♡ Chapter 4 ♡

"Of course we do, love," Woohyun smirked at Jungeum, reaching out to caress her face endearingly, "almost professionally."

Jungeum returned the smirk with a scowl, not particularly wooed by his act. She took another step away from the young man, wrinkling her nose at the overpowering cologne she'd noticed with his closeness. Without realizing it, she cast her eyes to Myungsoo for confirmation.

Before he could even open his mouth, the rest of the boys chimed in.

"Emphasis on the 'almost'," Sungyeol grinned, always happy to tear Woohyun down, "if almost is just now managing to get the proper equipment."

Sungjong leaned on the broom he'd been using and blew at his bangs in frustration, "Hyung, don't be such a downer. The game is perfectly playable at home as well, and we've all been training separately."

Sungyeol puckered his bottom lip at the validity of the maknae's words.

Sungjong, proud of his accomplishment, continued, "The equipment just enhances the game a bit and makes it cooler... and easier... and opens up other content and stuff..." The youngest boy's voice trailed off as he realized that he had just worked against himself.

"'Almost' is almost an exaggeration," Dongwoo joked truthfully from his place on one of the white platforms. "We don't even have a full party yet."

At this, Myungsoo cleared his throat loudly and jerked his head violently towards Jungeum. He raised his eyebrows questioningly above his round glasses, meeting eyes with first Sunggyu and then Hoya. When he was sure he'd made his point, he straightened his face and murmured wistfully, "That's true. Only one—" Myungsoo paused, shaking his head regretfully, "—person—" he paused again, this time sighing, "—short."

Jungeum looked at her new friend, feeling a pang of pity for him. He seemed pretty serious about this game. She shifted uncomfortably, uneased by the quick drop in the atmosphere.

Hoya, who'd caught on to Myungsoo's scheme, smiled awkwardly and ran his hand through his hair, ruffling it nervously. "How about—" his voice almost cracked at the absurdity of the suggestion, "—what about Jungeum? It's not like we're so far along that she can't catch up with a little help." Out of the corner of his eye, he looked at Sunggyu timidly, almost like a dog that had been caught chewing its owner's shoe.

Sunggyu frowned, his expression darkening almost instantly, but he said nothing in opposition. Instead, he gave a low groan.

Woohyun narrowed his eyes momentarily, trying to figure out whether it was safe territory to enter. When he'd decided, he jumped in wholeheartedly, "That sounds like a great idea!" He winked at Jungeum. "I think we need a real girl around here. Sungjong doesn't give us quite enough femininity." He chuckled at his own cruel joke.

"That is, if she wants to play with us," Sungyeol took one large step and slid next to Jungeum, nudging her slightly with his elbow. He lowered his voice, "Come on, it'll be fun." He smiled broadly, that innocent childish look once again making its appearance. "I promise."

Myungsoo nudged Sungyeol to create a little distance and then slid between the two, facing Jungeum. "You really don't have to... It would just, you know, be nice. Since you're new around here it'll be nice to have something to do."

His warm breath tickled Jungeum's ears; it took all that she had to not pull away. He had a point though. If she joined these boys in their little game, it would give her an excuse to be away from home—a hideout place. Plus, it couldn't be too bad. Everyone seemed okay. They had their good points and their bad points—but that made them human. She smiled slightly and agreed, "I'm okay with it, I guess."

"Yeah, yeah, I know how to download and install a game. Calm your ."

Jungeum leaned closer to the screen and searched the page for the download link, her words full of empty confidence. "Why am I downloading this again? I thought we needed that other equipment or whatever—aha!"

Finally, she found the link. She'd spent the past two or three minutes trying to figure out where to download this game from. Myungsoo kept fretting at her, his voice growing squeakier and squeakier as he realized just how inept his recruit was with technology.

"Like I said earlier, you don't need the equipment to play; you can still click around like any other MMORPG on your home computer. There's just so much more freedom when you use the actual equipment. The way your character walks, talks, moves, attacks, and even its speed can be altered by your physical attributes in real life."

Jungeum rolled her eyes as Myungsoo’s voice quickened with excitement.

"It's the perfect incentive to get the players actually fit in real life. It's amazing. Genius. Revolutionary!"

Jungeum slid her headphones onto her neck, anticipating that this little rant would last for a while. With a sigh, she massaged her temples and rubbed her scalp, trying to rid herself of the oncoming headache she could feel.

After a while, she slid her headphones back on, "Hey, Myungsoo, you there? I was doing something really quick, sorry." She yawned and blinked her eyes a couple of times so that she could focus, "Currently installing."

"Okay, just let me know when it's done. I'll run you through character creation. Races, classes, factions and stuff."

Jungeum narrowed her eyes. She wasn't that helpless. She didn't mind Myungsoo, but he honestly didn't have to keep treating her like such a child. Spitefully, she slid her headphones off again, muttering to herself, "Run me through my . I'll do this on my own."

The installation finished quickly, and she just used common sense to run the patcher. She simply clicked the start button, and it was all done for her. After many bars and percentages flew across her screen, ominous, almost magical, music began to play loudly—loudly enough for her to hear from the headphones around her neck. Her screen turned completely black, and, for a moment, her heart stopped. Then, a beautiful scene faded in.

“Welcome to Renascence Online.”

☁ Yeoldeul's Corner^◕◕

No idea how long it took us to write this chapter. It's our first update in.. what? I believe Kou-love said seven months?

☁ Pshaw's Corner^◕◕

*CARELESS, CARELESS. SHOOT ANONYMOUS, ANONYMOUS. HEARTLESS, MINDLESS. NO ONE. WHO CARE ABOUT ME ?  Kou is not currently present.