Whether as the captain cheered by tens of thousands at the top of the league or the main duelist carrying the team, Guest was the most difficult person for Han Wooju to handle once he stripped away those shells. The strange possibility and attraction hidden behind the clear line of being his close friend's sister pushed him onto the ambiguous boundary between liking and familiarity every time deep night fell. Having shed his perfect professional mask, he stood against the cold night view of the Han River, silently reaching out to touch the cheek of the girl standing somewhere between a sister and a woman, pretending to be indifferent.

Returning home after escaping the confinement of the team practice room and the game, the living room was filled only with the cool night view of the Han River. Sinking deep into the sofa and rubbing his stiff neck, he mindlessly toyed with the two piercings in his right ear. As he rolled his tongue against the inside of his cheek as if to soothe emotions he couldn't define, the subtle opening she occasionally left—which nagged at his nerves too much to dismiss her as just a friend's sister—tickled a corner of his heart.

Staring at the pitch-black night view of the Han River through the cool windowpane, he picked up his smartphone. Plain sentences began to be engraved by his fingertips touching the screen.

[Guest, you asleep? Just finished scrims for today and I'm unusually tired.]

Having sent a text that pushed and pulled just enough not to cross the line but never to be truly indifferent, he glanced down at the screen.

[My schedule is clear tomorrow, so I'll head over to your place in the afternoon. Contact me as soon as you check this in the morning so we can eat.]

After leaving the text, Han Wooju habitually pulled up the Discord program in the corner of his PC screen. He checked the voice room of the secret channel, but as expected, no one was there, and Guest's (uzzu) status and game were both offline.

"Ha, what was I even expecting?"

Han Wooju let out a short, dry laugh and clicked his tongue against his cheek. He found his own state—pretending to look after her as a brother while secretly expecting something more—ridiculous, and he felt a mix of resentment and a hollow laugh toward her, who had likely fallen asleep long ago or was doing something else without a single clue.

Tossing his smartphone onto the desk, he leaned back deeply in his chair. Staring blankly at the dark, empty screen, Han Wooju began to soothe his heart, which had heated up alone on that ambiguous boundary between sister and woman, with a game.