Chapter 55 : New Year’s Civil War

I arrived home by taxi and entered the front door after inputting the password.

Unlike the cold of midwinter, the inside of the house was incredibly warm.

The cold air had driven the drunkenness out of my system, but as soon as I felt the warmth, my intoxication began to rise rapidly.

“Nyeon!”

“Uhh…”

With dazed eyes, I looked ahead and saw Ji-hye staring at me with a worried expression.

It seemed she had been waiting for me until this late hour and had come out after hearing the door open.

Usually, Ji-hye would have already been asleep at this time, so she must have been waiting for me.

She looked like a puppy waiting for its owner.

“Huuh… Ji-hye…”

“The smell of alcohol… I’ll help you.”

She had only called my name, but without hesitation, she stepped forward to help me. The smell of food and alcohol mixed together, and it should have been unpleasant, but Ji-hye helped me and guided me up to the second floor where my room was.

Ji-hye struggled and groaned as she barely managed to climb to the second floor. She opened the door with one hand and led me inside.

“Lie down here and get some rest.”

“I don’t want to…”

“Huh?”

“Don’t go.”

I grabbed Ji-hye’s hand as she tried to leave after laying me down on the bed.

I didn’t even know why I grabbed her hand, but I followed my body’s instinct.

I pulled her hand toward me, and instead of lying down myself, I laid Ji-hye on the bed.

“Nayeon…”

“Shh.”

Confusion filled Ji-hye’s eyes.

Seeing that pitiful look, I reached forward and gently stroked her cheek.

I lowered my body slightly, getting closer to her, and pressed my lips near her ear.

“Phuhh…”

“Uhh…”

When I blew my breath near her ear, Ji-hye shivered as if it tickled her.

Pulling my head back, I looked down at Ji-hye’s cute face.

Maybe it was the alcohol, but Ji-hye seemed even more beautiful than usual.

In my drunken state, I thought about what kind of person Ji-hye was. She was talented, diligent, and had a kind heart—truly a perfect person. Could someone like her even exist in this world? That thought crossed my mind.

How lucky was I that someone like her had come into my life?

Though we couldn’t be together forever, I didn’t want to let her go.

A feeling of possessiveness that had lain dormant deep inside me seemed to awaken.

With that feeling, I recalled old memories and slowly spoke.

“You’re not going to leave me, right?”

“What do you mean…”

“Tell me you won’t disappear without saying anything.”

Ji-hye, who had been avoiding my gaze by moving her eyes around, eventually gave up, locking eyes with me and slowly spoke.

“…Yes. I won’t suddenly disappear.”

“Heh… You’re so good. So good…”

After hearing the answer I wanted from Ji-hye, I moved my hand upwards.

The hand that had been caressing her cheek moved to her head.

I stroked her hair with gentle, affectionate touches, feeling proud of her.

How many times did I stroke her head like that?

The warmth around me and the growing effect of the alcohol made my eyelids grow heavier and heavier.

When I woke up to the warm sunlight, I remembered what had happened the previous day.

Even when I was drunk, I never experienced any memory loss, and that was the case this time as well.

I clearly remembered what I had done to Ji-hye after arriving home.

I almost wished I couldn’t recall it.

“Ugh…”

What had I been thinking to behave like that yesterday?

Of course, Ji-hye was beautiful, and she had done so many sweet things, but that didn’t justify what I had done—lying her down on the bed and forcing her to answer me. That was entirely my fault.

“I’m staying away from alcohol for a while…”

Blaming it all on the alcohol, I sat up.

When I looked down, I saw the pajamas I usually wore when I slept.

It seemed that Ji-hye had changed me into those clothes after I had fallen asleep.

“I wish she’d stop being so thoughtful…”

Even after everything that happened(?), she still went and changed my clothes.

This was why I couldn’t help but like and cherish Ji-hye.

I moved to the bathroom and washed my face more carefully than usual.

I hadn’t even removed the makeup from the beauty shop.

Though they said the base was good enough, so I only did light makeup, it was still my first time wearing makeup, and it felt a bit uncomfortable.

After washing my face until all the makeup was gone, I left the bathroom.

A burning thirst rose in me, and to quench it, I headed downstairs.

By this time, Ji-hye would usually be preparing breakfast.

I headed to the kitchen and slowly heard the familiar sound of her humming.

“Mm~ Hmm~”

As expected, Ji-hye was in the kitchen, wearing an apron and cooking.

She was listening to music through earphones, just like usual.

Wasn’t yesterday a shock to her?

If I had been in her shoes, I might have felt a bit creeped out.

Maybe she was acting normal on the outside, but deep down, she might be avoiding me.

I decided it would be best to apologize for yesterday as soon as possible and approached Ji-hye.

“Ji-hye.”

“Mm~ Huh? Oh, Nayeon. You’re awake?”

When I called her name, Ji-hye gave an awkward smile.

It was clear she was aware of what had happened yesterday.

I couldn’t help but feel guilty for my actions and cautiously continued.

“About… what happened yesterday… I’m sorry.”

“Huh? Oh, no! I was just a little surprised, but I wasn’t upset or anything.”

“Really…? I can trust that, right?”

“Yes, yes. So, please lift your head.”

Like a sinner, I lowered my head, but following Ji-hye’s words, I lifted it again.

To be honest, I had done something rude to the point where it could be considered crossing the line.

Yet, seeing Ji-hye treat me kindly and offer me leniency made me smile without even thinking about it.

“What’s for breakfast today?”

“Oh, I’m making hangover soup. I wanted to help with your hangover…”

“Thanks for thinking of me. I’ll wait at the table.”

“Yes! Just wait a bit, and I’ll cook something delicious and bring it to you!”

I moved to the dining table and waited for breakfast.

“AAAHHHH!!!”

Curry woke up screaming.

“Ugh… Huh… Where am I…”

Looking around, Curry confirmed it was her own room and let out a relieved sigh.

Until just a moment ago, Curry had been dreaming about a marriage game with Barcode, and just before waking up, they had been playing the legendary stick biscuit game that only married streamers could do.

“This f*cking… Hah…”

Still shaken by the terrible nightmare, Curry exhaled heavily and muttered curses mixed with a whirlwind of emotions.

It was the most horrific nightmare she’d had recently, and just imagining it sent chills down her spine.

What was especially terrifying was that in the nightmare, Curry had been smiling happily while marrying Barcode.

Forcing the contents of the nightmare out of her mind, Curry headed to the bathroom to wash off her cold sweat-drenched body.

After a quick shower, Curry stared blankly into space for a while before suddenly remembering something important she had briefly forgotten.

Every year, Curry had been hosting offline events to connect with her viewers.

But at some point, she began to feel like just holding offline events wasn’t enough. Since the year before last, after finishing the offline events, she had been running special content.

The name of that content was ‘New Year’s In-house War’.

The man, who had skipped through the video multiple times, barked like a dog.

“Woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof.”

How long did he bark like that?

The man stopped skipping the video.

He just quietly focused on the video that was playing.

A question appeared on the screen: “Honestly, don’t you think you’re pretty?”

“Well, I’m not sure if I’m pretty,” said Barcode in the YouTube video.

The man’s mouth twitched at her words.

After pausing the video, the man muttered quietly.

“Nayeon is pretty.”

“Well, I’m not sure if I’m pretty,” came Barcode’s voice again.

“Nayeon is pretty.”

“…I’m not sure if I’m pretty.”

“Nayeon is the prettiest in the world.”

“…I’m not sure if I’m pretty.”

Crash!

“Why do you keep saying you don’t know?!!!”

The man shouted angrily and slammed his hands on the keyboard for a long time.

The keyboard couldn’t withstand the shock and broke completely.

Only then did the man calm down, flashing a sinister smile as he stood up from his chair.

He turned on the light in the room and put on a black zip-up hoodie.

The man’s room was covered with photos of Barcode.

“Heh heh…”

While looking around and laughing, the man looked up.

On the ceiling was a photo of Barcode getting out of a taxi and entering a house.

The man stared at the photo for a long time, then gave a chillingly fanatic smile.

“Soon, we’ll meet.”

The man muttered that final sentence before leaving the room.

A new announcement was posted on Curry’s community.

There was only one announcement that could be posted at this time.

“As expected…”

The title of the announcement was ‘New Year’s In-house War Event Notice.’

The New Year’s In-house War content was an event-like content that Curry had been doing since the year before last.

I hadn’t participated in the In-house War before, but this year, I planned to join.

Of course, just saying I would participate didn’t mean I would definitely get in.

The participation in this content was on a first-come, first-served basis.

Since Curry’s stream had exploded in popularity this year, the competition for this content would be brutal.

Barcode, being a challenger, was highly likely to join the event.

But what I wanted was to join as Nayeon Queen and torment Curry.

Even if I couldn’t join as Nayeon Queen, I’d still get some satisfaction if I joined as Barcode and won the game.

If I won the in-house war, I planned to ask for something like a one-on-one phone date instead of the usual ‘prize.’

The New Year’s In-house War would start tomorrow at 5 PM.

That left about 17 hours until then.

I started practicing for the event, preparing in my own useless way—quickly joining private rooms and such.