By Zephyria 
The bustling chat window suddenly went dead silent.
(Alliance) dude: ?
(Alliance) Shin Jadu: Huh??
(Alliance) MouseTrap: Yes..
(Alliance) YouGonnaSue: ……….Kya..
(Alliance) 1BiGwi1: K-kind?
(Alliance) FUNK: ???
Fortunately, it wasn’t a bug. While question marks continued to flood the screen, Miu’s message appeared.
(Alliance) Miu: Haha, everyone stopped responding so suddenly that I thought you’d all died.
(Alliance) Miu: I’m glad to see you all look healthy.
…That’s a well-wish, right?
(Alliance) FUNK:
(Alliance) 1BiGwi1: Gasp1gasp;;1gasp;;
(Alliance) dude: d
(Alliance) Shin Jadu: kk..
(Alliance) Miu: Anyway, since someone like me suspected Momo-nim of being a spy and tormented them, imagine how hard it must have been.
(Alliance) Miu: You all know, right? How much I suffered emotionally…
(Alliance) FUNK: Butforthatyourmouthiswaytoofree (Alliance) 1BiGwi1: Readthe room1 Min Cheol-min;; (Alliance) Miu: Haha.. Anyway, Momo-nim saved my life today.
(Alliance) Miu: They turned out to be such a kind and good person haha. In the process, we were able to clear up our misunderstandings.
Just then, Miu approached Mo Yeon-hu’s character in the game. As soon as they saw the two standing side by side, the Alliance Members who had been standing close by scurried back as if avoiding a germ.
(Alliance) Miu: Anyway, we’ve decided to get along well now, so please treat them with care.
(Alliance) dude: ???Who..
(Alliance) Miu: Momo-nim haha.
The league chat went silent once again, but the private chat window did not.
(CH03) Miu: I did well, right?
Mo Yeon-hu was flustered by the question that seemed to be fishing for praise.
(CH03) 0momo0: Will; they believe it?
(CH03) Miu: Are you saying you don’t believe that I am the benevolent, kind, gentle, and tearful type?
(CH03) 0momo0: No, it’s not that ㅠㅠ
The focus is all wrong.
(CH03) 0momo0: Look at the chat!!
The answer to Mo Yeon-hu’s question was immediately apparent upon looking at the Alliance window.
(Alliance) Shin Jadu: What on earth is happening..
(Alliance) FUNK: No fr is this a dream or is it actually real?
(Alliance) dude: Why are they suddenly like that??
(Alliance) 1BiGwi1: Sigh maybe it’s time to quit Zombie Village; this is weird;; I’m seeing things; (Alliance) MouseTrap: What’s going on? ㅠㅠ I’m scared ㅠㅠ
Sure enough, the Alliance Members didn’t believe it. Eventually, unable to watch any longer, Mo Yeon-hu stepped in, but the reaction didn’t change much.
(Alliance) 0momo0: It’s true!!
(Alliance) 0momo0: We get along well. We’ve reconciled.
(Alliance) 1BiGwi1: ?? Momo-nim is talking too.
(Alliance) 1BiGwi1: What the f1uck is the plan?
(Alliance) FUNK: Seeing Momo-nim talk like that makes it even weirder.
(Alliance) dude: There’s a typo..
(Alliance) dude: Lie..
Even Shin Jadu sent a whisper.
(Whisper) Shin Jadu: Momo-nim, can you tell me in detail? What on earth happened for this to happen??
(Whisper) Shin Jadu: Miu-nim is ignoring all my whispers right now, so I can’t figure out the situation ㅠㅠ;; (Whisper) Shin Jadu: When did they stop hounding you for being a spy and start acting like this?; And why are you going along with it?? You weren’t beaten up… or shaken down for money, were you?
(Whisper) Shin Jadu: If you’re being threatened, please tell me;; Even if that’s not it, don’t trust them too much ㅠ Seeing how brutal they were last time, I’m worried they’ll suddenly beat you up again..ㅠㅠㅠ
And it was incredibly long!
‘They’re really worried that I might get hurt.’
It seemed they were anxious that Miu, whose attitude had flipped overnight, might snap and grab Mo Yeon-hu again at any moment.
(CH03) 0momo0: You know, I don’t think anyone believes us??
One person might have accepted it, but looking at the reactions, it seemed that surprisingly, no one trusted them.
(CH03) Miu: Hmm, really?
(CH03) 0momo0: Yeah ㅠ What should we do??
(CH03) Miu: Then it can’t be helped.
(CH03) 0momo0: Huh??
However, Miu replied cheerfully, as if they had been waiting for this. Mo Yeon-hu was the one left speechless by that composure.
‘No, what do you mean “it can’t be helped”?’
The Alliance Members had to believe they had reconciled so they wouldn’t attract unnecessary attention when searching for the spy together.
But there was something that weighed on Mo Yeon-hu’s mind more than that.
(CH03) 0momo0: Because of the people’s reactions…
(CH03) 0momo0: You’re not upset, are you…
He was worried that Miu might be hurt because the Alliance Members were suspicious. But what was the point of worrying alone?
(CH03) Miu: You’re worried about me getting hurt?
(CH03) Miu: Really??
(CH03) 0momo0: Huh? Of course.
(CH03) 0momo0: It would be heartbreaking if the Alliance Members looked at Miu strangely..
(CH03) Miu: Ah hahaha, really??
(CH03) Miu: So that’s why you kept talking about it.
(CH03) Miu: Did it bother you that much??
(CH03) Miu: You were worrying about me, weren’t you.
Why have they been focusing on the wrong things for a while now? They should worry about themselves.
(CH03) 0momo0: Of course I’m worried..
(CH03) 0momo0: Your heart is so
Mo Yeon-hu paused for a moment before typing.
(CH03) 0momo0: s-soft..
(CH03) Miu: If I saw a typo, would it be a hallucination?
(CH03) 0momo0: Soft!!
(CH03) 0momo0: Anyway, I’m really worried because the others don’t seem to believe it..
(CH03) Miu: Don’t worry.
(CH03) 0momo0: Okay..
Mo Yeon-hu felt skeptical about the bold claim, but he decided to trust that Miu would handle it somehow.
(CH03) Miu: Ah, but
(CH03) Miu: A little bit of worry is necessary.
(CH03) 0momo0: Huh??
‘They’ll… do well, right?’
The more they talked, the more anxiety grew because Miu kept acting strangely.
Their behavior and way of speaking were exceptionally odd today, which was a bit concerning.
‘I’m so tired.’
He was starting to get sleepy, and his brain wasn’t working well. Well, he had played the game all day, drank, came back, and played another round.
‘I was also incredibly tense at the end.’
Plus, there was the shootout with that mysterious anonymous group.
At the time, the adrenaline had exploded, so he hadn’t noticed the fatigue, but not now. Now that he was in the safe Alliance Territory among familiar people, the accumulated exhaustion hit him all at once.
(CH03) 0momo0: First of all, I’m sleepy, so can I go to bed now? ㅠㅠ
(CH03) 0momo0: Ah, of course, if you need me, I can stay longer— (CH03) Miu: No.
(CH03) Miu: Go in quickly.
(CH03) 0momo0: Huh??
(CH03) Miu: Just so you don’t misunderstand, I absolutely don’t mean “get lost.”
(CH03) Miu: I mean you look really tired, so go in quickly.
(CH03) 0momo0: Ah..
(CH03) Miu: Anyway, don’t worry.
(CH03) Miu: Starting tomorrow, I’ll make it so the Alliance Members can’t say a word.
Miu urged him to log off as soon as he mentioned being tired. Because of that, Mo Yeon-hu felt pushed to tell the league chat that he was going to bed and hurriedly turned off the computer.
‘Off…. Wow, it’s quiet.’
The background music of Zombie Village cut off abruptly, and his reflection appeared in the black monitor. Suddenly, the noisy world of the game he had just been in felt like a dream.
In the silence of the early morning, as Mo Yeon-hu tried to get up from his seat, he saw a pile of tissues stacked high next to the monitor.
‘Did Kwon Mi-eon do that?’
He hadn’t noticed earlier because he was frazzled, but it seemed Kwon Mi-eon had been flustered seeing his nosebleed and had pulled out a whole bunch of tissues before disappearing. Seeing that made him laugh strangely.
Just how surprised was he to pull out that many tissues?
‘I should contact him.’
To thank him for the medicine and for taking him home. He had been too distracted to see him off properly. Since Kwon Mi-eon had left in such a rush, there was no time to say anything. As Mo Yeon-hu reflexively reached for his phone, he paused, touching the back of his neck.
‘Why does it feel so ticklish?’
Why was he feeling this way over a simple message?
‘It’s early morning, so it’s better to send it later.’
Feeling an awkward sense of shyness blooming, Mo Yeon-hu ruffled his hair for no reason. Just then.
Ding.
The phone rang. Looking at the message preview on the lock screen, Mo Yeon-hu tilted his head.
❮Kwon Mi-eon⠇
Text Message-SMS
Sleep well, Hyung.
‘Wow, the timing.’
How did he know I was just about to go to sleep?