GBAS 39

“Thanks. I opened dozens of these and it never dropped. You must have good luck.”

“Yes.”

Hyunwoo answered curtly, grinding his teeth inwardly.

Of course, hyung!

Even for him, a so-called “blessed character” chosen by the system, he only got it just before his 81st purchase of a 10-kit set. It was only natural that it wouldn’t drop after opening just a few dozen.

The window in front of them disappeared, indicating that Jooin, after some hesitation, had accepted the trade. As if he planned to apply the skin right away, Jooin properly readjusted the guitar he had slung behind his back.

Not long after, the neck of the guitar Jooin was holding turned black, and the red and white body also changed to a jet-black color.

“Wow.”

Jooin’s eyes weren’t wrong. The new instrument skin looked exactly like the guitar often seen in Jooin’s videos.

“It looks exactly the same.”

Hyunwoo, who had muttered unconsciously, quickly clamped a hand over his mouth.

Fortunately, Jooin didn’t notice and was busy examining the head and neck, seeming pleased with the newly changed guitar. Hyunwoo, watching him quietly, mustered up his courage and spoke.

“So, you’ve collected all of today’s points, right?”

“Points?”

Jooin asked back, staring blankly, then soon understood what Hyunwoo meant and nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Then what are you doing today?”

“I have to do my homework.”

Baek Jooin answered with an indifferent face, as if asking why he was even asking. Hyunwoo asked again.

“And then?”

“Gathering mission.”

“And after that?”

“I have to clear the new map.”

“And when you’re done with all that? What will you do then?”

Jooin, frowning at the string of questions, sighed and said.

“…I have to practice.”

Hyunwoo swallowed softly at the emotion-laden reply. The conversation just now was closer to an interrogation than a conversation, but he couldn’t stop. Hyunwoo, glancing at Jooin’s face, opened his mouth again.

“Why do you have so much to do? How long are you going to practice?”

Jooin’s expression changed strangely at his attitude, which seemed to be both observant and not. After thinking for a moment, Jooin asked quietly.

“Why are you curious about that?”

“Ye-es?”

Hyunwoo’s mouth hung open, flustered by Jooin’s question.

If you ask me why I’m curious, well, that’s, because, that is…

Jooin, looking down at the stuttering Hyunwoo, asked in a calm, subdued voice.

“Do you, by any chance, have something to say to me?”

“Something to say?”

“Yeah.”

He had more than enough to say. The list of things he had organized to say when he met Baek Jooin was enough to fill his palm. But bringing everything up at once was a rash decision.

Today’s goal was to hand over the gift as casually as possible and get what he wanted, but there was one thing Hyunwoo had overlooked. The fact that he was a newbie at one-sided crushes.

That is to say, his heart and his body wouldn’t do as he willed.

“Yes. Ah, no. No, that’s not it.”

Damn it. Again, again. Hyunwoo bit his disobedient lips hard and swallowed his tears inwardly.

“It’s not that it’s not.”

Jooin, who had been quietly watching the muttering Hyunwoo, covered his mouth with his hand. Then, he let out a small laugh as if in disbelief. Jooin’s sudden burst of laughter made Hyunwoo’s already tearful eyebrows droop even further.

“Why, why are you laughing?”

“It’s nothing.”

Jooin waved his hand, quickly suppressing his laughter, and continued.

“If you have something to say, you can just say it here.”

At the suggestion, which sounded like he just wanted to get it over with, Hyunwoo shouted reflexively.

“No!”

“Then?”

“Th-that’s. I mean.”

This is like a child throwing a tantrum. Jooin, letting out a quiet chuckle at the sight of Hyunwoo biting his lip, looked down at the guitar slung over his shoulder. Jooin, stroking the black body with his hand, looked up and asked.

“Let’s sort this out first. I don’t know the price since no one’s selling it, so how much should I give you?”

“I didn’t give it to you to get money.”

Hyunwoo pouted his lower lip and answered grumpily. Jooin paused for a moment, then said after a short hesitation.

“Still, take it.”

“I don’t want to.”

“I said take it.”

“I said I don’t want to.”

“Take it.”

“I said no.”

“Take it.”

“No!”

Sparks flew between the two.

Just as they were glaring at each other, Jooin’s guitar turned red and white again.

“…No!”

Hyunwoo’s face turned ashen, and Jooin, holding the orb-shaped item in his palm, said.

“Then I’ll throw it away.”

“Are you crazy?”

The harsh words came out on their own.

“Do you know how hard it was to get that!”

The reason Hyunwoo was agitated wasn’t just because the item was hard to get.

Instrument skins obtained from paid kits were items that were bound to the user. The moment you apply it, the user’s three-letter name is stamped on the item, making it a bound item. It was a troublesome item that even the unbinding potions sold in the cash shop didn’t work on, so if Baek Jooin threw it away, he couldn’t even pick it up and use it.

“You said it dropped while you were opening kits.”

“That’s!”

“Then just consider it thrown away. If you feel bad about it, just take the money quietly.”

“I said no.”

Jooin, tired of the seemingly endless argument, let out a deep sigh.

“So what do you want to do.”

It felt like they were back to square one.

“What are you trying to do with me right now.”

Jooin asked, and Hyunwoo, with his mouth firmly shut, stared up at the still-standing Jooin. Jooin, too, was steadfastly meeting his eyes, which looked like they were about to cry any second. Just then, Hyunwoo, sniffing, said.

“Please meet with me.”

“What?”

Jooin’s brow furrowed slightly at the sudden proposal. His gaze, looking at him speechlessly, was clearly flustered.

“Instead of taking the money, please meet with me outside.”

“…”

Just as Jooin was about to react, Hyunwoo quickly continued.

“You acted as my black knight back then even when I didn’t want you to.”

“Black knight?”

Ah.

Jooin groaned at the faintly resurfacing memory.

“Yes, that. Th-they say you have to grant the black knight’s wish too. They say it’s the rule, so anyway, let’s meet.”

He thought he was smart, but his logic was a complete mess. Jooin let out a hollow laugh with an expression of disbelief.

“Do you even know what you’re saying right now?”

The answer came out immediately.

“I do?”

Hyunwoo, with his legs crossed, looked at Jooin confidently. It was a gaze filled with a confidence that felt almost reckless.

Jooin, who found it somehow unsettling, was about to politely refuse when Hyunwoo, noticing his lips about to part, shook his head as if to say ‘don’t’.

“Mmm.”

And then he said.

“Let’s meet. Please.”

Jooin, momentarily at a loss for words, let out a hollow laugh.

👾🎮

Around the time the sun was high in the sky. The person who had been soundly asleep slowly opened their eyes to the sunlight filtering through the window.

Jooin, still half-asleep, sat up and perched on the edge of the mattress, which was placed directly on the linoleum floor. The rough surface, without even a sheet, scratched his bare thigh.

“…”

Jooin, who had been staring blankly into space until he was fully awake, let out a slow breath and got up.

Trudging into the bathroom, Jooin turned the cross-shaped faucet. He collected the gushing water in a basin and poured it over his head, making his shoulders jolt.

Fully awake in an instant, Jooin glared at the old shower head coiled like a snake in the corner of the dark navy tiles. It had already been a month since he had thought about replacing the broken shower.

Still, there’s nothing better for waking up.

As the cool stream of water ran down his face, a stale breath escaped from between his closed lips.

After a quick shower, Jooin took a pink towel from a plastic cabinet. On one side of the towel, a message celebrating the first birthday of a baby he didn’t know was printed. It must have been something his housemate, Jooin, had gotten from somewhere.

After roughly wiping the water from his face and body, Jooin came out of the bathroom, vigorously drying his wet hair with the towel.

Creak—

Jooin opened the drawer next to the bed and stood there silently for a while. The t-shirts he had expected to be there were gone.

Ah, right. I hung them up to dry. I forgot I was going to put them away before sleeping.

With a light sigh, Jooin opened the drawer right below and took out a pair of boxer shorts. As he put his thin legs through, they were so baggy that at a glance, they could be mistaken for shorts.

Jooin, wearing only the boxers below his waist, strode towards the front door. Ah, to say he strode is a bit much; it was more like he took a couple of steps. This space, which served as a bedroom, living room, and kitchen, wasn’t very large after all.

After slipping his feet into a pair of old slippers, he turned the handle and opened the door. With a creaking sound, a light so bright he couldn’t open his eyes poured into the room.