Sorim Grapes is Wronged

21.

“L-let’s all cheers together. Cheers.”

“Wow. Cheers cheers.”

Jin and Da-bin hurriedly clinked cans with the quiet guy, their faces full of bewilderment.

In the end, we all cheered together, and the yellow-haired guy took a big gulp of beer, while the quiet guy twisted his upper body to drink, as if being polite in front of an adult.

He must be a physical education student after all. I’ve heard PE students have intense discipline.

I quietly listened to the conversation of the first-year college students while drinking my beer.

“How are you guys taking midterms? I’ve always been curious about how the e-sports department takes exams.”

“It’s the same for us. We have assignments and exams. The exam content differs slightly depending on whether you’re aiming to be a pro gamer, GemTuber, marketer, or planner.”

“Then how does Kwon Je-beom, who’s already a pro gamer, take exams?”

“This guy’s a bit special. Different from us ordinary folks. I think he just needs to submit an activity certificate for a guaranteed A.”

I was secretly surprised.

That quiet guy… Kwon Je-beom was not a PE student but an e-sports major, and a pro gamer as well as a college student…!

Indeed, one shouldn’t judge people hastily based on appearances. But even after hearing this, I couldn’t believe it, so I looked at Kwon Je-beom and our eyes met.

Just like in the smoking room, when our eyes met, he slowly… turned his head as if he had been looking elsewhere from the start.

What’s this? Really? If he wasn’t a friend of Jin and Da-bin, I would have grabbed him by the collar and asked what his deal was with me.

“A guaranteed A? Ah, is it judged based on some competition record? Je-beom, can you explain?”

“…Exams are substituted with competition participation records during the semester.”

His spine-tingling low voice matched his appearance quite well.

“So you really don’t take exams?”

Kwon Je-beom nodded. The looks demanding further explanation continued, but those heavy lips simply wouldn’t part. Jin and Da-bin didn’t get angry or frustrated. There was an atmosphere of accepting Kwon Je-beom’s silence as natural.

Seeing that, I realized. Kwon Je-beom is not an extroverted personality.

“But even if you don’t have to take exams, is it okay for you to be here now? The GoC8 online fan meeting is at 7 PM tonight, right?”

“It’s okay if I don’t go.”

Kwon Je-beom answered Da-bin’s question briefly.

“Oh… Okay. You’re here because it’s fine, I guess…”

“Hey, Ju Da-bin.”

Suddenly, Jin called Da-bin with a trembling voice as if he had been betrayed.

“How do you know the date of Je-beom’s team’s online fan meeting…? You don’t even play LTimos.”

“When I found out there was an LTimos pro gamer, and even a world champion, among the freshmen taking the same liberal arts class, how could I not be interested? I even joined the team’s official cafe the day we introduced ourselves and exchanged names.”

“How could you do that… Behind my back… To such a place…”

Jin shuddered.

“Joining without me! I’m a GoC8 fan too. I’ve been a fan even longer than you! I couldn’t join before because I was busy studying, but to lose out like this. I’m going to join as soon as I get home today. This is betrayal!”

I thought he was jealous because his girlfriend liked another guy, but something about the content was strange. What’s this Go-C… thing? As I was debating whether to ask, a soft voice came from beside me.

“GoC8 is the name of a gaming team. Go-seong Center 8. Also called Go-C-pal.”

“Ah, I see. Thanks.”

I was a bit shocked to learn for the first time that my brother liked something like a gaming team.

Come to think of it, I hardly know anything about my brother. I didn’t have time to pay attention because I was just working… but that’s just an excuse. I’m not a good caregiver.

With a bitter feeling, I looked at Jin, and he was staring with wide eyes, looking as surprised as me.

“Kwon… Je-beom. Did you just explain that to our hyung…? Thank you so much…”

“……”

Kwon Je-beom lowered his eyelids shyly and turned his head slightly. Beside him, Yu Min-su exclaimed, “Did you explain on your own without anyone asking?” Da-bin praised him, saying “You showed incredible courage!”

If he’s praised even for this level of speech…

The warm atmosphere didn’t last long.

“Wait. So Yu Min-su, you called out a busy player on a day when GoC8 has a schedule? You’re crazy. Some friend you are.”

When Jin scolded him, Yu Min-su frowned deeply.

“Don’t misunderstand. I knew he had a schedule, so I didn’t even tell him to come. I just rubbed it in that today was Korea University’s chicken and beer day and everyone was out drinking, but this guy ignored me at first and then suddenly showed up. What’s more, our department’s spot is over there, but he was just wandering aimlessly around here. I came to get him because they said there was a lost child, and when I saw you guys and hyungnim here, we sat down.”

“Is that so? Kwon Je-beom. Did you want chicken? Eat some chicken.”

Da-bin pushed the chicken towards Kwon Je-beom. Kwon Je-beom looked down at the chicken with a face that showed no desire for it, then glanced at me again. When our eyes met, he slowly turned his head away again.

“Besides, this guy was probably planning to skip the fan meeting to play another game anyway. This so-called pro gamer has been hooked on a different game lately. By the way, what game it is is a secret, and only I know-“

“Ah, right. Kwon Je-beom, you said you were playing Forest Effect.”

“Huh…? What? How do you guys know Kwon Je-beom is playing Poi?”

Forest Effect…?

When the game I’m playing was mentioned, my head turned without any chance for self-control. Kwon Je-beom, who had been glancing at me, slowly fixed his gaze straight ahead.

“Hey, Kwon Je-beom. You said playing Poi was a secret. How do they know? Don’t tell me you got caught?”

“…I told them.”

“Is it okay to tell them? No, but when? Kim Ha-jin, you tell me. When and where exactly did you hear about this?”

Yu Min-su was very surprised. For some reason, Jin and Da-bin answered hesitantly while watching my reaction.

“Once… Kwon Je-beom recommended a game to us.”

“Recommended? Tell me more details. When, where? What were you talking about that led to recommending Poi?”

“Just… in passing.”

“Ah, it just happened. Why are you interrogating us?”

Jin burst out in irritation. Seeing him get annoyed over this, it seems there’s something fishy going on related to Kwon Je-beom and Poi.

“And honestly, it’s not a big deal that Kwon Je-beom plays Poi. It’s the most popular game these days. It’s consistently ranking first in PC bang occupancy rates among MMORPGs. Our hyung started playing recently too.”

Jin ended up blurting out that fact, which I had been uneasy about. Yu Min-su asked eagerly.

“So hyungnim plays too. Which server are you on?”

“Mino server.”

That’s a lie. I’m actually on Luna server.

“Ah, I’m on Kallen server. What a shame.”

I made eye contact with Jin, who knows I’m on Luna server. Jin had a slightly puzzled expression but didn’t say anything like ‘Hyung, you’re on Luna server’. Still, I should caution him later.

“Kwon Je-beom is on Luna server, so all three of us are different. Let’s play together when server transfers become available, hyungnim.”

“What’s a server transfer?”

“It’s moving characters to a different server. You can move your character to another server.”

So there’s something like moving even within the game. Or should I call it immigration in this case?

“Or I might just make an alt on Mino server, who knows when transfers will be available. I want to play with hyungnim.”

“Why with me specifically?”

“Hyungnim, you’re too cold. Honestly, we have an incredible inner closeness with hyungnim. These two always talk about hyungnim when they’re together. Before class, at drinking parties, while eating, just at cafes, whenever they put their heads together, it’s always about you. They think they’re whispering quietly, but honestly, you can hear everything if you sit nearby.”

“They talk about me?”

“Yes. At first, I didn’t even know if it was about a real brother, or even a real person. They seriously discuss things like ‘Did you feed him?’, ‘Did you make him sleep?’, ‘Did you make him go out?’. I thought they were playing some kind of raising game, you know?”

I turned my gaze to Jin and Da-bin. Their eyes were shaking uncontrollably.

“W-we were just talking quietly among ourselves…?”

“Yeah, you were talking among yourselves, but everyone around could hear.”

“……”

I raised the corners of my mouth.

“Interesting. What else did you talk about?”

“Let’s take him to the sea next time. Let’s make him wear this. It’s estimated to take 3 hours to assemble the metal storage cabinet, so let’s order two and make him assemble them. Let’s make him do a 3000-piece puzzle… Isn’t that torture? I didn’t know what game they were playing, but I thought they really hated that character.”

“Haha.”

Jin and Da-bin’s faces were gradually turning pale. They must be worried because I get angry easily even over small things.

But actually, I’m not very angry right now. If someone else had spread such stories about me, I would have cut ties immediately, but I can guess these two’s intentions…

They were worried about me, who had quit my job and stuck to my bed.

I know this is why they made me try all sorts of useless things like fishing and baking. Even assigning me the game task instead of doing it themselves was probably out of a desire for me to enjoy something, even a little.

They talked about me in classrooms, bars, and cafes because they were so worried.

Knowing their intentions, I wasn’t angry.

Jin, who had been watching my expression, opened his mouth.

“Hyung… you’re not angry now?”

“That’s right, I’m not.”

When I answered, Jin smiled broadly as if relieved. Da-bin was the same. Cute kids.

“I was scared for a moment. Thank goodness. Yu Min-su, you bastard, why did you blab about such things?”

“What did I do? You guys should have restrained yourselves from talking about hyungnim in public places.”