I am not a Yandere chapter 84

* * *

Once again, Wonjin slowly finished off a whole fried chicken by himself and left with a satisfied remark.

Yeongdeok couldn’t help but want to take apart Wonjin’s brain and figure out what he was thinking.

Even after Wonjin left, customers kept pouring in.

Between frying chicken and ringing up sales, time flew by, and soon it was 2 a.m.

As they were wrapping up after closing, Jihoon broke the early morning silence.

“Cha Yeongdeok, I’ve got something to say.”

“What is it?”

“March is coming up soon.”

Is it March already?

Yeongdeok felt like time had flown by.

It hadn’t actually sped up, of course; it just seemed faster because February only had 28 days.

“With the new semester starting, I probably won’t be able to work the whole shift like before.”

“I see.”

“Since studying is important, I might need some weekdays off too.”

“Got it.”

“Are you going to hire someone new?”

Jihoon cautiously asked, glancing at Yeongdeok for a reaction.

“Are you asking because you want another person hired?”

Expecting Jihoon to say yes, Yeongdeok asked for his opinion, but Jihoon shook his head, surprisingly.

“No. I like things the way they are.”

Jihoon knew that as soon as someone else joined, he’d lose his only chance to spend time alone with Yeongdeok.

To be honest, Cha Yeongdeok had a terrible personality, but his face was strikingly handsome, so a new part-timer might start falling for him.

But Jihoon also knew better than to mix personal feelings with business.

Besides, he doubted Yeongdeok would actually listen to his opinion.

“But if you’re having a hard time, feel free to hire someone.”

“That’s just common sense.”

“Damn…”

Jihoon almost let out a curse but caught himself.

Maybe it’s time to cut down on the swearing.

“Everything seems cleaned up now. Let’s go.”

“I’ll decide when we leave. Don’t get cocky.”

“Yeah, I’m cocky. Just realizing that now?”

Jihoon flashed a mischievous smile that suited his early twenties.

Sometimes he’d call him ‘you,’ ‘dude,’ or ‘Cha Yeongdeok,’ and other times he’d call him ‘hyung,’ which annoyed Yeongdeok.

“I wish you’d stick to one way of addressing me.”

“No way. Or wait, do you want me to call you ‘hyung’? You didn’t seem to mind when I did.”

Huh?

Is that it?

Jihoon teasingly leaned in closer, making Yeongdeok wonder what was going on in his head.

But as Jihoon’s face got nearer, his own face heated up, and he awkwardly stepped back.

“Anyway… Let’s just go.”

“I’ll leave when I’m ready, no need to rush me.”

After one last glance around the shop, Yeongdeok began switching off the lights.

Finally, they stepped out, and another day of business came to an end.

ꔚ

After thoroughly researching how to make friends, Yeongdeok decided to put his newfound knowledge to the test by scouring open chat rooms, a setting that didn’t quite suit his obsessive nature.

The first one he found was called “How Long Will You Keep Making Me Dance?”

It had the absurd slogan: “How much alcohol does it take for someone to die?”

It seemed to be a group seriously dedicated to drinking.

The sheer ridiculousness of the room’s name and slogan amused Yeongdeok, so he decided to join.

As soon as he expressed interest, the chat room leader asked for his gender, age, and location, which Yeongdeok answered.

The last question appeared soon after.

[User: ‘DogCrazy’: Yeongdeok Chicken, your age and location match well with us. Do you have time to drink with us once a week in the evening?]

[Time? I don’t.]

[DogCrazy: How about once a month? Even that’s fine, but would that be hard too?]

After thinking for a moment, he realized that with his work schedule, he wouldn’t be able to make it.

[That’s right.]

[DogCrazy: Aww, that’s too bad ㅠㅠ. Well, maybe next time.]

Before he could say anything else, he was kicked out of the room.

They could have tried to find a compromise, but no—just kicked out like that. Rude.

He continued browsing for another chat room.

Just when it seemed like there were no suitable ones, something caught his eye: a chat room looking for top-tier players in competitive high-end watch gaming, something Yeongdeok excelled at.

It didn’t quite fit his obsessive persona either, but he liked it.

All it took was tier verification to join, and the conversations were mostly about gaming, so there was nothing he didn’t understand.

This time, he felt like he could stay in the chat for a while.

But there was one thing he didn’t account for.

“What the hell is our healer doing? Shouldn’t they be healing the tank first? Are they brain-dead? Use your brain!”

“What? You’re the one running off to places you can’t get healed from! Are you an idiot?”

“Why can’t you heal here? Are you blind? You’re blaming me because you’re bad at this, huh? You boosted your rank, didn’t you?”

“What the hell?”

The team voice chat was filled with a flood of vulgar insults, enough to make anyone’s ears rot.

As time passed, the argument grew more intense, and the team atmosphere naturally turned sour.

From Yeongdeok’s perspective, both players were hopeless considering their ranks.

He felt like just getting involved in their argument would lower his IQ.

Still, Yeongdeok reminded himself that the most important thing when making friends is the willingness to improve relationships.

So, after taking down an enemy in front of him, he decided to intervene.

“Both of you seem pretty bad for your rank. How about stopping the fight?”

Yeongdeok pointed out their pathetic skills, without taking sides.

He hoped they would realize they were the “dirty dog” in the saying, “the dirty dog criticizes the muddy dog,” but instead, he faced backlash from both of them.

“YeongdeokChicken, what the hell are you on about? And that tone—it’s annoying.”

“You’re the biggest problem here, dumbass.”

All Yeongdeok had done was state the truth, but the rudeness caught him off guard.

Feeling irritated by the unprovoked insults, he couldn’t stay neutral anymore and got dragged into the argument.

“Did you just call me a dumbass?”

The petty fight between two people quickly escalated into a three-way battle and soon involved all five players.

In the end, the competitive party ended on a bad note.

Seeing the open chat room he’d been in disappear before his eyes, Yeongdeok gripped his mouse tightly.

These jerks…

Every time he tried to make friends, it ended in failure, and now it was starting to feel like a matter of pride.

The next open chat room Yeongdeok found after much searching was a bowling club.

After asking him his gender, age, and location in a temporary chat room, the club leader directed him to the main chat room.

As soon as Yeongdeok appeared in the chat, messages flooded in.

[Gongjuhyeji: Welcome, YeongdeokChicken!]

[Kim Namhoon: Welcome~ Please read the notice.]

[LEDlight: Huh? A new member? Welcome!]

…

The bowling club members warmly welcomed him.

Feeling the atmosphere wasn’t bad, Yeongdeok resolved to make friends this time for sure.

[Looking forward to it.]

[Gongjuhyeji: We’re having a meetup this weekend! Are you coming, YeongdeokChicken?]

[If it’s around lunchtime, I can make it.]

[Gongjuhyeji: Aah, Namhoon oppa, did you hear that? The new guy is coming!]

[Kim Namhoon: Looking forward to it! When you come, I’ll teach you how to hold a bowling ball step by step.]

Yeongdeok had already planned to watch YouTube videos on bowling techniques beforehand, so he didn’t really need this Kim Namhoon guy’s instructions.

Still, he remembered a blog post he read about how a friendly charm is important, so he agreed.

[Got it.]

* * *