#hyuntae

It was another two and a half weeks before you got a chance to rejoin your friends on Unrealth, logging in to find that it was only Simon and Hyungmin on, both located at the food court of the local mall. 

You warped there, immediately wondering how you were going to find them, seeing as the place was huge. The thought was shortlived, however, as soon Simon's voice was calling to you over a short wall on the other side of the food court.

You quickly joined them, sitting next to Hyungmin with Simon sitting across from him. “Hey guys, long time no see.”

Simon smiled at you. “No kidding. When you said you would never be on, I didn’t think you meant it literally.” he joked.

You shrugged and smiled back. “I have a really heavy work schedule. I'm kind of thankful for it though since it means that generally, I can afford this game and pay my bills. Let’s me pretend my life is actually exciting.”

Hyungmin snorted. “I guess that’s one way of seeing it. It’s probably for the best anyway, Hyuntae’s been coming home early a lot lately, this is probably the first time this week I’ve been on and he hasn’t.”

Your brow furrowed at the mention. “Why would it matter if he was on when I came on?”

Simon leaned back in his seat and sighed. “Last time you came on, he was acting weird. He wouldn’t tell us why so we’ve been worried he might not like you and just doesn’t want us to know. We don’t know why he wouldn’t, though.”

You paused before speaking again, thoughts going to the last time you’d been on. “Wait a minute, but he added me before I logged off last time.”

The two met your statement with confusion so you pulled out your hone and showed them your friends list, Hyuntae showing as the most recent.

“That’s weird, why would he add you after being so silent last time? He’s never like that.” Simon said, scratching his head.

Hyungmin thought for a moment, looking at Hyuntae on your outheld phone before smirking. “Looks like we can find out, he just came online.”

You turned your phone back to yourself to see that he was online and had spawned on the other side of town, so it may take a while to teleport to where you were. “So he is. In the meantime, what’s been going on with you guys?” you asked, stuffing the device back into your pocket

They then caught you up on some of what happened while you were gone, sharing both stories of what happened online as well as incidents that happened in their daily lives.

Partway into Simon telling a story about how his cat almost knocked his TV off its stand, the chair next to Simon was pulled out with a loud squeak. the earlier mentioned red-haired man joining you with a slightly sheepish smile.

The other two wasted no time getting on his case, seeming to pick something up from his expression. “You added her, huh?” Hyungmin asked with a teasing smile.

Simon snickered. “What was with the silent treatment last time then?”

Hyuntae’s cheeks turned bright pink, not expecting the teasing. “Excuse me? I wasn’t giving her the cold shoulder!” he said, instantly getting defensive.

.The brunette raised an eyebrow at him. “Then what in the hell was that last time?”

The redhead thought on an answer, flustered at their questioning. “I had stuff on my mind.”

Hyungmin put his elbow on the table, resting his chin on his open palm. “You didn’t seem to have anything on your mind right before Yunha came in. That’s pretty convenient.”

Hyuntae wanted to retort, face stiffened in prep for it, but then decided against it, leaning back in his chair and pulling out his phone, mumbling an insult to them under his breath.

Simon chuckled and checked his for a second, most likely checking the time. “I think I have to leave, I gotta take my mom out for dinner tonight, it’s her birthday tomorrow.”

Hyungmin smiled at him. “That’s fine, let her know that we all wish her a happy birthday.”

Simon nodded and said his farewells before signing off, leaving the three of you to stew for a moment in the noisy atmosphere of the mall.

The blonde soon set his hands on the table and stood up. “I think I’m going to go for a short walk, I’ll be back in a bit.”

You furrowed your brow. “What exactly do you get from walking around in the game? There’s not much out there different from real life.”

He shrugged. “You go outside without having to go out. Also, it gets you two alone. See ya.” he said, taking his leave before either one of you could ask what that was supposed to mean.

Thus there were two.

After a bit, Hyuntae seemed to notice too, looking at you then around him at your surroundings, noticeably nervous.

“Hey, are you okay?”

The question startled him, the man jumping in his seat “Huh? Oh yeah, perfectly fine.”

You snorted. “Doesn’t seem like it.”

He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by another voice. “They actually left you two alone after last time? I thought Hyungmin was joking about that.”

Pulling out the chair that Simon had been in next to Hyuntae was Yunha, having logged in and teleported over not much after the brunette had logged off.

Hyuntae huffed. “Never doubt anything he says, especially if it involves me. Being childhood friends with him has made him have no reservations about doing anything.”

She snickered. “Fair. No, but seriously, where is everyone? Hyungmin is still on.”

You nodded. “Yeah, he went out for a walk just a second ago, you just missed him.” 

Yunha hummed and pressed her foot against the leg of the table, pushing her chair onto its back two legs. “Yeah, it wouldn’t surprise me at all that he would want to just wander around, although something tells me that’s not what he left for...anyway! Y/N, how was your last couple weeks?” she asked quickly.

You didn't end up asking her what she meant, not wanting to kill the playful mood, instead having a long conversation with the two. A part of you was a little upset you didn’t get to take advantage before she showed up to get to know Hyuntae better, but overall, it was nice to see him open up a bit.

After another couple hours, you had to say your goodbyes, promising to try to come on again soon before turning off the game and getting ready for work the next day.

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God, you hated slow days.

It wasn’t something people often complained about since it usually would involve sitting around and socializing, but it was something you found hard to do. You’d worked there for several years, and the more busy days have you conditioned to be constantly busy and to work fast and diligently.

That’s why you’re at your desk doing absolutely nothing two hours into your shift.

You grunted, dropping your head on your desk. “Ugh, how do we even get this low of a workload...” you mumbled under your breath.

Soft clicking that had started to pass your desk had instead paused right in front of it. “Because the world decided that we’ve gone through enough that we deserve a second to breathe.”

You didn't have to lift your head to know it was Eunjeong, one of the few people in the office that didn’t drive you insane.

“This doesn’t feel like a second to breathe, it feels like hell. I have to look busy while simultaneously having nothing left to do.”

She shrugged, resting her hip against your desk. “You have to master how to find work where there isn’t any.”

You furrowed your brow, lifting your head to look at her. “Explain.”

She set a packet of papers down on your desk. “This is paperwork that’s already invalidated for one of many different reasons it could be and needs to be shredded. Our last boss told me to go slow and fill this out for the rest of the shift. Shred them as planned after. Let’s you not get in trouble, but also doesn’t punish you for working hard and quick.” she said.

You hummed, flipping through the pages. “Huh...I guess that's the next best thing since we’re not allowed to leave....” you mumbled, setting it back down. “I take it that you’re done everything you need to get done since you’re carrying all these?”

She nodded. “Yeah, a lot of us are. Today would have been the perfect day to have a half-day, but...” she trailed off, shrugging.