Vol 4 Chapter 29

As Kapros nodded, Min-hoo's expression became slightly subdued.

[ Yeah. So be careful for these 3 days too. We don't know when Caesar might appear again... And when you go back... ]

[ Min...! Come here... right now! ]

As Min-hoo was speaking with increasingly downcast eyes, he suddenly turned to look behind him at the noisy sound, then waved his hand with a troubled expression.

[ Uh... I don't think I can talk any longer. Well then, Mu-heon, see you in 3 days! ]

Just as Kapros was about to return the farewell, Min-hoo suddenly widened his eyes, looked at him once more, and spoke with slightly furrowed brows.

[ ...By the way, has something bad happened to you recently? Why do you look so unwell? ]

"What?"

At those words, Kapros touched his face, wondering what he meant, but shook his head.

"Not really."

[ No... You really look like you're sick or something. ]

[ Little bro! If you don't hang up in 10 seconds, you'll have a talk with big sis! ]

Along with Min-hoo's worried words, one of the noisy voices that had been heard earlier came through loudly. At that voice, Kapros's eyes widened slightly in surprise, and Min-hoo's expression crumpled into one of fear as he turned his head back and shouted.

[ I-I'm hanging up, sis! ...Alright. Then I'll hang up now. Take care and see you in 3 days. ]

"You too..."

Click!

The video call that ended hurriedly before Kapros could give a proper farewell felt as abrupt as when it had started. As he looked at the hologram screen emitting only white light, he unconsciously wiped his forehead and felt sweat on his hand, suddenly feeling the stickiness of the heat. He desperately wanted to take a bath.

"Computer. Please activate the bathroom."

[ Activating. ]

As he heard the lights turn on in the bathroom with a click and the sound of water filling the tub, Kapros looked out the window. The sun still hadn't set, and it was quite bright outside. Rather than going out after taking a bath, it seemed better to go out now and buy a few cans of beer.

Kapros didn't enjoy alcohol, but when he wanted to drink something that would cool him down to his core more than water, he would occasionally drink a little beer, though very rarely. Even knowing he'd have to go out to buy it, for some reason he felt extremely thirsty and really wanted to drink it now.

Stroking his parched throat, Kapros got up, quickly changed into a pair of jeans, and put on his coat. But after taking a few steps towards the front door where his cane was, he stopped in his tracks.

'Oh no...'

The pants that had fit him well enough until just a couple of months ago suddenly felt loose, as if they had stretched, and seemed like they might fall down. As he went back in to put on a belt, Kapros felt quite perplexed.

There was a 24-hour mart near his house. He easily bought three cans of beer, put them in a bag, and on his way back, he saw a motorcycle circling around in front of the main road leading to his house. In the short time it had taken him to go to the mart and back, the sun had almost set, and in the darkened street, the black motorcycle and its rider were so completely clad in black that they would have been hard to make out if not for the dim streetlights.

'He's not being careful, he could have an accident like that...'

Thinking this vaguely, Kapros tried to move his slow feet a bit faster and approached the motorcycle. As he did, he felt like he had seen the rear end of the bike somewhere before.

'...Where have I seen it?'

Even as he thought this was strange, he didn't stop but moved a bit closer, and this time even the back view of the rider wearing a helmet seemed familiar. Feeling déjà vu twice was not a common occurrence, so he stopped walking. And when he looked closely, that back view wasn't just familiar, it strongly resembled the back of someone he knew.

'It can't be...'

Even though he thought it couldn't be...

"Yu..."

As Kapros unconsciously started to say the in-game name but closed his mouth, the wandering motorcycle stopped and shone its light towards him. Squinting at the too-bright headlight, Kapros stepped back, and the regularly rumbling engine sound suddenly exploded.

Vroom!

The loud sound of tires scraping against asphalt as the motorcycle stopped abruptly in front of Kapros echoed mercilessly through the quiet road. Regardless of Kapros's surprise, as soon as the bike stopped, the rider took off his helmet as if throwing it away and, not even bothering to properly park the teetering motorcycle, ran over and pulled Kapros into a tight embrace.

"Kap...!"

"Yu-wan."

Since the guy had called him Kap, Kapros called him by the familiar name, and after a moment, Je-hwan's arms, which had been hugging him with all his might, finally let go after catching his breath. When they properly faced each other, Kapros saw that Je-hwan's face was slightly flushed, as if excited, unlike the guy he knew.

'Was this guy always like this? No, he wasn't...'

Jin Je-hwan, or Yu-wan, wasn't the type of person to express his joy by hugging someone like Kran when meeting after a long time, so this was strange. Seeing his eyes that somehow looked relieved, Kapros scratched the back of his head and asked.

"How on earth did you come here?"

"When I dropped you off before..."

Ah... Had he dropped him off around here when they met before? But why had he suddenly come all the way here like this? If Kapros hadn't come out wanting to drink beer, Je-hwan would have had to go back without this chance encounter.

Judging by the fact that he had been wandering around here without contacting Kapros beforehand, he must have been quite out of his mind. For Kapros, it was an utterly perplexing situation.

"Why so suddenly?"

No matter how much he thought about it, Kapros couldn't guess any reason why Je-hwan would have had to come here so urgently, so he asked, and Je-hwan's expression hardened coldly.

"I thought you..."

"Huh?"

"...I saw the video."

"What video?"

As Kapros looked at him in confusion, wondering what he meant, Je-hwan nodded and opened his mouth.