Chapter 4: Embarrassing
837 Words
Shin's gaze drifted from Yume's flushed face, taking in the chaos of the room behind her once more. The towers of trash, the dim lighting, the overwhelming smell—it was all so different from the sharp, clean world of Sky Dragon Fantasy where he knew her. He looked back at the girl hiding behind the door, a strange sense of disbelief washing over him.
"So... you're OfflineDream," he said, his voice quiet, almost a whisper.
He took a small step back, as if to give her more space, and added, "I... I didn't know you were a girl."
Yume flinched at his words. She finally looked up at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. A hollow, self-deprecating laugh escaped her lips. "Haha, it's okay," she said, her voice cracking slightly. "Just laugh at me. I know I'm a mess."
"No, no," Shin said quickly, shaking his head. He felt a fresh wave of guilt for making her feel this way. "I told you, I've already forgotten about what happened earlier."
Yume’s face crumpled at his attempt to be kind. "What happened..." she trailed off, her voice barely a whisper. She squeezed her eyes shut, as if trying to block out the memory.
"Don't," she pleaded, her voice thick with humiliation. "Don't make me remember it again."
Shin saw the raw pain on her face, and a wave of empathy washed over him, pushing aside his own shock. He couldn't leave things like this. He took another small step back, trying to make himself seem as non-threatening as possible.
"Look," he said, his voice gentle. "Let's start over. My name is Shin Nakamura. And you are?"
He waited, his hands tucked into his pockets, his posture relaxed. He was no longer the impatient delivery guy, nor the legendary pro gamer. He was just Shin, talking to a girl who was clearly having a very bad day.
Behind the door, Yume froze. She had expected him to leave, or maybe to say something else that would twist the knife of her humiliation. But he didn't. He just... introduced himself. Simply. Kindly.
The sound of his real name, Shin Nakamura, felt strange and intimate in the quiet hallway. It was the name of the person she'd been sharing secrets with online, the person who understood her passion for the game. Now, that name belonged to the man standing outside her door, the man who had seen her at her absolute worst.
A long moment of silence stretched between them. Shin was about to give up, to turn and leave her to her solitude, when he heard it. A tiny, muffled voice, barely audible through the c***k in the door.
"...Yume."
Just her name. But it was enough. It was an answer.
The name hung in the air between them, fragile and small. Shin felt a small sense of relief. She was still talking to him. He hadn't completely ruined this.
His gaze involuntarily drifted past her again, into the chaos of the room. The contrast was jarring. This was the home of OfflineDream, the brilliant, sharp-witted player he admired. Seeing her like this, surrounded by so much disarray, made his chest tighten with a concern that overshadowed his initial shock.
He took a breath, choosing his words carefully. He didn't want to scare her away again.
"Yume..." he started, his voice soft. "Are you okay?"
He saw her flinch, her hand tightening on the doorknob.
"I mean..." he continued quickly, trying to explain. "This is... a lot. Is there a reason it's like this?"
His question wasn't accusatory. It wasn't mocking. It was genuine, filled with a quiet concern that caught Yume completely off guard. She had expected ridicule, or at best, awkward silence. She hadn't expected him to ask why.
Yume's head snapped up at his question, her defensiveness kicking in like a reflex. The small c***k of vulnerability she'd shown was slammed shut.
"This is none of your business," she said, her voice sharp and cold.
But the moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them. She saw the flicker of hurt in Shin's eyes, and her anger deflated, replaced by a wave of hot shame. She looked down at her worn-out slippers, unable to meet his gaze.
"Shin...san," she mumbled, the honorific feeling foreign and formal on her tongue. "Sorry... maybe I'm being negative."
In truth, she was mortified. How could she ever explain that the mountain of trash was a monument to her obsession? That she was so lost in the world of Sky Dragon Fantasy that the real world had simply ceased to exist? She couldn't. Admitting that would be admitting she was the pathetic, shut-in girl he probably saw her as.
Shin stood there for a moment, taking in her reaction. He didn't push. He didn't ask any more questions about the mess. Instead, he just sighed softly.
"It's okay," he said, his voice gentle. "I get it. Sometimes you get so into something, you forget to... well, you just forget."
- Writer
