“Is it because it’s too expensive?”

　　The way he said it was so fucking condescending, like he was asking, Don’t tell me this is enough to make your hands shake?

　　When I didn’t answer, Shin Heejae muttered as if to drive the point home.

　　“Guess you’re more small-time than I thought…”

　　Fed up with his obnoxious tone, I fired back.

　　[Sesam]: Lol stop worrying about my gear

　　[Sesam]: And fix ur own trash gear first

　　[Sesam]: Like ur the one to talk

　　Shin Heejae let out a deep sigh. Then came the clatter of his keyboard, followed by a notification that new mail had arrived.

　　[High Elf’s Sacred Pendant +9]

　　Heejae had sent the pendant back to me again.

　　The second I saw it, I knew he was trying to pick a fight with me. I rolled up my sleeves and headed for the mailbox, but before I could do anything, Shin Heejae interrupted.

　　“Noona.”

　　I considered ignoring him, but stopped my character and answered.

　　[Sesam]: I told you I’m not taking it

　　“Why are you getting mad at me all of a sudden? All I did was give you a gift.”

　　He sounded annoyed, like he genuinely had no idea what he’d done wrong. Still, his voice was subdued, as though he was holding back his temper and trying to ask calmly.

　　Was he seriously asking because he didn’t know? Dumbfounded, I answered sarcastically in chat.

　　[Sesam]: You literally just told me I suck so I should at least wear this

　　“Fuck, that wasn’t…”

　　The little shit had the nerve to swear at me!

　　[Sesam]: What? Did u just f**king swear at me?

　　Naturally, that got my blood boiling. Even Heejae seemed to realize he’d slipped up. He hurriedly made excuses, sounding noticeably meeker.

　　“No… I wasn’t swearing at you, Noona. I was just frustrated…”

　　My mood soured instantly. This was what I got for letting things slide so easily. He was getting way too comfortable disrespecting me.

　　When I didn’t answer in chat, Shin Heejae seemed to gauge my reaction before muttering in a much less energetic voice than usual.

　　“I saw the others giving you gifts, so I just gave you one too. And it was something I wasn’t using anyway… I got annoyed because you’re only refusing mine.”

　　Just as I was about to demand what the hell he had to be annoyed about, Shin Heejae suddenly turned away from the mic and coughed.

　　It wasn’t forced. It sounded like he’d hastily covered his mouth to stifle a sudden cough. Wait, did he have a cold? Come to think of it, his voice did sound raspier than before…

　　I forgot what I’d been about to say and listened closely through my headset. Shin Heejae coughed several more times, then cleared his throat.

　　And then…

　　“…I’m gonna get some water.”

　　His voice was still hoarse as he said that, and then he muted his mic altogether. I was left staring at the game screen, unable to stay mad but not exactly over it either.

　　Then, while Shin Heejae was away, someone suddenly started bragging over a server megaphone.

　　[All][BargainByMail]: Whoever bought the High Elf Pendant +9 that wouldnt sell for 2 months… Thank u so much lololololol

　　It was a merchant I recognized from around the Auction House. The second I saw that message, I looked uneasily at the [High Elf’s Sacred Pendant +9] that Heejae had sent back to me.

　　No way. He couldn’t have actually bought this for me… could he? The timing lined up too perfectly for me not to be suspicious, but I shook my head.

　　No. Shin Heejae didn’t even wear +9 accessories himself, so why would he suddenly buy me this pendant?

　　Right…?

　　Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling.

　　And about ten minutes later, when Shin Heejae apologized in chat and said he needed to go to the hospital, I felt even more uneasy.

* * *

　　Shin Heejae told me he’d come back from the hospital, take his medicine, sleep for two hours, then get back on, but he never did. I assumed he probably took the meds and passed out. He didn’t even go live like he did almost every day.

　　“Well, all that bastard does is eat and play games…”

　　I clicked my tongue and mocked Shin Heejae for having such a weak-ass body. Then, for the first time in a while, I ran dungeons with the usual trio without him.

　　But surprisingly…

　　Running dungeons with Shin Heejae alone was way faster than running them with all three of these guys. I didn’t want to compare, but playing with other people really drove home just how good that bastard was.

　　[Hoohaa]: Sesam your heal Ele is seriously broken…

　　[Respect]: I think you’re honestly the best

　　[Sesam]: No stop pleaseee lol

　　[Lemonade]: so thats why the clan master kidnaps you every day…

　　[Respect]: I respect you

　　[Sesam]: Noo that’s not true it’s just… Shin Heejae uses me as a healbot

　　No matter how many times the trio made a fuss over me, I never got used to it. I rubbed the back of my neck, embarrassed, and tried to brush off all the praise. Then, somewhere between the teasing and the flattery, the conversation turned to Shin Heejae.

　　[Respect]: The clan master usually doesn’t even bring a healer

　　[Lemonade]: fr hes a legit solo player

　　[Hoohaa]: srly he almost never parties up

　　They’d all joined the clan long before I had, yet they kept grilling me about Shin Heejae. Apparently, that bastard was notorious even within the clan for doing whatever the hell he wanted. It was like becoming friends with a celebrity and suddenly having the spotlight turned on me.

　　Of course, Heejae and I were nowhere near being friends, so all that curiosity felt like a burden. I did my best to stress that Heejae and I had a strictly business relationship.

　　[Sesam]: No but it’s basically like soloing anyway

　　[Sesam]: Sometimes we dont even say a word cuz we’re just grinding lol

　　[Hoohaa]: Whatt don’t you two play together for over six hours though?

　　[Sesam]: Lol well yes… but

　　[Sesam]: There’s nothing to talk about when you’re running dungeons

　　[Respect]: I see…

　　[Respect]: To be honest… I thought you two had something going on

　　[Sesam]: Huh?

　　[Hoohaa]: Lmaoo same

　　[Lemonade]: lolololololololololololololololololol

　　Then Respect started spouting bullshit, saying they’d thought Heejae and I were dating. I was disgusted and about to curse them out when I suddenly remembered my original goal:

　　[Add a line to Shin Heejae’s Wikipedia page saying he dated a Netkama]

　　Honestly, getting Shin Heejae to actually date me had stalled so badly that I’d all but given up. But if everyone around us misunderstood on their own and I simply didn’t deny it…

　　Wasn’t this the perfect revenge? I could spread the rumor without even dating him. Plus, Shin Heejae was currently laid up sick and couldn’t defend himself. The timing couldn’t have been better.

　　I swallowed hard and racked my brain for what to say to make it look like there was something between us, and how to spread the rumor as if I’d burned through a million server megaphones.

　　[Sesam]: But Heejae…

　　[Sesam]: I mean the clan master did give me something

　　[Sesam]: Is it something expensive?

　　[Respect]: What is it?

　　[Sesam]: The pendant I’m wearing right now

　　[Hoohaa]: omg

　　[Lemonade]: woa he actually gave that to you?

　　[Sesam]: Yes haha I was going to give it back if it was too expensive…

　　[Sesam]: It is, right?

　　As I said that, I changed my [View Info] settings to public so they could get a good look. Well, it wasn’t like I was making anything up.

　　The party chat went quiet for a moment. Then Respect awkwardly tried to deny it.

　　[Respect]: No no… I think it’s only like 100M haha It’s not expensive, just keep it

　　[Hoohaa]: yeah… just keep it lol

　　[Lemonade]: fr I mean its a gift so don’t feel pressured lol

　　Of course, I’d already checked how much the item was worth. It was obvious they were all covering for Heejae and trying to fool me.

　　“Yeah, try that on someone who doesn’t know better…”

　　I snorted at their pathetic little show of loyalty, but judging by their reactions, the rumor was going to spread like wildfire whenever Shin Heejae and I weren’t around. The thought actually made me laugh. That was what I’d been aiming for in the first place.

　　“Rather than forcing myself to act cute with Shin Heejae…”

　　This was much easier, and it gave me a better shot at getting what I wanted. Grinning to myself, I kept feeding the trio’s misunderstanding for all it was worth.

* * *

　　But once I logged out and lay down on my bed, the reality of what I’d just done started to sink in. Pretending there was something between Shin Heejae and me while acting all innocent at the same time gave me goosebumps all over.

　　I sighed.

　　“You really have to be shameless to pull off this netkama shit…”

　　I rubbed at my strangely warm neck and tossed and turned in bed. Then I picked up my phone and caught up on the webtoons I’d fallen behind on. After that, I opened my messaging app, replied to a few messages from Hyejin, then tapped Shin Heejae’s chat right below hers.

　　—Heejae: Noona I’m gonna sleep for two hours then come back

　　It had already been thirteen hours since he’d sent that.

　　It wasn’t like I was worried about him. But the pendant had left me feeling strangely unsettled, and in the end, my fingers started moving on their own.