May 197 min read

That guy is This guy Chapter 81

81.

The relationship between me and Kim Eui-chan wasn’t like this from the beginning.

By chance, I had the opportunity to participate in an offline competition and met my teammates. Among them, I communicated best with Kim Eui-chan, who was in charge of the long-distance dealer.

We were able to become friends quickly because we were the same age and surprisingly similar in everything from our personalities to our laugh lines. Kim’s Eui-chan even honestly told me that he was the most comfortable with me among his teammates.

Even though we live over an hour away by public transportation, we have become so close that we meet often.

Our relationship, which was so good that he proudly introduced himself as my close friend to people around him, began to have problems when he debuted as a professional player.

“I think I’ll be meeting with someone from the CXB team this weekend to talk about a contract… Can you come with me? It’s my first time doing something like this, so it’s a little scary.”

When the request was carefully asked with a shy smile, I answered that of course I would go with him.

At that time, we were 20 years old and had just finished our graduation ceremony. I sympathized with how difficult and unfamiliar it must be to meet a professional team official and talk about a contract. I was also worried about Kim Eui-chan going there alone.

I tried to find as much information as I could to see if it might be helpful. Since Kim Eui-chan was a bit sloppy, I thought I should come to my senses too. Because it was the first step for him to debut as a professional player.

However, the meeting with the officials that had just begun took a turn for the worse than I expected.

“This is Mr. Kim Eui-chan-ssi’s contract, and this is Yoo Ji-han-ssi’s contract.”

“Why did you sign my contract... I have no intention of becoming a professional?”

“Yes? But from the beginning, our proposal was to recruit two people at the same time. Um, I explained everything to Kim Eui-chan-ssi in advance... but didn’t you know about it?”

“……”

There must be some misunderstanding. With that in mind, I turned my gaze to Kim Eui-chan sitting next to me and was speechless when I saw Kim Eui-chan lowering his head without making eye contact.

In the end, the contract was not concluded and ended in vain. As I came out of the building and was smoking a cigarette, Kim Eui-chan came up to me and apologized.

“I’m sorry, Ji-han. It was such a good opportunity that I couldn’t refuse it. And if I’m lucky, the conditions set by the person involved may change….”

“...Okay.”

Did you use me in your contract? I was sincerely trying to help you, but is my consideration ridiculous? Did you think that if you lied and took me with you, I would have no choice but to sign the contract? I swallowed down the many words that rose to the top of my throat with difficulty and gave a mixed answer.

“Don’t do that next time.”

He was so desperate that he had to lie. Anyway, since I didn’t sign the contract, Kim Eui-chan’s duplicity doesn’t really matter. He apologized, so I believed it won’t happen again.

I understood Kim Eui-chan’s feelings and deliberately did not mention what happened. Kim Eui-chan was later recruited by another team and successfully became a professional player.

But, funny enough, perhaps because I understood and moved on, Kim Eui-chan’s lies continued from this incident.

One time, after hearing from Kim Eui-chan that the two of them should hang out together, I went out to meet him and there was a woman I had never seen before. After hearing the story, she said it was a surprise blind date. At that time, I had a girlfriend and Kim Eui-chan knew that.

“This Noona begged me for you to meet her just once. But honestly, I think Noona is better than your current girlfriend.”

I later found out that she was an e-sports reporter.

Of course, I don’t know what was exchanged between the two. Maybe the woman she introduced just happened to be a reporter. But this happened over and over again.

After experiencing similar things several times, I couldn’t trust Kim Eui-chan. The bigger problem was the breakdown of trust and confidence between us than Kim Ui-chan’s lies.

When I felt that fact keenly, I no longer wanted to have Kim Eui-chan by my side. That was the reason why we ended our relationship of 4 years. Kim Eui-chan, who was holding me back saying he couldn’t understand, left Korea soon after, transferring to the Chinese team.

Now, a year has passed. As I sat across from Kim Eui-chan and recalled the past events one by one, a deep sense of fatigue came over me.

Kim Eui-chan, who was observing me silently with his arms crossed, could not hold out any longer and opened his mouth first.

“You haven’t changed. Is it normal since it’s only been a year?”

“Let’s skip the unnecessary talk and just get to the point.”

Now, even when I look at Kim Eui-chan, I don’t feel any emotions. I never really wonder why he lied at all.

I was more worried about Chae Yoo-jeong, who was waiting for me behind me.

“Don’t contact me again in the future. Don’t come here like this because it’s unpleasant to sit and look at your face.”

“...I apologized for everything. I also said I won’t deceive you in the future. I don’t understand why you hate me so much.”

There are so many different things, really... I answered while touching the end of my eyebrows due to the throbbing headache.

“I never asked you to do it. Even if you don’t understand, still don’t do it. Just don’t do it at all and stop paying attention to me. Is it that difficult?”

Kim Eui-chan frowned after hearing what I said.

“How can I do that? Are you okay with that? Honestly, I thought you would contact me first during the one-year break. Isn’t it because of me that you gave up Hero?”

“What?”

“After the fight, I had to go to China right away, so we didn’t have time to reconcile. That always bothered me so around May, I asked Tae-young how you were, but he said you quit Hero.”

What is this guy talking about? Kim Eui-chan continued his story, leaving me speechless and shocked.

“I heard that you quit Hero because of me, how would I feel? I can’t come to Korea then because I have a game schedule, so I have no way to contact you. I asked Tae-young, but he didn’t help me, telling me to take care of it myself.”

“Hah… Why did Tae-young Hyung say that? Stop talking nonsense.”

“It’s not a big deal, I just wanted to tell you something. Anyway, I contacted you as soon as I came to Korea because I wanted to see you in person and solve the problem. Can’t you just understand my position?”

“……”

The more we talked, the more it slowly fell away. I had no idea where to start explaining.

After thinking for a while, holding my forehead, I laid out the facts as concisely and cleanly as possible.

“I didn’t quit Hero because of you. I gave up because I was tired of the game and also had problems with going back to school.”

It was true that Chae Yoo-jeong’s ‘Jungler’ prank on me was the catalyst, but that was not all.

From the limits of my skills to the harsh and profanity-filled chat, to the realistic situation ahead of my return to school– there were many reasons that made it up. Actually, I’ve already stopped playing Hero for several months now.

“How many times have you lied to me? I don’t think the actual lie is important, but the broken trust is important.”

“No matter what you say, it all seems like a lie, and I have doubts. How on earth can you still go on like before? You may be able to do that, but I can’t. So, I ended my relationship with you and lived well for a year.”

“……”

Kim Eui-chan could not refute and bit his lip. When I saw that, it all suddenly felt pointless.

What am I doing here? A conversation with Kim Eui-chan is something that only happens with Chae Yoo-jeong and Kim Dae-seok sitting behind him. I saw no reason to sit any longer and got up.

“If you understand, don’t contact me. Don’t even come looking for me. Because it’s really fucking shit.”

“……”

“I’m going now.”

I turned my back on Kim Eui-chan, who was sitting there, without any hesitation. Then, the face of Chae Yoo-jeong, who was looking at me with a nervous expression near the cafe entrance, caught my eye.

When he saw that, he somehow burst into laughter. Kim Dae-seok, sitting across from me, is playing a game on his phone. It was kind of cute to see Chae Yoo-jeong fidgeting like that by himself.

“Hyung, are you okay?”

“Of course I’m okay. Let’s go out.”

Chae Yoo-jeong, who glanced at Kim Eui-chan, quietly followed me out of the cafe. When I came out after being in a warm temperature for a while, my body began to tremble, and my headache got even worse.

“Did you have a good conversation?”

“Uh-huh. He will not come after me anymore.”

I nodded in response to Kim Dae-seok’s question.

Kim Eui-chan was the type of person who would argue even if he was not convinced. Since he didn’t respond when I told him I was leaving, it probably means he won’t stick around anymore.

‘For now, one person has been solved.’

As soon as I moved to the back of the cafe building, I pulled Chae Yoo-jeong’s ear.

“Ouch, it hurts!”

“You can’t say that it hurts. Why did you come here?”

Chae Yoo-jeong grabbed his ear, which quickly turned red after pulling it, and made him tear up.

“Hyung ignored all my communications....”

“I told you I was busy. I was already planning to contact you tomorrow, but you couldn’t bear it?”

“I didn’t know. Sorry.”

“Of course, Kim Eui-chan came too and I’m already very distracted, but because of you…”

“Wait.”

Chae Yoo-jeong, who was looking at me and nagging me with strange eyes, suddenly stretched out his hand and touched my forehead. I felt a cool, soft touch on my forehead.

Chae Yoo-jeong opened his mouth to me, eyes bent in a frown, while I was left confused by the sudden skinship.

“Hyung, I think you are having a fever right now?”

---