Netkama Punch!!!

Maybe… was it just Yuna who liked Shin Heejae?

Either way, the fact that things between them didn’t seem strained at all was bothering me.
Honestly, if I thought about it rationally, it would actually be good for me if things worked out between Yuna and Shin Heejae. I mean, come on—no way the guy would keep squatting in my house after getting a girlfriend. If he started dating and spending time with her, he’d naturally lose interest in me. Even his harassment would have to slow down if he got busy.
‘So… should I be rooting for them?’

But what if Shin Heejae wasn’t actually interested in Yuna? What if he just kept focusing on tormenting me instead…?
That thought made my stomach twist.
Even then, I should want Yuna to win him over and make him happy—because that’s the only way this fake-dating-as-harassment situation might end.

“What the hell is that asshole even thinking…”
I gnawed on my thumbnail as I kept thinking it over, frustrated that I couldn’t read Shin Heejae’s mind.
That’s when I noticed his laptop, which he’d left behind.

“……”
I quietly lifted the lid and pressed the power button. Yeah, I knew I wasn’t supposed to go snooping around in someone else’s computer, but—
“Who the hell leaves their laptop behind in someone else’s house?”

This was a matter of survival. I wasn’t in a position to feel guilty about it.
The problem was… the damn thing was password-protected.
Password hint: ㅇㅅㅇ

Even the hint was fucking stupid.
First, I tried the birthday he’d once told me to memorize. No luck.
Then I rummaged through the other stuff he’d left behind, wondering if any of it might be a clue, but nothing looked like a possible password.

Honestly, I didn’t know much about him. I tried combinations of his name and birthday, even his car plate number, but still—nothing.
I was getting more and more anxious.
“Don’t tell me…”
That’s when I remembered him bragging about setting his home door lock password to my birthday.

So, just in case, I typed in my own birthdate. My heart pounded for some reason. I hit enter.
Username or password incorrect.
Please try again.
“Fuck.”

Still locked.
Feeling weirdly humiliated, I slammed the lid shut. Then, totally deflated, I flopped onto the bed—just as a message notification popped up on my phone.
Hyejin
What’ve you been up to lately lol

I considered ignoring it—everything just felt like too much work—but then I remembered something.
Didn’t Hyejin kind of know Yuna?
I immediately sat up and replied.

Hey hey hey hey Hyejin I have a question
Hyejin
Huh?
Wasn’t Yuna… didn’t you say she was some old dude?

Hyejin
Yeah
??? Why?
She’s not, though — she’s doing facecam streams now

Hyejin
Huh?
Search “RYuna” on YouTube
Hyejin
Okay

A few minutes later, she responded:
Hyejin
[;;;]
Hyejin
Honestly I only knew her vaguely through someone else;;

Hyejin
So I just asked someone from her old clan about it
Turns out her account is like a shared one—like when you and I used to co-play our Yeongil characters
Hyejin
Apparently she’s got like three different co-users;

Ohh...
Hyejin
So the one I knew really was some old dude;; I have no clue who that girl is ㅠ
Hyejin
Wait… then maybe that girl’s the original owner now??

That’s when I realized Hyejin didn’t know Yuna that well either. I let out a disappointed sigh.
Then she suddenly brought up the staff job and asked:
Hyejin
But why do you ask? Did she start shit with you about being staff?

Ah, it’s just…
I started to gloss over it, then stopped to think.
Come to think of it, hardly anyone knew the full story between me and Shin Heejae.

Sure, at this point most of the clan probably knew I was a netkama. And judging by how freely Yuna spoke, I could guess how the rumors had spread. But the only people who really knew the whole thing from my side were me and Hyejin.
So I gave her a rough rundown of the tangled mess. I left out everything from when Shin Heejae showed up in person, though. That part still made me feel too ashamed.
Hyejin
Wait, what the fuck

He really came to see you in person?
That’s so fucking creepy
Hyejin was dead serious. The girl who usually laughed at everything didn’t even send one [ㅋㅋㅋ]—instead, she kept asking if I was okay. That, weirdly, made me feel comforted.

Honestly, even though I thought Shin Heejae was being too much, I couldn’t exactly claim I was totally innocent either—I had catfished him, after all. ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) It wasn’t the kind of thing I could vent about easily.
But Hyejin didn’t think dating him as a netkama was even that big of a deal.
Hyejin
You didn’t do anything wrong ㅡㅡ You even gave him his money back

It’s like buying a demo of a dating sim and then getting a refund lol
That’s a bit...
Hyejin
No like ㅋㅋ even if you were actually a girl IRL

He’d still be throwing a tantrum that you’re not blonde or something
Psycho. Absolute psycho.
Hyejin
People who over-immerse in online relationships should be punched in the face

She was furious, like it had happened to her. Then she added something she’d heard about Yuna and Shin Heejae.
Hyejin
The more I think about it the more ridiculous it is
Hyejin
And after finding out that Yuna’s a girl, this part really creeps me out

Yeah?
Hyejin
Yuna was doing fine on our server
Then suddenly she announced she was transferring to Degeuldegeul and just up and left

Even though our server’s a backwater, she ditched everything she built up to move
Hyejin
She was a vice leader here too
Seriously?

Hyejin
Yeah… so it was super weird how she left in a rush
Turns out she jumped servers to go e-date Shin Heejae ㅉㅉ
Watched the video—super sweet vibes lmao

So even Hyejin picked up on that flirty mood in Yuna’s video.
Hearing the backstory from her made me feel like their relationship was a lot deeper than I’d assumed. It started to feel less like a one-sided crush and more like the two of them were actually becoming something.
Hyejin
Yeah… Yuna’s couple ring is with Heejae too

And then, as the final blow, Hyejin sent me proof from Yuna’s YouTube video—a screenshot of the in-game couple effect confirming their status.
As I stared at that pink sparkle effect, my mood sank fast. So that asshole’s out here flirting with some gorgeous girl, and meanwhile, he—
‘So literally everything he’s done to me… none of it meant anything? It was all just to fuck with me?’

I started to regret not pushing back harder, even slightly, on the off chance that maybe… just maybe… part of him still liked me.
There were times when Shin Heejae would say things while I was still [Sesam] that oddly reminded me of how I’d been a few years ago.
Not that we’d lived similar lives. But something about his cynicism, or the way he’d occasionally show signs of loneliness, made me relate to him.

And I think when he didn’t know I was a guy, he felt a similar emotional connection too. What started as curiosity turned into obsession.
But I was wrong. Those memories were just late-night delusions born of my own dumb feelings.
‘Yeah. I guess a face like that doesn’t get to feel lonely, huh?’

I’d been a fool to think I shared anything in common with him. I tried to sort out my thoughts, with this sour taste of cynicism in my mouth.
Bottom line, I didn’t really feel that guilty about the netkama stuff.
What I did feel guilty about… was how I’d comforted him. The times I’d pretended to understand, or listened when he got a little vulnerable—that part had been real, and that’s what made it a betrayal.

It might’ve been sincere from my side, but from Shin Heejae’s point of view, it must’ve been a lie.
And I didn’t want to talk about that with some guy who suddenly showed up and threw a fit. No matter what I said, it would all just sound hollow now.
“……”

But seriously… haven’t I put up with enough?
Shin Heejae seemed to have already sorted out all of his feelings.