As I logged into Lastones, the character I usually played stood alone in the center of the plaza. I moved the camera to look around; there were a few users scattered here and there. It was Sunday, but as always, the place was just as empty as ever.In the meantime, Gang Jaegyung had already switched channels and joined the same lobby I was in. He walked his character over to mine and asked in a puzzled tone,“Why is your nickname like this? Ding-digidy…ri…di…ding…digiding?”“I just slapped something together ages ago.”Then I clicked on NeverRetookAClass, his character, and sent a friend request.Jaegyung accepted it immediately, then latched his character onto mine and kept [N O V E L I G H T] spinning his camera around, examining me up close.“Is Aegis your main?”“Yeah.”“…You always pick characters that are just like you.”Couldn’t tell if that was an insult or a compliment.“Takes one to know one. Hang on a second—I haven’t logged in for a while, I need to tweak my settings.”Jaegyung sat down obediently when I told him that. Well, his mouth didn’t sit still. He kept going on about how, since I’m Goyoung, I must be a cat with dust instead of shit, admitting in the process that he was the one covered in shit. I’d been trained by his chaotic streaming style for so long that I just tuned it out and opened the character setup window.Unlike Dusk, Lastones was a MOBA. You didn’t stick to one character and raise it over time—instead, you picked a unique hero each match. Every character had their own skills and traits, and you selected whichever fit your role that game.So the character window had over 60 options, and each one needed its own skills and trait build. I hadn’t played in a while, but I’d been watching Retaking a Class’s stream enough to know what the current meta was and which characters were strong, so setting up didn’t take long.Still, Jaegyung paused his nonsense and asked in a suspiciously casual tone,“Didn’t you say it’s been a while?”“Yeah, I’m coming back from a break.”“But you’re setting traits based on the current meta? I was gonna help if you needed it.”“Nah, I haven’t played, but I’ve kept up with the streams. I know what’s being used.”“I seeee.”That little lilt in his voice, that smile leaking through—it made me stop adjusting my settings. What was that tone? What trap did I just walk into?“Whose stream were you watching, anyway? For someone who spends all day playing Dusk to be keeping up with Lastones...”That snapped me back to my senses, and I turned to look at Jaegyung. Sure enough, he was grinning from ear to ear like a smug bastard.Ahh, goddammit. He always pulls this shit when I’m focused on something else.“You’re not the only person who streams Lastones, you know.”“Did I say I was? I just asked whose stream you watched.”Acting all innocent, even though his face and tone made it clear he was absolutely sure I was watching his.That smug little—no way was I giving him the satisfaction.“Changsoori’s stream.”“Changsoori? You mean Cheongsura-nim?”…Ugh. Should’ve just named someone else.“Yeah, that guy. Got the name mixed up for a second.”“Oh wow. And here I thought someone who follows streams would at least get the name right. I bet Cheongsura-nim would be so heartbroken to hear that.”“Wow. True. Retaking-nim must be such a kind, empathetic soul—so thoughtful toward fellow streamers.”No point trying to cover it up. The bastard already knew and was just milking it. I gave up and rushed to finish setting up, hoping to distract him. I hit the start button. Of course, this piece-of-shit game didn’t instantly match us, and Jaegyung kept running his mouth the whole queue time. This must be why people say big dogs are a pain to raise.Still, it was the weekend, so we got a match in under two minutes. The second the match notification sound dinged, Jaegyung finally shut up.I nudged him off, took the mouse, and looked at the role selection screen: Tank, Damage, Support. I chose Tank. Another teammate also picked Tank. Two tanks in a casual game? That’s rare.Jaegyung naturally picked Support. Then someone else picked Support too. The classic comp was two Damage, one Tank, one Support, and one flex, so this setup was a bit off, but it didn’t matter much—it was just a way to signal what role you wanted. You could still win even without a textbook lineup.So, we went into the character select screen with two Tanks, one Damage, and two Supports. Since it had been a while since I played, I figured I should stick with my main, Aegis. I picked him without hesitation. Still in the Tank role.As I finished picking and waited to see what the others would choose, a message popped up in the chat. I figured it might be a discussion about team comp, but of course, this was a casual match—constructive discussion was never going to happen.[Team] HotPoop: ?[Team] HotPoop: Is that Retaking?Fame, huh… How did someone clock him right in the first match? The notoriety of Retaking a Class never failed to amaze.But the next line made me instinctively turn to Jaegyung.[Team] NeverRetookAClass: Nah, fake[Team] NeverRetookAClass: Retaking is just Retaking, not "RetakingStudent"[Team] HotPoop: Oh really?[Team] HotPoop: You’re right[Team] HotPoop: You’re the “student” version[Team] FirmPoop: Who streams?[Team] HotPoop: Said he’s a fakeHe lied with a straight face. He was Retaking a Class and pretended he wasn’t without batting an eye. Come to think of it, this bastard always did that—he’d find some plausible technicality and spin it into a believable lie. And since Retaking was known for always speaking formally in chat, using casual speech like that made it even more convincing.[Team] FirmPoop: So which Support is gonna switch?[Team] LetItGo: I’ll take ADC[Team] NeverRetookAClass: thxI looked over at the real Retaking-turned-fake-Retaking, and a thought crossed my mind. He could speak perfectly normal like this if he wanted, so why did he insist on using honorifics? Sure, he’d cultivated a certain image on his stream, so he probably had to stick with it there.But with me? He’s known for a while now that we’re the same age, yet he still speaks to me in polite form. Isn’t that weird?Honestly, I’d always wondered about it whenever we talked. I assumed he just found honorifics more comfortable or maybe still felt some distance—but still.He asked to be friends today. So why was he still speaking formally?Character selection finished, and the loading screen came up on both our monitors. Once he saw the enemy team’s comp, Jaegyung started muttering to himself, analyzing the matchup.“The other side only has one tank, and they do have a support, but… If it’s Mummy, our melee DPS will have a hard time assassinating. The tank is Pond, so no ranged zoning skills—I can handle him. Aegis has high damage too, so if we engage first or initiate, they’ll melt easily.”See? Every sentence—formal speech.This guy, who’s the same age as me—just a few days older—begged to be friends but still talks like this. Doesn’t that make no sense?“Hey.”“Their Support is top tier, it’s Kay, but—huh?”“Why are you still using honorifics?”Jaegyung blinked. But he didn’t look particularly startled or confused.“Does it bother you?”“No, not bother, but it’s weird. I speak casually, and we’re the same age.”“But… I’m just more comfortable with this.”…If he says it’s because he’s more comfortable that way, there’s not much I can say.“Still. We’re the same age.”“If I speak formally to everyone regardless of age, there’s no confusion, and it gives me a humble image. It’s convenient.”“So do you use honorifics with your friends too?”“At first, yeah. If they find it weird, then of course I’ll switch.”So he does speak casually with friends… For anyone else, I’d think of course he would—but it was Jaegyung, so the fact that he could drop honorifics was weirdly fascinating.“…Would you like it if I spoke to you casually?”I made a “hmm” sound, amused by the fact that he could even use casual speech at all, and Jaegyung suddenly asked, eyes fixed on me.Would I like that? Honestly, I hadn’t thought about it that deeply. I’d been curious about why he kept up the honorifics, but whether he spoke formally or not didn’t really matter. If anything, if he started casually mouthing off, I might end up knocking him into a hospital.“Well… not really? Do whatever you want.”He’ll drop it when he’s comfortable enough.That’s what I thought as I answered—but Jaegyung raised an eyebrow like something about that bothered him.Why? I told him to do as he pleased—what’s there to be annoyed about?

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.