

[Guild] Heekkom: Did you two fight?

[Guild] Tiramisush: ㅠㅅㅠ…

[Guild] Ittorang: Planning to fight starting now.

Lee Cheong-hyeon skimmed through the chat history and quietly glared at Seo Hee-won. There was even a typo in the last message, as if he had abruptly stopped typing. Despite the silent reproach, Seo Hee-won remained as brazen as ever.

“I was just saying hello.”

“Who says hello like that? Stop bullying them. They’re not even in elementary school…”

Lee Cheong-hyeon pushed aside Seo Hee-won, who had narrowed his eyes, wondering what he’d done right. First, he needed to clear up the misunderstanding with the guild members.

[Guild] Ittorang: No, I’m with Seohee1 right now.

[Guild] Ittorang: Seohee1 was the one typing, sorry.

[Guild] Tiramisush: ㅠㅅㅠ I almost got upset.

[Guild] Heekkom: Ah…I thought something seemed off.

[Guild] Jimni: Huh? You two met?

[Guild] Seohee1: Yeah.

[Guild] Seohee1: We’re at my place right now lol

[Guild] Jimni: I didn’t ask where you were though;

Looking to the side, Lee Cheong-hyeon saw that Seo Hee-won was participating in the chat on his laptop. Fortunately, he seemed to have lost interest in bullying Tiramisush using Lee Cheong-hyeon’s account.

[Guild] Marachip: Just the two of you…

[Guild] Tiramisush: What what

[Guild] Tiramisush: Are you two really dating ㅇㅅㅇ

[Guild] Marachip: Gasp

[Guild] Heekkom: Gasp

[Guild] Jimni: Gasp

[Guild] Hyutzzi: Gasp

[Guild] Capybara: Gasp

The guild members, who were only in sync at times like this, began to tease and pressure the two. This had been happening regularly since Lee Cheong-hyeon and Seo Hee-won became a couple in the game. Lee Cheong-hyeon casually ignored it and showed off his [Flying Puppy] mount, explaining that they met for an in-person trade.

[Guild] Heekkom: How much did you pay for it??

That question momentarily gave him a headache. Since he hadn’t actually purchased it with money, it was difficult to answer. After vaguely pondering where to begin the story, he condensed it into a simple response.

[Guild] Ittorang: Well…I lost something…

Since he would have to go out and buy meals for Seo Hee-won whenever called upon, he could say he had lost his authority as an older brother, his time freedom, or perhaps a bit of his human rights.

[Guild] Tiramisush: What does that mean ㅇㅅㅇ

[Guild] Ittorang: It’s just something.

[Guild] Heekkom: What is it? I’m more curious now.

[Guild] Tiramisush: Gasp

[Guild] Tiramisush: I think I know what it is.

[Guild] Heekkom: What?

[Guild] Tiramisush: Chastity >/<

[Guild] Marachip: lolololololololololol

[Guild] Hyutzzi: Come to think of it, you did meet at his home ㄷㄷ

As soon as he saw that absurd nonsense, Lee Cheong-hyeon burst into laughter. In contrast, Seo Hee-won, sitting beside him, turned red all the way to the nape of his neck and exploded in anger.

“What kind of psycho…”

“…”

“What’s wrong with his head!”

“I know. Tiramisush’s out of control.”