Yellow seems to have recognized me more strongly than I thought, so it might be difficult to observe her up close in the future. However, feeling that way, I felt it was too hasty to stop observing without even looking at her reaction once. So, I decided to go to the arcade again to check on her reaction.
Since there was a possibility that Yellow might not come in the morning, I couldn’t waste time in an empty arcade. First, I went to headquarters to look over training-related data.
Just before lunchtime, I received a text from Green.
“Are you coming to the park today?”
There had been a HunterKiller meeting in the morning. Green usually returned from the meeting around lunchtime, and since it was already lunchtime, I briefly replied with “Yes.”
Thinking it would work out timing-wise if I left immediately, I headed out of headquarters.
After A left, in the office:
“What? Did A leave for the day?”
Luche, coming out of the room, noticed that A wasn’t at her seat and asked another soldier about A’s whereabouts.
“Yes, she just left.”
After hearing the reply from the soldier who shared the desk with A, Luche said, “Oh, I see,” and left the office.
With the hot weather, I wanted to minimize outdoor activities. Meeting Green at a nearby café wouldn’t be a problem, but it felt like the first place should definitely be the park.
Of course, this was just my own thought, and I hadn’t actually talked to Green, but since I also had no clear reason, it felt awkward to bring it up with her.
Arriving at the park, I didn’t see Green, so I sat on a bench, thinking she hadn’t arrived yet.
Feeling the heat, I naturally thought it would be better to meet at a nearby café next time.
After about five minutes, I saw Green running, drenched in sweat, under the blazing sun.
“Take it easy. Take it easy.”
“Hello. Did you wait long?”
“I just got here. It’s so hot, why don’t we get something cool to drink and take our time?”
To tell her that she could take it easy from now on, I said this while noticing her sweating. She smiled with a flushed face, breathing heavily.
“It’s okay. I’m good with endurance.”
While I know HunterKiller members are fit, I thought their sensitivity to heat wouldn’t change.
Not wanting to seem too concerned, I nodded without much response.
“Did you skip lunch? Shall we eat something?”
“Excuse me?!”
Hearing my stomach rumbling, I brought up the topic of food, and Green was visibly surprised. Was it really that surprising to talk about food?
“Food? Oh, did you eat already?”
I wondered if she had eaten, but she quickly shook her head, showing she hadn’t eaten lunch.
“No, I haven’t eaten yet.”
“Then let’s eat together.”
It wasn’t a big deal to have lunch together, but Green still looked surprised.
Anyway, I had some questions to ask during lunch, so we moved to a different spot.
After having lunch with Green, we parted ways. During the meal, I brought up the issue with Yellow from last week. Although I asked Green more about Yellow, she didn’t know much as she hadn’t known her for long like Hayang or had any emotional conflicts with her like Yura.
Even though they’ve known each other for three years, I thought she might know something, but it was the first time I realized that even after knowing someone for years, they might not know much about each other if communication breaks down.
However, there was one interesting explanation:
“Superficially, she seems complicated, but when you look closer, she has simple sides too.”
While I generally agree that people are complex, I focused on Green’s evaluation of Yellow, feeling that her words weren’t just a general assessment of complexity and simplicity.
This was because I trusted that Green wouldn’t casually judge others.
First, I planned to visit the arcade on my way back to check on Yellow if she was there.
When I reached the arcade, I found Yellow playing a game alone. There was no one else in the arcade, and after seeing her yesterday, I felt uneasy approaching closely, so I hid between other arcade machines to observe her.
Her movements with the joystick and rapid button pressing were unchanged from the two days of observation I had done.
Seeing her in such a strange situation, it felt odd to keep observing, and watching her from the gap of the arcade machine seemed suspicious to others. So, I sat in front of a fighting game machine where I hadn’t beaten the boss yet.
I hoped Yellow wouldn’t notice me, even if she was playing another game. But since the reason for coming to the arcade was to see Yellow, I ended up sitting at the same game machine again.
Most importantly, I needed to see how she would react to me. Knowing her straightforward personality, if she said she’d hit, she meant it, so the first thing that came to mind was relief if she didn’t hit.
“Really, you can’t play at all.”
While playing the game, after some time, I heard Yellow’s voice from across saying, “I thought you knew how to play, but you don’t even know how.”
Unable to refute her, as it was already an uncomfortable situation, I couldn’t speak.
“Hey, if you’re going to just insert coins without knowing how to play, why play at all?”
…That’s a fact, but thinking about it, what right does she have to keep talking to me in a casual manner?
I understood her casual tone yesterday, given the unusual circumstances, but it felt inappropriate now.
“You didn’t watch any videos, nor do you seem to have learned commands. I can’t tell what you want to do.”
Despite the heat, I felt confident that nothing I said would work.
I realized Yellow remembered me from last week when I asked her to teach me the game, but she didn’t seem inclined to help.
Since the purpose of coming to the arcade wasn’t to play games, it was fine not to teach her. Not having played the game before and not being able to didn’t bother me, but it did hurt my pride somewhat.
“Even if you don’t know, you might want to try. Stop nagging.”
I understood the source of my pride hurt. The problem wasn’t the game; I had a bad impression of Yellow overall. Watching her unpredictable actions, I felt frustrated, almost attacking her unconsciously.
The reason was obvious: Yellow had caused damage to HunterKiller members, including Yubin. While it might seem like I support Team HunterKiller, it was only because I knew them better.
If a stranger criticized my friend, how many people wouldn’t feel upset?
In the end, my dissatisfaction with her remained unexpressed, and I vented my frustration through my words. Thinking about it, asking for help was just saying I didn’t know, and nagging made me feel bad.
But I didn’t intend to attack, so I was surprised by my own words. The other side fell silent, and I tensed up, listening to the sound of the game.
“What did you see?”
Waiting for her next words, I answered, “What?” upon hearing an unclear statement.
“What did you see? Tournament videos or personal play videos. You must have a character you want to play, right?”
“…I don’t.”
“Doesn’t it bother you to be nagged? If you want to know, shouldn’t you at least try to learn?”
I couldn’t refute her; her words were correct.
Like asking a master for advice and then refusing to say what you want to learn, that was exactly my situation.
Though annoyed by her nagging, she couldn’t understand the reasons behind it.
I deliberately sat in the seat next to hers and started playing, and she put a coin in and started playing across from me. Her sudden action left me stunned, and she continued, “Why aren’t you starting? Where’s the player who wanted to be taught?”
“Uh, uh.”
In the end, I played with her. It was an unintended response to move the situation along. Ironically, I ended up playing with her.
“? You were at the arcade last week, right?”
Noticing my character’s movement, Yellow asked. I had played against her without her knowing last week, so she seemed to remember.
“How did you know?”
“A clumsy player challenged during a busy time, which was ridiculous, so I remembered.”
In short, a clumsy player showed a clumsy performance, which was so memorable. Of course, she only remembered that such a player existed, realizing it was me just now.
Despite it being a few days ago and just one match, she remembered.
“That beginner character is hard to use.”
“Yeah?”
After losing a clean round, Yellow chose a character I could use.
Though I followed her instructions in subsequent rounds, she said,
“Are you an idiot? Is it so hard to use a skill after hitting normally?”
“You dodge everything!”
“In a fight, would you just stand there and get hit?”
Though I didn’t expect her to teach a beginner gently, I didn’t want to lose to her blunt remarks, so I played as instructed but continued to refute her.
“Now! Now!”
“If you block when I say ‘now,’ how can I hit?!”
“Hit before I say ‘now.’ Fool!”
“What kind of nonsense is that?!”
Fortunately, no one in the arcade heard, but reacting intensely to her continuous nagging, I, who rarely raised my voice, reacted harshly.
Though I created this situation, I still disliked Yellow and didn’t want to hear her nagging continuously. Since I wasn’t the type to stay quiet when told not to, I decided to respond every time, which only escalated her nagging.
“Guard, then grab, and do it like this!”
“…”
She demonstrated as if showing herself, but the demonstration was on my character, and I lost to her for the eighth time as my HP bar depleted.
“Really, you can’t play games.”
I felt a surge of emotion. I hadn’t played many games, and it was natural to know she was better than me.
Although it was true that I couldn’t play well, it stung my pride to hear that repeatedly.
“Hey. Let’s play one more.”
“Sure. Let’s aim for a high score.”
Finally, we started the next game, and she kept instructing me while moving her character. My unfamiliar hands couldn’t follow her instructions.
After the arcade filled up, we lowered our voices, but snippets of nagging and rebuttals continued, and by the end of the day, I achieved a 30-game losing streak.
“Hey.”
“What?”
As the arcade filled up, I went outside to head home and approached Yellow who had left earlier. Even though playing all day drained me, losing and returning was frustrating.
“When will you come tomorrow?”
“I’ll probably come. Why?”
“Alright. I’ll wait for you.”
After clearly telling Yellow I’d see her at the arcade tomorrow, I reflected on today’s defeat and headed home, grinding my teeth.
It took me a while to realize that despite not coming to play games, I ended up with the goal of winning at least one game.
