SMNTCERR, Chapter 25 <100> #7.

   [Chu Sangwoo – Abnormal.]

   That truth penetrated Sangwoo’s thought circuit, and he walked stooped over like a soldier returning home in the rain, washing his hands, and then sitting at the table. When he looked at his phone, he found there was a new message. Sangwoo felt his heart beating fast, but upon opening it, he realized it wasn’t what he had been eagerly waiting for.

   [Unsaved Number: Hello~, I saw the recruitment notice, so I contacted you^^ I’m in my third year of high school, and I’m interested in making games. What should I do?_16:52.]

   This was the contact he had been waiting for all along, but for some reason, he didn’t feel excited. It could be because the other party had made a typo in the seventh word. Sangwoo typed an email in the reply box and asked the other party to send a portfolio. Then he should have locked the screen, but his finger ended up sliding to open the message from another person.

   [NonPaddler 3: (Image) Great job_12, yesterday.]

   When he tapped on the profile picture, the photo expanded to full screen, and next to Sangwoo sitting upright was Jaeyoung with a subtle smile on his lips. The fluorescent light reflected off the glossy surface of the computer screen, magnifying, magnifying, magnifying, until Jaeyoung’s face filled the mobile screen, but the image quality was too poor, which displeased Sangwoo.

   ‘Seems like he uses social media, huh?’

   Sangwoo put down his phone and turned on his desktop computer. Although he used various methods to reduce the boot time, it still took a while. As soon as the desktop appeared, he opened the browser, logged into his SNS accounts with the premade accounts he created long ago. There were only two people following Sangwoo.

   [‘Hey, Sangwoo, aren’t you answering your phone??.’]

   [‘Sangwoo, how many months have you been in the army?.’]

   In the private message box, there were a few meaningless messages sent by high school friends a few years ago. Sangwoo typed Jang Jaeyoung’s name in the search bar. There were many people with the same name, but Jang Jaeyoung’s version that he was searching for had the most followers, so it was at the very top.

   [Jang Jaeyoung, (Jae. J) Virtual Arts Designer / Graffiti Writer / 

   Skateboarder.]

   On the profile page, there was a short self-introduction with a link to a portfolio attached below the text. There were 22 posts, which wasn’t a lot. The latest post was a photo taken with Sangwoo on the day of a Chinese drama presentation.

   [‘With the cute hubae.’]

   Judging from the timestamps, it was posted before the breakup at the library. There were more than 100 likes from people Sangwoo didn’t know.

   Before realizing it, Sangwoo enlarged that photo, took a screenshot to capture Jaeyoung’s caption, saved it to his device, and stepped into Jaeyoung’s world earnestly.

   The first post was a selfie posted at the beginning of the year. Under a short caption saying, ‘Take care of me.’ There were comments filled with heart emojis and crying face emojis lined up. Jang Jaeyoung in the photo wore distinctive dangling earrings. His dyed hair was a soft light brown, tousled, and his face showed no particular expression.

   ‘Not a real deal like those makeup artists.’

   Sangwoo pulled his head away from the screen as if he had been sucked in and saved the photo.

   The second post was a tagged post at the shop where the owner worked. It seemed like Jaeyoung was close to the shop owner, ‘Tree Olive,’ so he went to help out. He posted a photo taken with the shop owner in front of the café, along with the date and time of the special shift. ‘That smile must be fake for sure.’ Save.

   The next post was an advertisement, and the following post returned to being a personal picture. This time, he wore a black beanie with glasses and sat in front of the computer. His hair remained bright like before, but from the black outside the window, it looked like he was working on something ordered by a teacher.

   ‘Why does he look so normal? You can tell it’s staged.’ Save.

   Post after post, post after post. Sangwoo moved the mouse frantically until he came across a picture of Jaeyoung wearing a formal suit, then taking off the suit and posing strangely with friends. ‘He is demanding attention.’ Save.

   Then there was a short video of skateboarding practice and falling. In the video, Jaeyoung wore a helmet and protective gear, sitting on the ground laughing.  ‘…What a goofball.’ Save.

   The next picture showed Jaeyoung standing holding a large spray can in front of a big wall painted with a black tongue-shaped figure and glowing colored letters, looking bizarrely deep. ‘Drawing a demon just like himself.’ Save.

   Another picture was of him dressed up with special makeup for a theatrical performance, sleeping with a black background.

   ‘…’

   Save.

   The deceptive smile, mischievous glint in the eyes, playful smirk, laughter that seemed like a challenge, and a smile that resembled a villain. He was someone who couldn’t be defined with just one word. At that moment, Sangwoo recalled the first time he saw a toy backhoe at the age of six, after begging his father to buy it every day for fifteen days. Finally, his father secretly bought it without his mother knowing. At that time, he felt like this.

   Even in his mid-twenties, Sangwoo’s heart raced every time he saw a backhoe.

   Sangwoo went on YouTube and watched every short video related to theatrical performances and promoting stage plays, skateboarding, graffiti art, and downloaded them all. He searched for Jaeyoung’s ID on Google to find things that the other party was interested in and even stumbled upon a playlist on Jaeyoung’s YouTube filled with electronic music.

   [Ah, the divine Novah, this season is like having wings. You’ll ascend to heaven soon.]

   [Yeah, that hat doesn’t suit him, always pressing the wrong buttons. 

   Then spraying out, don’t buy it, man.]

   [Super pretty, but seems like it won’t last long before it breaks?]

   Sangwoo came across a few comments reviewing a couple of products from the other party on the forum, so he sat down and read them all. Then he went to the portfolio homepage to view the completed projects, awardwinning works from competitions, websites with design hires, banners and concert posters by indie artists, magazine illustrations, and artwork and graphics made as hobbies. He searched for old posts on the university forum and read through recruitment posts of drama clubs, theater performance announcements, and exhibition announcements.

   [“5 minutes away from the university” Find a cyber cafe, just myself is enough.]

   In the dark morning after dawn. Finally, Sangwoo felt himself while browsing through posts from six years ago.

   ‘What am I doing?’

   In the folder named ‘Jang Jaeyoung’ that he created on his desktop, there were 36 image files and 9 video files, arranged by date. Sangwoo opened those files one by one and found himself admiring and evaluating the other party in detail since encountering Jaeyoung. In his memory, there were only quarrels or complaints, but while looking at various things related to Jaeyoung, Sangwoo had the thought that suddenly he was getting closer to the other party and wanted to call him something else.

   ‘Hey, sunbae… what are you doing to me?’

   It started when they accidentally met at an internet cafe, being scolded  in front of the ramen, and told not to meet again. Until then, the other party was still just a small mistake, but after dealing with the error, that person was gone. The program still didn’t work the same way, just like the seven cans of coffee in the refrigerator, the small error that sneaked into Sangwoo’s mind didn’t disappear.

   ‘It seems like there is usable code in the deleted source.’ (Human translation: It seems like there might be a way to fix the problem.)

   Today is day 12. Since quarreling with Jang Jaeyoung, the coffee doesn’t taste good, and playing games isn’t fun. On top of that, he feels down.

   Previously, Sangwoo wasn’t someone who acted according to emotions, but for the past three weeks, it seemed like he was using his emotions excessively.

   [1.) Extremely angry / Worried / Restless – Day 2.

2.)     Slightly angry / Worried / Anxious – Day 3.

3.)     Confused / Angry / Frustrated – Day 6.

4.)     Depressed / Angry – Day 12.]

   The emotions from points 1-3, which had reasons related to the presence of Jang Jaeyoung, could be resolved when the other party disappeared. But the cause of point 4, the disappearance of Jang Jaeyoung, more than ten days of collapse, finally made Sangwoo, who overlooked that reality, come to the conclusion that he couldn’t let it continue like this. It was not a problem that could be

   There are many options that have been combined together and summarized into the most appropriate solution. There is only one conclusion, he doesn’t see any other way… Sangwoo often chooses the shortest path, he doesn’t think about leaving a shortcut in front and going around.

   return 0;.

   “Hey.”

   Sangwoo called Jihye while eating after finishing the cultural theory class.

   Jihye heard the call and raised her face from the soup bowl.

   “I said you’d treat you to a meal.”

   “Yes.”

   “I want to treat you today.”

   A smile appeared on his indifferent face, so Sangwoo wondered if the other party was in trouble lately.

   “If you agree, come to the restaurant, ‘Tree of Life,’ at 6 o’clock.”

   “Oh! The first time you went to eat together was at that restaurant, right? I remember it, but it’s very expensive there…”

   “I know, should we go or not?”

   “Let’s go.”

   Jihye was very happy to be able to eat something expensive. Sangwoo kept Jihye’s number in case they accidentally missed each other in front of the store. Jihye gave a hesitant response with her phone.

   “What’s your last name?”

   “Ru.”

   He recorded the name, ‘Ru Jihye, French Major.’ Then he put the phone back in his bag as before.

   “Do you know my name?”

   “Jihye.”

   “Oh… I thought you didn’t know.” Jihye tried to test Sangwoo’s memory.

   Sangwoo and Jihye stood in line at the front of the store at six o’clock. Since birth, Sangwoo had never wasted time waiting just to eat, but today he thought he could endure it.

   “Looks like there are seats now, let’s go in.”

   When the employee opened the door to the second-floor store, a bell rang loudly. As they entered the spacious store, Sangwoo swept his gaze around. The store was full of customers at every table, and three staff members wearing stained black aprons walked back and forth.

   Jang Jaeyoung was taking orders at a table far from Sangwoo, and the notes written on the paper must have been so crumpled that they couldn’t be read clearly. After finishing writing… Jaeyoung put the notepad in his stained apron pocket. When he turned around. Sangwoo thought they would lock eyes, but it seemed like he was thinking on his own because Jaeyoung quickly walked back to the kitchen.

   “…”

   Jaeyoung is expected to take the order as he did last time, which seems excessive. The unfamiliar man walked up to the table and asked what they wanted. Jihye ordered a vegetarian pasta, while Sangwoo ordered the top menu item.

   “I like seafood, remember we had lobster last time.”

   They waited behind part-time employees. Jihye chuckled softly.

   “What’s wrong?”

   “I ordered mussels… Grilled. Isn’t it a menu for those who know something?

   I saw you in a new light.”

   ‘What should we talk about?’

   Sangwoo kept looking for Jaeyoung without paying attention to anything else. At the same time, he couldn’t respond to Jihye’s words. At that moment, he saw Jaeyoung come out of the kitchen and head towards the exit. From the looks of it, the other party didn’t even take off his stained apron and seemed to leave only for a moment. Was there something urgent? Or did he avoid us?

   While wasting time with unanswered questions, the food arrived. Jihye’s plate was regular spaghetti, but Sangwoo’s plate was a red-friendly tomato soup with mussels. Sangwoo wasn’t someone who chose what to eat, but he felt annoyed having to peel the mussels himself, so he picked up a fork and tried to help, using it to pull out the meat from the shells before starting to eat.

   “Is it delicious?”

   “No.”

   “Sorry.”

   While eating, his gaze constantly shifted towards the door. Eventually, Sangwoo stood up, unable to bear it anymore. Jihye noticed and was surprised.

   “Where are you going?”

   “Just outside for a moment, I’ll be right back.”

   “Are you leaving me again, is that it?” “I will leave my purse, that’s enough.”

   Jihye was easily suspicious. Sangwoo took out his wallet as a guarantee and stood up from his seat. Once they were outside the restaurant, he hurriedly walked, almost running down the stairs. As soon as he exited the building, he froze.

   Even with the overwhelming shadows lurking, with just one glance, he knew. Jaeyoung was leaning against the wall next to the building, talking on the phone with someone while smoking. When he saw the other party, Sangwoo’s heart began to race. The enemy that invaded his daily life turned into an intruder who infiltrated his body without him realizing.

   I don’t know how long he has been looking… When the shadow disappeared, his black eyes turned to Sangwoo and Jaeyoung, who raised his eyebrows in the midst of a scene that resembled a frame from a black and white picture game.

   “I’m thinking about taking a break…”

   At that moment, Sangwoo thought that the other party might have given up and turned to talk to him, as indicated by the glance of the other party.

   “No, don’t bother. Just say it.”

   However, Jaeyoung simply shifted his gaze back and held the cigarette between his fingers. He clenched his hand and held the wristwatch up to look at it.

   “Jaeyoung-hyung.”

   Sangwoo blurted out, and Jaeyoung’s gaze, which had been fixed on the wall, slowly shifted to him. Sangwoo glanced at Jaeyoung and continued speaking.

   “I said I’m busy, so end the freaking call. I have something important to discuss.”

   ________________________________________.

      SMNTCERR CHAPTERS HOME