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It started with an excruciating six hour Dungeons and Dragons online gameplay and one bet.
Last player alive in a one-shot battle royale, wins.
Everyone was at level one with limited skills and no experience.
All of them were confused and awkward in the map.
In short, except for the Dungeon Master, they were all freaking noobs. None of the participants had played the gameㅡever.
So it was just sheer luck, wit, and a lot of determination that got Kang Dongeui through all the meltdowns on confusing rules, screaming for doing a lot of simple math, players cursing at each other, and rage quitting during the game. Half the time, she had no clue what happened and just listened to their Dungeon Master's instructions before rolling her dice.
The prize was a year-round all-expense paid of any of the services being offered in the PC Room. And since the place was open 24/7, unlimited use of their computer facilities plus food and bevergae orders would be possibleㅡunless the winner don't care about hygiene nor sleep.
"Congrats, Dongeui-yah, I didn't know you can play like this," said the male behind the counter who manages the PC Room. "You should do this more often. Your character is so funny and so unpredictable."
However, Dongeui only looked at him with sunken eyes and a frown before slamming a hand on the counter between them. "All I wanted was to play Mario Cart to de-stress. I fucking hate you right now so don't talk to me."
She then dragged herself towards the door, leaving the stunned employee puzzled behind her.
"Wow! Really? You're so lucky, noona!" exclaimed her brother the moment she told him what happened the week before and why she want him to tag along to go back to the PC Room.
"Lucky, my ass. I fought for that goddamned prize for six freaking hours straight," Dongeui answered. "I thought working a desk job was horrible. That changed it. I am not gonna play that game ever again."
"What are we playing then? Call of Duty?" the younger male inquired.
"No. We're gonna inquire if it's transferrable."
His eyes sparkled and gleamed as he stared at his older sister, saying, "Aw, thank you so much, noona! I'll make sure to use it the best I can."
But Dongeui only knitted her brows at him. "I'm not giving it to you, Donghyun-ah. You'll just end up living there if I do that."
"What!? Then why doㅡ"
He was cut off when a tall male in black leather jacket suddenly walked past between them in a hurry, almost knocking him off his feet.
The male did mutter a quick apology before moving on and leaving them. Donghyun was ready to throw a fist but his sister stopped him. There was no point in starting a fight with someone who was already too far to even hear or see them.
"Anyway, I'm gonna auction it off to people like you." She smirked with a determined expression as they proceed to the elevator going up to the PC Room. "How much do you think I should price it?"
"Ah, Seobbie did mention about that. Hold on please," the female on duty said before disappearing behind the counter.
"I'm gonna play DOTA while we wait." Donghyun inserted beside Dongeui, turning to the other lady. "Which seat is available?"
The female reappeared from the counter and pointed to their right. "You can use number twenty-six. It's that way."
Donghyun bolted out and hurried to the seat, leaving his sister standing by the counter.
"I apologize but I cannot find the all details here. I'll have to call the owner to confirm."
"Alright. I'll wait." Dongeui answered. "Is number seventeen available though?"
That center seat was the best place in her opinion. It was stationed relatively away from the main gaming computers where people like Donghyun were playing loudly. Its also just perfectly located not too far that her food could potentially turn cold before it reach her but still far enough that people will not always bump into her chair when they need to leave. Plus, it was near the toilet area.
Over the course of the year since she started coming in the place, she liked to always take that seat. She was even sitting in the very same spot when she won that god-forsaken game.
"Five hundred thousand won?!" Dongeui dropped her chopsticks and stared at her phone for the lastest update of the auction listing she had.
It took her three days to decide if she wanted to push through with keeping the item for herself or really just sell it. But seeing the amount now, she feel elated.
The number had stayed on that amount for a day before someone started increasing the price in cents. Dongeui only expected it to reach not more than one hundred thousand won. And if no one bet on it higher than her base price, she'd cancel it and just use it herself.
However, not a week had gone by and here she was with her phone and her item was the hottest thing in site. Luckily, she only checked on it after coming home from work. Or she might had caused people to stare at her.
"This is crazy," Dongeui refreshed the page, afraid that it was all a misunderstanding and the website might be glitching.
It stayed the same.
"Uwa... who in their right mind spend this much money?" she sighed and picked her chopsticks to continue eating again.
"You're meeting who!?" Dongeui was on the phone with her brother.
She knew Donghyun liked to act like a brat in front of her but as the one who raised her brother, she also knew he's the one who worried the most about her.
"I'm only telling you this so you'd know I'm not home. So, go visit Mom before she raises from her grave and visits your dumb ass herself."
Dongeui ended the call and sipped her iced drink, waiting for the buyer of her auctioned item. When she got the prize details, she spoke with the PC Room owner and she was granted for it to be transferrable. No one said she couldn't sell it.
"Hi, excuse me," a deep but rather quiet voice came from her left. "Are you... perhaps, Kang Dongeui-ssi?"
His tall figure in a baggy gray pullover with matching pants and a beanie caught her attention. But half of his face was mainly covered by a black mask. A surprised look flashed before her face before she was hit by realization why he knew her name, forcing an awkward smile at the male that appeared in front of her.
"Yes. And I assume you're Jeon Bohyuk-ssi?" Dongeui asked as she watched the male took the seat across the table.
"Well, yeah..." he trailed off, pushing his round glasses up his nose before sighing and adding, "Actually, no. I'm Jeon Wonwoo, his brother. I kinda just used his name for... that."
The awkwardness fell between them and all that they could hear were the hushed murmurs of the other customerss in the cafe and the soft music being played for ambiance.
Dongeui shivered inwardly, the tingling sensation of the situation was very unnatural. "Then, I guess, we should proceed with the transfer process. It's just upstairs. Let's go."
Wonwoo silently followed her towards the elevator. They both step out to the door of the PC Room and Dongeui was quick to tell him that he can only use the 'item' in this location.
"Yo, Dongeui-yah," Seob, the male employee, smiled and greeted her as she pushed the glass door open in the place. "What are you playing today?"
His eyes then noticed the tall figure behind her and was briefly stunned in place, losing focus of what Dongeui was saying.
"Hey, hey!" She snapped her fingers right in front of Seob's face, pulling his attention back to her. "Talk to me, Seobbie-yah. I'm gonna transfer my prize to him"
"Ahm..." the male employee tilted his head with a pursed lips, his gaze darting from Dongeui to Wonwoo and then back to her again. Seob then answered, dragging his words with a visibly distorted and concerned facial experssion, "I... don't think... I can... do... that..."
"What!? Why?!" Her face soured and one hand slammed loudly at the counter. "That person last time told me you guys can do it."
"We can. We can," Seob immediately responded, trying to calm the woman. "But I can't transfer it to him."
"Wait, what?" Dongeui had her brows knitted as she looked back at Wonwoo who now had removed his mask and was obviously trying to push back a grin.
However, before she could mutter another word, Seob inserted, "Boss, don't do this. Help me out here... please."
"Sorry. I just want to see how this will go." Wonwoo said, chuckling and flashing a wide grin at them. "We'll be using the War Room. Don't let anyone in there."
He motioned for Dongeui to follow and walked to the far end of the area, unlocking an 'Authorized Personnel Only' door. Wonwoo flicked the lights on in the room before shutting the door closed behind her.
"Take a seat, Dongeui-ssi," Wonwoo indicated to the vacant six stations in there.
Each statio was equipped with wide double monitors, heavy-duty keyboard and mouse, headsets with mic, and high gaming chairs. Dongeui pulled and sat on the nearest one from her, facing Wonwoo.
"Okay, let me just say I'm sorry that I tried to sell the prize... But you really didn't specify I can't and I could use the money more..." she began. "Please don't sue me."
"I won't." Wonwoo answered, the small smile still on his lips while turning on the desktop set behind her. "You just need to defeat me in a game."
"What game?" She looked up at him intensely.
And he met her gaze behind his glasses. "Any game. You can choose."
Dongeui collapsed on her bed after a tiring day at work. She had picked up some things from the convinience store for her dinner and was just ready to call it a night when her phone rang.
She answered the call but had no energy to say anything to her brother at this time.
"Noo... na?" he said in a sing-song tone. "Are you... there?"
"I'm sleeping," she replied lowly.
"Noo... na... I'm sorry, noona..." Donghyun continued to slur his words before sobbing from his end. "I'm so sorry... Oh my god, you're... so going... to kill me... Shit!"
"What the fuck did you do? What happened?!" Dongeui instantly bolted up her bed, already rushing around and preparing to go out. "Where are you?!"
"No, no... Don't... don't come here... He gave me... money... to go home," he replied with not so apologetic tone anymore. "I'm... just... You know... that. Okay. Bye."
Confused and worried, Dongeui tried calling back her brother while jogging to the main street. She was looking around to see if her brother was anywhere near her apartment as he always been when drunk.
But his phone only rang several times before she was redirected to voicemail. As it ended, her phone rang instead and she answered it without checking the number.
"Where the fucking hell are you?!" she frantically asked, darting her eyes around as she kept jogging about.
"Dongeui-ssi," a familiar deep voice answered back instead. "It's Jeon Wonwoo. Do you know your brother's address? He's down andㅡ"
"Here!" Dongeui replied before he could finish. "I mean... I mean. You can bring him here. I'll text you my address."
"Alright. I'll call you again when we get there, Dongeui-ssi."
Silence filled the line as Wonwoo did not hung up the call, as if waiting for her reply.
"Ah... yeah. Thank you, Wonwoo-ssi."
After they tossed Donghyun on the spare blankets she laid on one side of the living room, Dongeui and Wonwoo sat around the low table on the other corner.
It had only been three months since the guys met and both of them seemed to become too close for her brother to be this dead drunk with Wonwoo. However, she knew that that's just how her brother was. An overly friendly extrovert. On top of that, she knew Wonwoo longer and yet this was the first time they actually sat together outside their gaming bet.
"Are you giving up?" Wonwoo asked, breaking the silence between them and subtly eyeing her from behind his glasses.
Dongeui looked directly at his slightly flushed face before shaking her head. "I don't wanna but I just can't win against you."
"You still have seven months to beat me though," he sighed, leaning back at the wall but keeping his eyes on her. "Don't give up. Fighting."
She chuckled in disbelief at him. "Still, what's the purpose? I've already used almost half of the prize. Plus, you're too good with all the games we played."
"Not every game..." Wonwoo trailed off.
"Yeah, right," Dongeui snickered, averting her gaze from him to check on her brother. "Where did you two even get the idea of drinking this much at a Wednesday night?"
"Hm," the male made a silent hum, closing his eyes and leaning back on the wall as if to think if he should answer her.
"Then, let me rephrase that," she said after getting no response. "Why was Donghyun apologizing to me? What happened?"
At that, Wonwoo smiled but quickly composed himself before pulling himself to stand. Dongeui followed suit and kept a glare at him, obviously not pleased to his lack of answer to her questions.
"Wait, Wonwoo-ssi," she called behind him when he was about to grab the door handle. "I'll reimburse the taxi fare."
"Ah, no," he said, quickly snatching her hand and halting her in place. "I mean, you can just give it to me when we meet each other again. Okay?"
She nodded at him, confused and astounded.
"Alright. See you soon, Dongeui-ssi."
This time, Wonwoo smiled widely at her and leaned down to kiss her forehead. He then stepped away and made tiny waves before exiting her apartment. All along, Dongeui was caught off guard with his gestures and was left stunned on her feet.
"What the hell was that?"
Wonwoo had not made that faceㅡnor any other kind of faceㅡtowards her before aside when winning a game against her. He was often void of any facial emotions even while in-game.
Why did he...? And why did he wave afterwards? Though he was leaving... A 'goodbye' gesture was to wave. But what's up with that forehead kiss!? Okay, maybe because he was tipsy...? No...!
With Donghyun already gone the following morning when Dongeui woke up, it bothered her so much that her head kept the internal monologue cycle until she just found herself inside the elevator going up to the PC Room a few days later.
"Oh, hey!" Seob greeted from his usual post. "Long time no see, Dongeui-yah."
"Where is he?" She stomped towards the counter. "Is he in the War Room?"
"W-wait. Wait. You mean the boss?" he clarified, taken aback. "He's not here."
Then she immediately added, "How about Donghyun? Is my brother here?"
"Ah, yes... in number thirty." Seob answered, clearly confused. "Please don't bother the others..."
However, Dongeui had already turned and was quickly pacing towards the stations at the other side, oblivious to his last words.
She shiftly grabbed the headset off Donghyun who looked back at her annoyingly before realizing it was her behind him.
"Noona!"
"Get your sorry ass up. I need to talk to you."
Donghyun followed her a minute later and they exited the PC Room, heading to the emergency stairs. There, she stared at her brother with reddening tired eyes and both arms crossed in front of her.
"Spill it, Kang Donghyun," she demanded. "What's up with you and Wonwoo-ssi?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
She raised an brow. "Were you so wasted that you don't remember why you drunk call me, apologizing and sobbing like a baby?"
A change in his ficial reaction flashed before her. And they both knew she knew that he remembered it.
"Well?" She kept her stance in front of him.
"Okay, fine. But promise me you won't get angry because I did my best so it won't have to come to this."
Dongeui sighed. Her brother was not one to be dishonest. "Promise."
"Hyung asked what I think you'd do if he makes a move on you after your bet is done. I said you're not that easy to win and even if you are, I won't accept him. One thing led to another and we end up playing a round of CSGO, and he destroyed me."
"How did you both end up drunk though?"
"Huh? We were? I thought hyung said he doesn't like to drink on a work day." Donghyun shrugged at it afterwards. "I guess he can't stand me drinking alone."
Dongeui was silent, trying to process the words her brother was saying. She then quietly nodded to herself and told Donghyun to go back to whatever he was doing as she walked back to the elevator.
"Uhm... Dongeui-ssi? What is all this?"
Wonwoo came in the War Room after Seob told him that the female came to play against him again. But he didn't expect her to bring so many things in the room.
"You obviously could slay me in any computer games I could think of. So, this is my strategy to win."
To be more precise, Dongeui brought some old school toys and some board games. She thought that if the male was really so blessed with golden hands at computer games, he might not be so good with these kind of stuff.
"Since we're changing the means of the game, I suggest we change some rules in our bet too." Dongeui said, idly rumaging in a box full of items.
"Like?"
"The consequence. So far, we agreed you'd pay me the amount if I beat you in any game, right?"
Wonwoo adjusted his glasses and nodded.
"This time let's change it that if you beat me to all of these games, I'd let you make a move on me."
Wonwoo's eyes rounded but he quickly readjusted his composure.
"Oh, really? Are you sure about that Kang Dongeui-ssi? I'm quite lucky, you know."
She laughed. "I bet."
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