Café Chaos and First Impressions

As the saying goes, the more handsome men and beautiful women, the better.

I had nothing to do while waiting, so I quietly glanced at them.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one thinking this, as others in the cafe were also constantly peeking and stealing glances at them.

Indeed, people’s thoughts are all pretty much the same.

The cold-faced man holding the vibrating pager suddenly pulled out his phone and made a gesture as if contacting someone, while the amiable-faced man watched him with a smiling face.

Did they have a separate appointment? I sipped my coffee and secretly observed them, then let out a hollow laugh at the alarm message that popped up on my phone.

[Han Do-yoon: We’ve arrived, where are you now?]

‘No way?’ Just in case, I tapped on his profile.

The face in the black and white photo resembled the cold-faced man I’d just seen.

‘Crazy, I thought it was just a celebrity photo, but it was him?’ Not liking to draw attention, I sent a reply with an unenthusiastic expression.

[You just came in with YearRoundNoRest-nim, right?]

[Han Do-yoon: Yes.]

[Two coat guys in this weather?]

[Han Do-yoon: ? Yes, that’s right. We’re wearing coats, can you see us?]

[LOL I’m losing it.]

To think that those two, who attracted all the attention with just their faces, were PatchNote and YearRoundNoRest. No matter how I looked at it, they didn’t seem like gamers. Was I over-generalizing too much?

[Im Hyerin: What? Why are you losing it? How do they look???]

[Im Hyerin: Ah, I’m so curiousㅠㅠㅠ I need to get there fasterㅠㅠㅠ Driver-nim, hit the gas!!! Run everyone over!!!]

[Lee Seyoung: Ahㅠㅠㅠ I think I’ll take longerㅠㅠ]

[Wishing for safe driving…]

[I really, really don’t want to acknowledge them…]

[Okay… I’m the one in the white padded jacket sitting alone by the window.]

[Kim Hyunho: Arriving in 5 minutes.]

As soon as my message went up, their heads instantly turned towards me.

Their gazes felt so sharp that I flinched and awkwardly raised my hand, causing them to approach with large strides, wearing subtle expressions.

As the distance grew smaller and people’s eyes turned towards us, the thought of fleeing consumed my mind.

If they were strangers, it would be one thing, but knowing them made their looks so overwhelming.

The man I presumed to be PatchNote scanned me up and down with sharp eyes, and I wanted to scream, ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’

I stood up to greet them and subtly scrunched my face at the height difference that forced me to crane my neck.

My already short height looked even more pathetic.

I felt a little wronged. It wasn’t just one of them who was tall, but both of them.

Before living alone, I ate well, slept well, and pooped well, so why am I… Is there nothing I can do about inherited genes? I had never felt inconvenienced by my short height in my life, but at this moment, I became the most inconvenienced person in the world.

“That Patch, no… Han Do-yoon-ssi, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Then the person next to you is…?”

“I’m Jung Taewon, YearRoundNoRest. It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

“Y-yeah… nice to meet you.”

The cold-faced one was PatchNote, and the amiable-faced one was YearRoundNoRest.

Hearing their voices confirmed it. They were the same voices I’d heard in voice chat last time.

No, rather, hearing them straight without a microphone made them sound even better. Life is truly unfair.

I forced a wry smile and encouraged them to take a seat.

YearRoundNoRest, Jung Taewon, said he’d get coffee and disappeared with the vibrating pager.

Unable to bring myself to say I’d go instead and for him to stay, I withdrew my awkwardly extended hand.

Now that we were face-to-face, I didn’t know what to say.

I glanced sideways at PatchNote, who kept his mouth tightly shut.

‘You’re very different from when I saw you in chat. Are you online-only schizophrenic?’

PatchNote, Han Do-yoon, who sat opposite me and quietly stared, maintained his stiff expression, as if something greatly displeased him.

His tightly sealed lips came into view. With such a naturally cold-looking person keeping his mouth shut, the air around felt like it dropped by two degrees.

‘Is this the legendary Cool Water scent?’ As I struggled not to utter the joke swirling in my mouth, an awkward smile naturally formed.

Studying his seemingly angry face, I seriously wondered if I had done something wrong.

My facial expressions were a mess, but I had still greeted him, and as for problematic actions in-game… well, I had done some, but he was the one who followed me around and messed with me first.

So, was that just his default expression?

‘Never mind all that, I just wish someone would arrive already.’ Like Jung Taewon, or Beta noona. People who could liven up the atmosphere. I was so awkward I felt like I was going to drill through the earth’s mantle, so I nervously bounced my leg, when Han Do-yoon abruptly asked a question.

“Um… are you… eating well…?”

“…Pardon?”

“It’s just… you seem… too… thin….”

“…What?”

He even looked at me with a pitiful gaze. I was so dumbfounded that a hollow laugh escaped me. ‘Is this bastard making fun of me?’

“Pfft!”

‘Laughing?’ As I trembled, clenching my fists in anger, Jung Taewon, who seemed to have returned and witnessed this whole incident, laughed loudly, his shoulders shaking. ‘He’s going to spill his coffee.’

“How do you… type… with such… arms…?”

“…Huh.”

I was about to stand up to help the precarious-looking Jung Taewon when his next words left me speechless.

Curses rose to my throat.

‘Is he trying to pick a fight? Is this a challenge?’ Rolling the curses I had ready in my mouth, I considered how to accept this challenge when Jung Taewon set his coffee down on the table and said in a voice full of suppressed laughter:

“Ha… haha, he’s, cough, not saying this with malice, even though it seems like it. Hic….”

“Yeah… I guess so….”

‘Speaking with air holes in your lungs really lowers your credibility.’

“Pfft… you say something too… cough… He’s getting the wrong idea….”

“What…?”

At Han Do-yoon’s faint voice, Jung Taewon’s laughter grew louder.

I don’t know what was so funny, but ‘could you please shut up now?’ I forced a mechanical smile, wiping my face with my hand, and prayed for the others to arrive as soon as possible.

If I stayed here any longer, I felt like I would die from a fit of rage.

“You truly… have a talent…. A talent for… pissing people off….”

“Puhaha!”

‘Stop guffawing, you bastard.’ Exerting superhuman patience, I tried my best to smile, touching my twitching facial muscles.

The corners of my lips, pulled taut with all my might, ached.

Were the others still far away? I discreetly pulled out my phone and checked the chat room; everyone was just saying they’d arrive soon. ‘Don’t just talk, hurry up and come. Get me out of here.’ I glared intently at my phone screen when Jung Taewon suddenly spoke.

“You don’t have to be so awkward. We look about the same age.”

“Yes, well…. You do look like my peer.”

“Really?”

Jung Taewon, who had been smiling gently and chatting amiably about being glad to meet someone his age, nudged Han Do-yoon’s side.

Han Do-yoon glared at Jung Taewon with a questioning look, which was, how should I put it, like a living demonstration of what it means to curse with your eyes.

He let out an awkward smile at Han Do-yoon’s utterly cold gaze and changed the subject.

“Haha, SoonToDie-nim, how old are you?”

“SoonToDie… Whew…”

Jung Taewon uttered the nickname without a care, but unable to bear the embarrassment, I pulled up the hood of my padded jacket.

Don’t people usually ask for names first if they don’t know? I wasn’t used to being called by my nickname outside, and it felt like I’d been smacked hard on the back of the head. ‘Is everyone like this?’

As this was my first meetup, I wasn’t sure if this guy was trying to mess with me or if this was just how everyone acted.

Looking at his smile, it seemed like he was messing with me, but upon closer inspection, maybe not. If I had known this, I would have said my name when we first greeted.

I regretted forgetting that Jung Taewon hadn’t been invited to the chat room.

“Since we’re outside, let’s use names… not nicknames.”

“Ah, come to think of it, what’s your name…?”

“It’s Park Jungwoo.”

“So it was Jungwoo-ssi. I’m Jung Taewon.”

“Y-yeah….”

At his bright smile, a suspicion instantly arose: ‘Are these two attending the meetup just to mess with me?’ ‘Isn’t this reasonable suspicion?’ One of them immediately asked why I was so scrawny, and the other loudly called out my nickname.

It was my theory that unless they were overtly trying to mess with me, they wouldn’t spew such a variety of nonsense, and my suspicion gradually turned into certainty.

(3)

Just as I narrowed my eyes suspiciously, a ding-dong sound rang out. Wondering if a guild member had arrived, I turned my head and let out a small laugh at the sight of Han Do-yoon and Jung Taewon also turning their heads to follow my gaze.

This was a bit funny.

“Wow…”

It was Jung Taewon’s exclamation of awe.

The person who had just entered was a man, and he was quite impressive.

Tall with broad shoulders, whether due to his thick coat or not, he had a truly formidable build.

You could say he smelled like a gym rat, a bodybuilder.