Netkama Punch!!!

"…Urara?"

The moment I said his name, his smile deepened.
"Yup. That’s me. But—where’s Shin Heejae? Didn’t you come together?"
The way he casually dropped Heejae’s name made it clear this really was the Urara… But still, seeing this guy in front of me as that chatty chaos-bringer from the game? It felt like I’d been conned.

'He never shut up with his weird shit in the game…'
But in real life, he looked completely normal? Clean-cut clothes, a quiet vibe—it threw me off. I felt… kinda duped?
Still, I couldn’t keep glaring suspiciously at someone smiling at me so warmly.

"Want to see my badge?"
Urara—Sim Woohyun, apparently—seemed to notice how on guard I was and pulled out his name badge from his pocket.
Just as he’d said, the white badge had the name [Urara] printed clearly across it. Only then did I manage to finally open my mouth.

"…He’s on the second flo—, I mean, upstairs."
Woohyun chuckled again when he heard how stiff I sounded. Smiling seemed like his default setting.
"You don’t have to be so formal, hyung."

"…Hyung?"
"I’m a year older than Heejae."
I hadn’t asked, but sure. I nodded stiffly anyway, feeling too awkward to snap at someone who was being this soft-spoken and polite.

"Ah… yeah. Okay."
But just because I’d dropped the formal speech didn’t mean I magically had something casual to say. I honestly just wanted to finish my business and get back to my seat so I could rot in peace.
Unfortunately, Sim Woohyun didn’t stop there. In fact, he gently pulled me over to the wall and started chatting in earnest.

"Are you coming to the afterparty with Heejae later?"
"What?"
"We’re all going for drinks after this. Didn’t you hear?"
This was news to me. Not that I had any desire to go drink with anyone anyway.

Strangely, I wasn’t even mad at Heejae for not mentioning it. It was just… somehow exactly the kind of shit he’d pull.
'He definitely doesn’t want me hanging out with people…'
Because he’s jealous when I get along with others. He’s so dumb and obvious about it too. Like when I’d casually bring up work friends, he’d get weird if I wasn’t complaining about them. One time, he found a contact list with my team lead’s number listed as an emergency backup and interrogated me over what kind of relationship we had. Like hell he’d invite me to a drinking party with clan members.

'Not that I wanna go either…'
Even if I showed up, everyone would be thinking “oh, it’s the netkama.” I’d rather stay home and drink in solitude than suffer through that awkward bullshit.
So I just answered honestly.

"Yeah… I’m not really planning to drink."
"Why not?"
"……."

I bit back the ‘Are you seriously asking me that?’ that rose to my tongue. He didn’t seem like he was mocking me or anything. Being clueless wasn’t a crime.
'Let’s just make something up and move on…'
I looked at Woohyun’s innocent blinking eyes and sighed.

"…I just don’t really like alcohol."
"Ahh, that’s fine! I can’t drink either."
"…?"

"At every meet-up, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) I only drink soda."
And with a face like that, yeah—he definitely looked like someone who couldn’t handle alcohol.
"But no one forces you to drink or anything, so you should come! Afterparties are surprisingly fun."

He looked at me expectantly, like he was really hoping I’d say yes.
But in all honesty, I’d never once enjoyed a party I’d been dragged to. No offense to him, but the longer he talked, the more I wanted to nope out.
"…I just don’t like those kinds of gatherings."

My face must’ve looked pretty set, because Woohyun made a strange noise in response.
"Hee~ing."
'…What the hell was that?'

Was that supposed to be… cute?
I didn’t know guys could even make sounds like that to other guys. I was so startled I froze.
Woohyun, oblivious, just kept going.

"I was really hoping you’d come to the afterparty…"
"…Why?"
"Because I want to get to know you better, obviously."

He said it with the most harmless, friendly smile imaginable.
It didn’t sound like a lie. But that somehow made it even worse.
Because a certain suspicion started forming in my head.

'…Wait. Is he gay too?'
I eyed him warily and crossed my arms tight over my chest—a defensive reaction.
After finding out that Shin Heejae had feelings for me, my entire view of the world had shifted. I’d always known gay people existed, but I never imagined I’d be personally involved. Now? It wasn’t some distant concept.

The worst part? Ever since Heejae dropped that bomb, I’d started reassessing other guys’ behavior too. Like, had they always been acting like that and I just missed it?
I mean, no girl had ever confessed to me, and now here was Heejae barging into my house saying he was into me…
'What if I’ve got the kind of face gay guys like?'

It didn’t seem that far-fetched anymore.
'And come to think of it… the manager at work was weirdly nice to me…'
That guy terrified everyone else at the center, but with me? Super friendly. He was a 50-something bachelor with a reputation for being sharp as a knife, but every time he saw me struggling, he’d come over and give me a five-minute shoulder massage.

I always thought he just liked how I worked. But once I had this suspicion in my head, I couldn’t relax around him the same way. I even started dodging his massages with fake excuses about back pain. Eventually, we got kind of distant.
I hadn’t had that same vibe from anyone in a while… until now. Just like back then, something about Sim Woohyun’s behavior was setting off alarms.
'Why’s he smiling like that at me?'

Do guys normally talk to other guys like this? That smile was too soft. And okay, maybe it was stereotyping, but considering he was friends with Shin Heejae, maybe they shared more than just gaming habits.
'Heejae did say Woohyun’s a skirt-chasing perv, but still…'
His vibe was just too friendly. Too smooth. I couldn’t help but feel weirdly… hit on.

'His eyes are kinda sultry…'
Woohyun kept smiling at me while I glared at him, apparently totally unaware of my rising guard.
Sure, odds are I was wrong. But after dealing with Shin Heejae, I couldn’t ignore even the faintest signs.

So in the end, I took a step back.
He blinked at me, puzzled.
"What’s wrong?"

"Ah, um… You were standing a little close."
"Huh?"
He blinked again, like he genuinely didn’t get it. And I had nothing else to say, so I just shut my mouth.

We stood in awkward silence for a moment.
But it seemed I was the only one feeling awkward—because Woohyun quickly started talking again. This time, he even held out his phone to me.
"Then hyung, wanna exchange numbers?"

At that moment, the probability that Sim Woohyun was actually gay ticked up by about 10 percent.
But how was I supposed to reject that? I couldn’t exactly go, “Sorry, I think you might be gay and I don’t want you texting me.”
"…Here."

Reluctantly, I typed in my number and handed the phone back, already vowing not to answer if he ever called.
He didn’t comment on my lukewarm attitude—just smiled and dialed my number on the spot. I had no choice but to save it.
Sesam-hyung
010—XXXX—XXXX
Urara
010—XXXX—XXXX

We stared at our phones for a beat before I finally cleared my throat.
"…Uh, well. I’ll be heading in now."
"Ah, yeah! Go ahead."

Thank god—he left without a fuss.
I finally escaped that weird encounter and stepped into the restroom…
Heejae: Noona, where are you?

My pocket buzzed and the notification popped up with his message preview.
My heart dropped.
'If Heejae finds out I ran into Urara and gave him my number…'

He’d absolutely lose it.
I swallowed hard and replied as casually as I could.
Where do you think

Luckily, he didn’t seem to notice anything was off. As usual, he replied like a clingy idiot.
Heejae: Why are you taking so long ㅇ.ㅇ I almost came to rescue you
How would I be trapped, you idiot??

Don’t even think about using that as an excuse to show up
Heejae: knock knockㅇ.ㅇ
Already at the door ㅇ_ㅇ

If you come in, I’m waterboarding you
Heejae: lol
Don’t rush me, I’m at a critical point rnㅎ

Heejae: ………
I told you not to say stuff like thatㅡㅡ
lol

Just as I breathed a sigh of relief at his totally clueless responses… another notification popped up at the top of the chat.
Urara: ㅇㅅㅇ hiya
Seeing that unmistakable [Urara] label gave me a fresh dose of anxiety.

'We just parted ways literally one minute ago… why’s he texting already?'
But I couldn’t ignore it. I stared at the pop-up without tapping it, waiting for it to fade.
'I’ll just ignore him. He’ll get bored eventually.'

That was my plan—until it shattered within seconds.
Urara: Just saw Heejae’s ex whoa
Urara: Knew she'd be here today... ㅇㅅㅇ;;
Urara:
Attached image:
The moment I saw it, I tapped it instinctively—only to find…

It wasn’t Yuna or any actual girl.
It was a huge standee of [Arcadia]’s NPC, [Aria], on display at the event entrance.
?

Urara: Heard she was Heejae’s… first love ㅇㅅㅇ
LOL 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂