Dohwa sharply remarked that if he was going to ask why he liked him, he shouldn’t have been so kind in the first place.

—Was he a hard peach and not a soft peach? Thinking about it again, you might be a hard peach.

“Hyung, it’s a bad habit to spout nonsense whenever you don’t want to answer.”

—……Perceptive, aren’t we.

Won gave a humming reply and finally offered a proper response to Dohwa’s words.

—I can’t make promises. I’m not the type of person who makes reckless promises about the future.

“Hmph, stop talking in circles and just get to the point.”

—I’ll tell you if I start to dislike you. I won’t just abandon you as I please; I’ll tell you. Why I grew to dislike you.

I’m sorry, but that’s the best I can do.

Won added in a voice that sounded somewhat lighter. He whispered in a tone tinged with laughter as a bonus, saying he truly didn’t know any other way since he had lived his entire life like that.

For the first time, Dohwa suddenly became seriously curious about what kind of person Won really was.

The reason he liked women so much, the reason he disliked men, the reason he was heartless even to the women he cared for,and the reason he was mostly cold despite being sweet at times.

They say coldness is what lies closest to kindness, but Won was an extreme case.

He acted like someone who had decided to hurt others first simply because he didn’t want to be hurt himself.

“We definitely have to go to university together.”

—If it’s possible.

“Let’s keep playing together.”

—That, too, if it’s possible.

Won answered in a voice that had turned strangely chilly. Noticing that this was Won’s true self, Dohwa didn’t feel hurt and simply laughed.

“Alright,” he said.

***

Dohwa exited the dungeon with a slightly annoyed expression.

“Ah, seriously annoying! Those crazy bastards.”

[Guild] Peach: The users I met in the dungeon are so annoying. 

[Guild] Peach: Aren’t they total psychos? The healer and DPS must have been friends, they played like absolute trash.

Dohwa showed off his amazing talent for pouring out curses with his mouth while simultaneously typing them with his hands.

It had been well over a year since Dohwa joined the guild, yet the guild members—who still played individually in the same space as before—slowly appeared in the chat window.

[Guild] Cherry Coke: What’s up? 

[Guild] Non-Tanking Tank: You met some weird users? Oh no……ㅠㅅㅠ 

[Guild] Peach: Yes!! Really…… No, the tanker had no health, but they kept giving sustained heals to the full-health DPS— 

[Guild] Peach: It wasn’t even a hard dungeon but I died 3 times 

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Ah, well, you had a hard time. 

[Guild] Cherry Coke: But Peach, aren’t you pretty much the same when you go to dungeons with Won? ㅍㅅㅍ

 [Guild] Cherry Coke: When we went together once before, that bastard Won only looked after your health, Peach, so I almost fu♡♡ing died.

 [Guild] Peach: Ah, Noona, seriously, you’re so annoying!! 

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Hehehe, thanks. thx thx.

Dohwa pouted at Cherry Coke’s words, which were accompanied by emoticons she didn’t usually use.

Cherry Coke usually said things that deserved a beating, but occasionally she said something right, and since even those right words were incredibly annoying, it was truly impressive.

“If only Hyung were here, he would’ve told her not to tease me.”

Letting out a now-familiar mutter, Dohwa pulled back his pouting lips.

As soon as his lips were back in, the corners of his mouth turned downward. It was a face that anyone could see was clearly sulking.

Dohwa, sulking alone with the corners of his mouth turned down, habitually pulled up the user login window.

He stared for a long time at Won’s nickname, which showed no sign of logging in because he was in prison, no, in the military.

“Hyuuuung, seriously, when are you coming back……”

Mumbling gloomily, Dohwa picked up the phone he had left on the desk.

Whenever he missed Won, he habitually opened a dating app on his phone and checked the number of days Won had left in the military.

Yes, Dohwa used a dating app to check Won’s discharge date.

Once, when Won was out on leave, he had seen it and laughed for a long time, calling it absurd.

Dohwa’s shoulders slumped at the memory of that cheerful laughter.

“14 days. Just 14 more days. Time really isn’t moving!”

With a face mixed with anxiety and gloom, Dohwa bit his nails while shaking his legs restlessly.

It was a sight that would have made Won let out a hollow laugh and tell him to stop because it was distracting.

How long had he waited so far? It was ridiculous that he couldn’t endure a mere 14 days, and it was also unfair that time moved so slowly for just those 14 days.

Dohwa sniffled for no reason and turned his gaze back to the monitor.

Just then, Cherry Coke was desperately calling out to Dohwa.

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Peach! Peach!! 

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Hey, Seonu Won’s girl!! [Guild] 

Cherry Coke: Seonu Won’s personal peach, f♡♡k!!!!! You seriously don’t fu♡♡ing listen!

Dohwa, who had been sulking at Cherry Coke because of her previous comment, finally gave a half-hearted reply after she had called his name about six times.

[Guild] Peach: Yes. 

[Guild] Cherry Coke: You punk, is it right for a man to act so petty just because he’s sulking? 

[Guild] FastAndPissedOff: Grandma?

 [Guild] Non-Tanking Tank: Hahaha.

 [Guild] FastAndPissedOff: Wow, I got such a familiar grandma vibe from the chat window for a second that I was shocked;; I thought your late grandma possessed you

Dohwa let out a small laugh at FastAndPissedOff’s words and typed in the chat with a slightly softened expression.

[Guild] Peach: Why are you calling me? 

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Aren’t you supposed to be in class? 

[Guild] Peach: ? I still have an hour left.

The guild chat went silent for a moment at Dohwa’s words, which he typed while tilting his head.

Breaking that silence, FastAndPissedOff sent a message with a strange tone.

[Guild] FastAndPissedOff: Our kid…… is a game addict…… 

[Guild] Peach: Oh, come on.

“What are they talking about? As if there’s anyone more addicted to games than them.”

However, only Dohwa was in denial; he was indeed a respectable hardcore gamer.

If he had nothing to do, he turned on a game, and even if he had something to do, he turned on a game first.

He talked more with users in the game than with people in reality, and he was more used to being called Peach than Dohwa.

If you looked at it point by point, there wasn’t a single part of him that didn’t scream “gaming addict.”

But instead of admitting that fact, Dohwa just snorted.

[Guild] Cherry Coke: I’m sorry, patient, but you are a severe gaming addict. 

[Guild] Peach: Hmph, what nonsense. But doctor, do you happen to know a game called Betting Bad? 

[Guild] Cherry Coke: Hahaha. F♡♡ ♡♡ck.

 [Guild] FastAndPissedOff: Hahaha, that cracked me up. 

[Guild] Peach: But Hyungs and Noonas are worse than me to be calling me a game addict.

 [Guild] Cherry Coke: True. First off, I’m a game addict.

 [Guild] FastAndPissedOff: Me too.

 [Guild] Peach: Weird people.

 [Guild] Cherry Coke: You too♡

Dohwa looked at the heart at the end of her sentence with bewildered eyes and moved his mouse aimlessly.

He needlessly closed and reopened the guild chat window, letting out deep sighs while staring endlessly at the user login window.

Then, when it was time to voluntarily enter the prison called university, he typed in the chat, letting out a sigh deeper than ever before.

[Guild] Peach: I’m off to uni now… ㅠㅠ 

[Guild] Non-Tanking Tank: Don’t cry…… I have to go too…… 

[Guild] Non-Tanking Tank: Ah, I don’t want to go to school……ㅠㅅㅠ 

[Guild] FastAndPissedOff: F♡♡k, you’re the teacher.

 [Guild] Non-Tanking Tank: Why are you being like that… teachers are people too… teachers don’t want to go to school either… ㅠㅅㅠ

Coming to his senses at Non-Tanking Tank’s nonsense, Dohwa closed the game.

Dohwa stood up from the expensive chair he had bought with the sole goal of gaming for long hours.

Even though it was a good chair, his whole body felt stiff because he had been sitting for quite a while.

Stretching out his slender body, Dohwa opened his plump pink lips and let out a yawn.

“Mmm, ah, I’m tired.”

I already don’t want to go.

Mumbling to himself, Dohwa scratched his neck.

His feet, clad in slippers, moved slowly.

Even though he mumbled that he hated it, his body was honest. Dohwa diligently washed up and changed his clothes, then went to the kitchen and grabbed a peach juice and a cream bun.

After stuffing the two items into his bag, he went to the entryway, changed into sneakers, and straightened his back.

Then, even knowing no one was home, he habitually called out a greeting.

“I’m leaving.”

After giving a greeting that sounded more like “I’m heading ouuut,” Dohwa swung the front door wide open.