Chapter 9

Translator: misacchi

Editor: Girl from the East

[Me: are you nuts?]

As soon as I sent the message the “number 1“ symbol disappeared. I was a little perplexed. It felt like he was just looking at my messages.

[Heejae: sick]

And, as always, Shin Heejae spoke bluntly without trying to be courteous. Embarrassed, I spoke to him.

[Me: take medicine]

[Heejae: I can’t eat it because I threw up]

After that, again there was no reply. I wondered if his condition was more serious than I thought. I just stared at the message window.

No matter how much I waited, after those words, there was no more contact from Shin Heejae. A little nervous, I spoke to him again.

[Me: is there no one at home?]

Again, Shin Heejae did not respond this time. Even though the number 1 disappeared.

[Me: hey answer me]

[Me: are you sleeping]

There was a strange feeling stirring inside me, so I called him. If I don’t speak, he won’t know if I’m a woman or a man. I was just going to cut it off after hearing just one word of ‘hello’ from the guy…

“…”

After the phone was connected, no matter how long I waited. Shin Heejae’s voice was not heard over the receiver. Only a small rustling sound lingered in my ears.

“…”

Suddenly, something grazed my ear. A somewhat ominous sound beyond the level of sickness… It was an obvious groan.

I hung up and immediately called 119.

* * *

Shin Heejae said it was acute appendicitis.

He foolishly thought he had a cold when he first started feeling unwell. He seemed to have collapsed after taking the only cold medicine he had at home. If it had been delayed any longer it apparently would have escalated to peritonitis and he would have to had major surgery.

He couldn’t turn on the live broadcast for a while. Now that he was discharged, he seemed to be doing well at home.

I got this news through that guy’s YouTube community.

Of course, I was the one who rescued him by calling 119 but… I often declined Shin Heejae’s phone calls recently, so I didn’t really know what was going on.

In addition…

[Heejae: noona]

[Heejae: why are you ignoring my messages these days?]

[Me: what are you saying]

[Heejae: it’s a bit late]

[♬♪♬♬♪♬]

“Ah, fuck…! Why does this bastard keep calling me?”

From the day he regained consciousness, he continued to try to contact me by phone instead of messaging. I pressed [Reject Call] and blocked his number for a while. Then the phone went silent.

[Me: just text me]

[Me: I can’t answer the phone while I’m at work]

[Heejae: you don’t answer the phone even when playing games ㅇ.ㅇ]

[Me: of course, why would I answer your call]

[Heejae: I’m curious about noona’s voice]

[Me: I’m not curious]

[Heejae: ㅇ_ㅇ I’m not curious about noona’s opinion either]

[Me: are you crazy?]

But Shin Heejae did not yield to my aggressive attitude.

I was obviously unable to answer his calls. Of course I saved the guy with pure good intentions but… to be honest, I hadn’t really taken revenge on him yet. I still needed to maintain my netkama status.

The other reason… was that Shin Heejae might have noticed that I was lying about my gender. He might be calling to confirm it, so it was not good to answer his calls.

“I shouldn’t have saved him…Ow.”

I kicked the desk with my feet, regretting calling 119 from afar.

I really didn’t understand why I acted like that at the time. I was not the type of person to get close to anyone, let alone that guy whom I was far from liking.

‘It’s so painful…’

As soon as I heard the faint mumble, I sensed that something was seriously wrong. I acted before I could think. To be honest, although I was grumbling right now… perhaps even if I went back to that time, I still would have called the ambulance.

But that was it, and now that Shin Heejae was whining in his messages, it made me want to punch him. In addition, ever since he was discharged from the hospital, he has started flirting even more.

[Heejae: why didn’t noona come when I was hospitalized?]

[Heejae: I told you to come visit me]

[Me: fck off]

[Heejae: noona didn’t come so I was alone the whole time I was in the hospital]

I replied with a snort.

[Me: what kinda bullshit lolol go act like a baby to your parents]

[Heejae: lolol]

[Me: If the appendix ruptures, you’ll be discharged after surgery and be farting]

[Me: are you telling me to go and listen to you farting?]

[Heejae: ow lolol]

[Heejae: no, who would come for such an ugly thing?]

[Heejae: I just wanted to thank you]

[Me: No need]

[Me: no, I’ll give you my bank account, so just deposit it. Don’t talk nonsense]

[Me: XXX-XX-XXXXXX-XXX]

[Me: Put plenty of it ^^]

[Heejae: lololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololol]

But no matter how hard I pushed him away, he was quite persistent.

Instead of making a deposit he sent me his address. He said that he wanted to meet me somehow, saying that he would pay for the taxi fare if I came by taxi. Or he would send a car to the front of the house.

In the end, I was totally fed up with his nonsense.

[Me: you’re so clueless]

[Heejae: about what?]

[Me: i’m your lifesaver but i have to go back and forth]

[Heejae: lolololololololololol]

[Heejae: is it troublesome?]

[Heejae: So in which area do you live?]

[Heejae: I have a car]

[Me: come to arcadia ㅎㅎ]

[Heejae: …you know that’s dull, right?

[Me: lolol]

[Me: are you dense?]

[Me: even if I die with you, there’s no need to see my face]

Only after I had said this far, I barely stopped him from telling me to come see him. The guy didn’t say anything for a while but eventually, he took a step back.

[Heejae: fine but how about unblocking the number?]

[Me; don’t call me either]

[Heejae: ah I get it already lolol ​​I won’t do it, so unblock me]

I think I had crushed his pride to this extent. but I wanted to keep in contact so I removed the block for the time being.

Fortunately, Shin Heejae stopped calling. However… he only didn’t call just as he promised. After that, He started beating me up in the game.

***

[Heejae: when is noona coming?]

[Me: on the way]

It was a Friday evening after work.

I had been out getting take away chicken to eat while in the game as well as having a drink, which I hadn’t had in a long time. Shin Heejae couldn’t stand the 30 minutes delay and I received a message from him urging me again.

[Heejae: it’s usually half past five when you get off work]

[Me: Shh I’m pooping heh]

[Heejae: ah don’t say that]

After I learned that Shin Heejae was sensitive to primitive things like poop and farts, I brought it up whenever he bothered me.

The problem is that the effect doesn’t last very long. It was the same this time. Shin Heejae was silent for only 5 minutes before he sent another message.

[Heejae: oh hurry up and finish pooping]

[Me: I’ve been waiting for an hour just in time for noona to get off work]

[Me: If you’re busy, go with others]

[Heejae: am I rushing because I’m busy?]

[Heejae: it’s because I want to play with noona]

[Me: lol]

[Me: then shut up and wait]

It was fine if he didn’t accept my bullshit. Shin Heejae didn’t send a message as if he was sulky.

I had the beer and chicken with an uneasy mind and entered two and a half hours later than the original time I was supposed to be logged in.

Although I habitually went into Discord, I thought that Shin Heejae would not wait alone in the chat without anyone.

However, my expectation was wrong. Shin Heejae kept waiting for me in the Discord chat, so as soon as I came in, I heard his voice.

“Ah, is Seyoung here?”

The problem was that he was calling out my real name.

“Pfft!”

I choked as I was gulping the remaining beer.

“This… how does this crazy bastard know someone else’s name?”

[Sesam: what are you??]

I was startled and questioned him, but Shin Heejae laughed softly and responded detestably.

“You told me your bank account number to deposit money.”

[Sesam: what?]

“I was trying to send money and your name popped up. Kim Seyoung.”

It was only then that I realized that I had been exposing too much information in a fit of panic. If my name had been a name that clearly revealed the gender, wouldn’t my netkama plan have already ended yesterday?

Maybe Shin Heejae’s brain was hardened because he’s acting like an idiot… I was sweating as I started recalling the words I had said, belatedly wondering if I had made any other mistakes.

He heard me being quiet, and after a moment’s silence, spoke up.

“If noona sends me a picture, I’ll send you money.”

I was able to relax a little then. Yes, how much would a punk like Shin Heejae notice even if he knew?

[Sesam: goodbye]

[Sesam: report completed]

“No, I don’t mean it that way. Noona, you don’t have a profile pic after all.”

My profile picture had been changed to default while exchanging numbers with Shin Hee-jae. So I took the default profile picture very recklessly and sent it to the chat.

As soon as Shin Heejae saw it, he clicked his tongue and asked me.

“Noona, don’t you use Facebook or Instagram or things like this?”

[Sesam: no]

“You aren’t going to tell me even if you do?”

[Sesam: you’ve become a bit sharp lolol]

I don’t really do this, but I somehow wanted to tease him for no reason. Shin Heejae didn’t want to listen to me obediently in the first place anyway.

But he soon made another offer in a warm voice.

“Do you want me to tell you mine? I have a separate personal private account…”