By Zephyria 
Come to think of it, the way he spoke hadn’t been the same from the start. It was more accurate to say it became similar at some point.
Kwon Mi-eon had always been the friendly, talkative type, but Miu hadn’t been. When exactly was the turning point where he started becoming affectionate?
‘Around the time he came to my house?’
After that day, Miu’s attitude in the game changed drastically. His tone softened, and the frequency of him reaching out first increased. He even went as far as finding his private contact information to send messages!
‘There’s a high probability he figured out that 0momo0 was me then.’
Thinking about it that way made him feel a bit better. If he had known from the beginning and just used him, it would be blatant mockery, but if his attitude changed after discovering his identity, that was a different story.
‘Thank goodness.’
Ultimately, he felt relieved at the conclusion that Kwon Mi-eon had changed because he knew he was Mo Yeon-hu. Feeling that he had avoided the worst-case scenario, his mood improved slightly, but a new question immediately followed.
‘But why on earth?’
No matter how sociable the real-life Kwon Mi-eon was, there was no reason for him to suddenly treat him so kindly just because he found out 0momo0 was Mo Yeon-hu.
‘Or maybe Kwon Mi-eon had some kind of motive.’
But to say that…
‘Hyung is my one and only friend.’
‘…What is he talking about.’
‘Didn’t you miss me, Hyung?’
He suddenly remembered the guy smiling as if he were embarrassed. That face, tinged with a strange emotion, as if he were sad they hadn’t seen each other.
‘Your face is…’
What followed in his memory was the sight of him staring at him, both cheeks flushed bright red.
‘Hyung, you’re really red.’
Who was calling whom red? He didn’t know why he was remembering that expression—the way the guy looked embarrassed while his own face was red enough to burst—at this specific timing.
❮Kwon Mi-eon⠇
Text Message-SMS
(Now)
Oh, he read it.
What are you doing that you read the message right away?
Hyung?
Mo Yeon-hu froze. It seemed he had accidentally clicked the message while reading it in the preview.
‘Should I try having an honest conversation?’
The thought suddenly occurred to him, but as he was about to reply, Mo Yeon-hu let out a sigh. There were too many things making him hesitate to just meet up.
“I called him Ms. Mi-yeong; anyone would find that weird.”
He had called Miu “Ms. Mi-yeong” in the game. What else would there be to talk about other than an interrogation? Moreover, the way he had treated him until now was so embarrassing that he couldn’t possibly face him like this.
After agonizing over it, Mo Yeon-hu wore a determined expression.
‘Let’s just bury it.’
He would quit the game and bury Kwon Mi-eon in his memories forever. However, as soon as he made the decision, a practical problem held him back.
‘But how?’
Since Kwon Mi-eon knew his home address and his friends, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t run into him even if he hid. Especially considering his persistent personality.
Just as he was worrying.
❮Seo Tae-min⠇
Text Message-SMS
(Now)
Ah I’ve been playing until now
So sleepyㅠ currently curing the hangover
Out of the blue, he got a message from Seo Tae-min. It was clear he was still living his life in reverse these days. Curious about how he’d been doing lately, the moment Mo Yeon-hu tapped the chat window, another message flew in as if it had been waiting.
❮Seo Tae-min⠇
Oh what
Why’d you check so fast??
Are you curing a hangover too??
What’ve you been up to lately?
You down for Rise tonight too?
It seemed surprising to Seo Tae-min that Mo Yeon-hu, who usually responded as slowly as a snail when contacted, checked the message immediately.
‘Rise?’
It was a club that Seo Tae-min frequented as if it were his own home. In fact, he loved nightlife so much that he didn’t just go to Rise, but hit up every single lounge club available.
‘A club, of all things…’
Mo Yeon-hu had no intention of joining in. Naturally, he intended to refuse immediately.
That is, if the call hadn’t come through.
Three characters filled the screen. He was the person he wanted to avoid most in the world right now. While he stared at the screen with a flinch, the call disconnected—likely because the wait time was too long—and a message arrived.
Kwon Mi-eon Now
Hyung, did you wake up and then go back to sleep? If so, I’m sorry, I…
Mo Yeon-hu stared intently at the preview screen. As if Kwon Mi-eon might jump out from beyond the liquid crystal display.
❮Seo Tae-min⠇
Hey??
Hello??
Messages came from Seo Tae-min again. It was an impulse that made him send a reply.
❮Seo Tae-min⠇
Yeah lol let’s go!!
But can I stay at your place for a while?
‘I’ll just hang out for a bit.’
He simply wanted to run away. To a place where he could forget everything—the game, and his tangled relationship with Kwon Mi-eon.
‘If we don’t get entangled, we’ll forget each other soon.’
It was the perfect sanctuary. If he kept a proper distance, he would eventually forget everything. Just as he had completely forgotten about the guy before.
❮Seo Tae-min⠇
Kk instead you gotta hang out with me every day lol
Whatever lol
He had no idea at the time what kind of result that would bring.
‘Sigh… is this right.’
Mo Yeon-hu pressed his tired eyes and tilted his head. People were packed into this cramped lounge bar, and the staff seemed frantic, constantly squeezing more guests between the already crowded patrons.
‘I think my head is hurting more.’
Everyone was busy scanning each other with burning eyes while pretending not to. They were only lightly swaying to the dance; it was a complete animal kingdom.
And the one happily passing around drinks in that bursting space was…
“Hey, drink, drink. How old are you? …Ah, really? You’re a Noona?”
His friend, Seo Tae-min. Mo Yeon-hu watched the scene with a disgusted face.
‘How can he be like that every day?’
It had already been ten days since he started hanging out with Seo Tae-min. Mo Yeon-hu was gradually wasting away, but Seo Tae-min, on the contrary, was overflowing with vitality. Watching the excitedly chatting Seo Tae-min, he sighed at the crowd filling his path.
‘I need to get out of here.’
While he was going to the restroom and coming back, the hallway became packed. Mo Yeon-hu, stepping slightly back, looked at his vibrating phone.
A screen he was now accustomed to. As he stared at the incoming call, the vibration soon stopped and a notification popped up.
myYoung♥ Now
Missed Call (127)
And as soon as the missed call appeared, another call came through.
The guy was calling frantically, alternating between the My Yeong and Kwon Mi-eon numbers.
Kwon Mi-eon’s consecutive calls were, in a way, now blatant. While he had previously tried to hide that Miu was him, he was now contacting him openly.
Anyway, as he ignored this too, a new missed call notification appeared.
‘371 calls…’
Far more than those from the myYoungHeart number. And of course, it wasn’t just calls.
Notifications kept popping up in the preview without a break.
Kwon Mi-eon Now
Seriously why are you doing this I know you’re looking at the texts answer me
From Kwon Mi-eon.
myYoung♥ Now
You should at least tell me why you’re suddenly doing this
myYoung♥ Now
Why haven’t you given any answer for days now?
myYoung♥ Now
It seems like you at least have your phone on
myYoung♥ Now
Are you sick?
myYoung♥ Now
I really don’t know what you’re doing
myYoung♥ Now
Are you doing this so I’ll pay attention?
From my Young♥.
‘He sent a lot of starsta DMs too.’
Kwon Mi-eon was contacting him using all sorts of accounts. There was one commonality in all these messages.
‘The tone is getting harsher.’
At first, it was a tone of worry, but as time passed, it became sharper, and eventually…
myYoung♥ Now
Ah lol
myYoung♥ Now
This is seriously so annoying
myYoung♥ Now
Do you even read these?
myYoung♥ Now
Did you block me?
myYoung♥ Now
No you didn’t
His anxiety and irritation were clearly evident.
‘Actually, I could just block him…’
He felt pathetic for knowing the answer but being unable to put it into action. Strangely, he couldn’t bring himself to block him.
“Mo Yeon-hu!!”
Just then, a voice rang out clearly through the noise. The only person here who would call his name should be Seo Tae-min, so who was it?
Glancing diagonally downward, he saw the woman his friend Seo Tae-min had been acting friendly with earlier.
“Hi!!”
Because of the loud music, she shouted her greeting to Mo Yeon-hu and pulled his arm. Then she beamed a smile.
“Who are you?”
“I know you! Do you really not know me?”
“I don’t…”
“Look at this!”
At those words, Mo Yeon-hu blinked and slightly lowered his head to see the stargram account displayed on the phone the woman held out.
“Do you still not know me?”
“…Are you famous?”
“No, that’s not it!”
She burst into laughter as if he were absurd.
“I’m Kim Seong-jae’s friend! We’ve seen each other a few times before.”
“…Ah.”
Only then did he remember.
“You changed your name, right? It suits you well.”
He thought the name was Subin or something before… anyway, the current name suited them better, so Mo Yeon-hu spoke casually with a small smile.
“Uh, yeah…”
Lee So-yul stared intently at that face.
“This is your account, right? Why don’t you post photos? I think you’d be great if you became an influencer too.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. You looked a bit younger in photos, but seeing you in person, your proportions are really great. Why are you so handsome? You should film some Reels… ah, or do you want to film a challenge with me later?”
Lee So-yul kept saying things that made no sense. However, Mo Yeon-hu noticed one thing.
“But… I want to talk somewhere quiet… do you want to go out and hang out, just the two of us? It’s a bit noisy here.”
That this person took a liking to him.