Netkama Punch!!!

"Fuck no, of course not!"
"Ugh, why are you hitting me?"
I raised my fist in fury. I didn’t even hit him yet, but Shin Heejae started backing away, acting all scared.

Apparently, even he realized he'd done something worth getting smacked for. I briefly debated chasing him down and beating him to a pulp, but the second I saw that smug look on his face, the words came flying out of my mouth before I could stop them.
"Why are you doing this to me! You like girls! Your stream—!"
"Huh?"

‘Oh, fuck…!’
Shin Heejae blinked at me in surprise.
That moment, I realized this was the thought that had been stuck in my head all along. And also that I was kind of embarrassed for actually blurting it out. That had been a complete slip.

‘Now it just sounds like I’m fishing for an answer!’
As expected, Shin Heejae’s expression started twisting into something unreadable.
And of all places, the idiot had backed up right to my desk. The stream I’d forgotten to close earlier was still running on screen—Yuna’s live YouTube broadcast.

When Shin Heejae noticed it, his eyes widened a little. Then his face slowly twisted into an annoyingly satisfied smirk.
"…Wait. How’d you even know about this, noona?"
His tone sounded curious, but the smirk on his lips said it all—he’d already made up his own stupid conclusion.

I shouted before he could say anything else. I had to do damage control before he got the wrong idea.
"Hey, I’m serious. Don’t get the wrong idea. I—"
"Wrong idea? What wrong idea?"

"I didn’t watch it because I’m interested in you! You’re just always doing insane shit and I couldn’t understand what the hell you were thinking—"
"……"
"You said you were streaming earlier, so I clicked it without thinking and forgot to close it, that’s all!"
But even with all that, Shin Heejae didn’t look like he was taking a single word seriously. His smirk deepened into something that could only ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) be described as punchable, and he said in a disgustingly smug voice—

"Wow. So you were secretly watching everything I did behind the scenes, huh…?"
"I said it’s not like that! That was literally my first time watching, today!"
"Aww, did you cry ‘cause you were hurt?"

"What the fuck? Cry??? Why the hell would I be hurt?!"
"Felt jealous seeing me stream with another girl, didn’t you?"
"Not even a little?! I swear I didn’t!!!"

Even after all that, the bastard still didn’t look convinced. It was so obvious that he was twisting everything I said to fit his own narrative—I wanted to knock him out right then and there.
‘Fine, keep making your dumb assumptions. You’re the only idiot in this situation anyway.’
It’s not like this was the first time he pulled this kind of shit. I tried to stay calm and ignore him, but then—

"When are you gonna confess?"
That did it. I exploded and hurled my pillow at him.
"I’m not! Because it’s not true, you lunatic! Stop twisting everything to fit your delusional fantasy!"

Shin Heejae didn’t care that I was yelling. Stroking his chin like some philosopher, he muttered loud enough for me to hear—
"Man, but I kinda wanna get rejected by you at least once."
"You piece of shit…"

"I mean, come on, it’s kinda unfair. I’m still pissed about you ghosting me."
And then, the crazy bastard actually said—
"Noona, sorry, but… how about we just stick to being close siblings for now?"

"……."
"Don’t take it too hard. If you start acting cuter, I might reconsider…"
"Die!"

I sprang out of bed and lunged at him, and Shin Heejae just laughed while letting me beat the crap out of him.
* * *
"So, how high did you level Saenyang?"

"I didn’t."
"Saving her to level with me?"
"……."

"Ah! Why’d you kick me?!"
Truly, some humans are impervious to violence.
Even after I’d punched and kicked him all over, Shin Heejae kept spouting bullshit like, “If you keep acting like this, I’m not gonna date you, you know~?” just to piss me off.

It went on like that. Every time I said something, no matter how meaningless, he twisted it into “You totally like me, right?” brainwashing nonsense.
There was no reasoning with him, so I kicked him hard in the shin and stopped responding. But even limping, Shin Heejae dragged me to the computer and forced me to log into the game.
"I crafted a staff just for you."

"…What? From the new dungeon?"
"Yeah. It was a pain in the ass to make."
Then he handed over a shiny, flashy new staff.

I was torn between suspicion—wondering what kind of scheme he was plotting now—and curiosity about testing a new weapon. In the end, I accepted his party invite.
But of course, he didn’t just invite me—he invited Yuna too. As soon as she joined, she typed a [?] in party chat.
Party Whisper Chat

PSeYoung’sHusband: h_i
PYuna: Who are you?
PSeYoung’sHusband: It’s Shin Heejae

PYuna: Huh??
PYuna: lolololololololol what the heck lololol
"……."

I stayed silent, trying to figure out why he even brought her in. Meanwhile, the party chat between Yuna and Shin Heejae kept going nonstop.
Party Whisper Chat
PYuna: What’s that nickname? lololol

PSeYoung’sHusband: Means I’m Saenyang’s husband ㅇ_ㅇ
PYuna: lololol what??
Only later did Heejae bother to indirectly introduce me, so I reluctantly typed a message.

Party Whisper Chat
PSaenyang: Divorce finalized
PYuna: Oh? lolol hi

PSaenyang: hi-yo
From Yuna’s cheerful tone, I could tell she didn’t know I was [Sesam]. Thankfully, Heejae hadn’t mentioned my main, and I wasn’t in the mood to bring it up either. Maybe she sensed the awkwardness too, because she didn’t try to talk to me again after the greeting.
So the conversation naturally flowed between just Yuna and Heejae.

Party Whisper Chat
PYuna: So why’d you invite me? To level our alts together?
PSeYoung’sHusband: nah just need exp buff, gonna level with Saenyang

PYuna: What am I, your buff slave? –_–
PSeYoung’sHusband: If you don’t wanna, I’ll ask someone else
PYuna: –_– fine, I’m nice so I’ll do it

PYuna: Wait, lemme move over my charms first
Yuna was incredibly nice to him. She grumbled, sure, but she still transferred all her gear over and gave buffs with enthusiasm. I got them too and ended up hunting way faster.
But even after giving the buffs, she didn’t leave the party. She went off to grind elsewhere and just kept chatting with Shin Heejae through party chat.

Watching like a ghost, I noticed that while Yuna seemed warm toward him, their vibe wasn’t quite romantic. It kind of reminded me of me and Hyejin…? Anyway, they seemed to get along.
They chatted about his stream, gear, and eventually brought up next month’s user meetup.
The user meetup was an offline event hosted by the game company, where players could get sneak peeks at future updates, see performances by voice actors or singers, and get exclusive merchandise or item coupons. Most users really wanted to attend.

Yuna seemed to be one of them.
Party Whisper Chat
PYuna: How many people are they picking for the meetup this time...

PYuna: Please let me get picked ㅠㅠㅠㅠ sob ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
PYuna: I mean come on, I’ve spent over 100 million won on Arcadia, I deserve to go ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
PSeYoung’sHusband: With that kind of spending, I’m sure you’ll get in

PYuna: Pleaseee ㅠㅠㅠㅠ!
PYuna: Ugh you’re just gonna get an automatic streamer invite, aren’t you? So unfair ㅠ
As Yuna said, popular streamers usually got invited directly by the company.

Apparently, Heejae was one of them.
Party Whisper Chat
PSeYoung’sHusband: Got the email

PSeYoung’sHusband: Says I can bring one guest
PYuna: Ugh! Take me! I’m still a baby streamer so I didn’t get a creator pass...
Then, while I was just quietly hunting, Shin Heejae suddenly called out to me.

"Seyoung."
"What?"
"Want to go to the meetup with me?"

"…What?"
I wasn’t expecting him to ask me. Especially not when Yuna had already been practically begging him to take her.
I mean, I was interested in the meetup, but it wasn’t a must-go for me, so I shook my head and replied.

"Nah, just go with Yuna."
"You mad?"
"What?"

I swear it had nothing to do with jealousy. She just asked first, and I wasn’t that invested in the event anyway.
But Shin Heejae looked at me with that smug-ass I know everything expression again.
"Ugh. Fine. I’ll go with you, noona."

"I said I don’t want to!"
He was driving me insane.
And then, of course, he typed it out in party chat.

Party Whisper Chat
PSeYoung’sHusband: sry going with Saenyang