Though I accepted the ice cream, I was still dazed.
For the time being, I sat Oppa down on the gaming chair and asked him a question.
“What am I supposed to do when you suddenly come at this hour without saying a word?”
“But this is the only time I can see your face.”
He took out a chocolate ice cream and tore up the packaging while answering me.
“You shoulda called before coming over. I thought it was some strange person, it was scary, you know?”
“Ah, really? I thought you’d know it was me.”
“And how would I know that?”
“Uh, well.”
He let out a faint smile.“Because I usually visited after your streams ended, so I just thought that you’d naturally know. Sorry about that.”
I thought that my whole day was a mess, but with him coming over, it has gotten much better already.
“...At least send me a text before coming next time.”
He even brought me snacks, I didn’t want to nag him any further.
“Okay.”
As I tried to throw away the trash after deliciously finishing the ice cream, Oppa started taking something else out of the bag.
“...You bought something else other than ice cream?”
“Of course.”
What he took out were various jellies and snacks.
Basically just lumps of sugar.
“What’s all this?”
“Well, you seemed to be in a bad mood during the stream.”
He remembered...
The things I said…
“So I thought that you might feel a bit better if you eat these…”
Blinking my eyes, Oppa scratched his head like he was embarrassed.
“...Do you not like it?”
I felt a fluffy, ticklish feeling.
Instead of answering him outright, I came closer to him and rubbed my face against his shirt. Hard.
Whatever the scent I was smelling, shampoo, fabric softener, whatever, it smelled nice.
“...Doah?”
“Are you doing this because I nagged you?”
“Huh?”
Yeah, how could someone suddenly become this sweet?
Of course you were doing this because I scolded you, Han Taemin.
Well, that didn’t chase the pleasant feelings away, so I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist.
“So? Am I right or am I right?”
“...No, you’re wrong.”
He rested his hand on top of my head.
“I didn’t come here because of that.”
What was up with this person today?
Was this part of his evil plan to make my heart explode so that I couldn’t sleep at all?
“I told you, I came because I missed you.”
He bent his waist to match my eye level.
In his eyes, which were like the dark night sky, I could see affection.
“Even after watching your entire stream from start to finish, I still missed you.”
He caressed my cheek.
“And I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I came.”
Then, he played with my cheeks as if they were rice cakes or some kind of toy.
Usually, I’d tell him to stop and run away.
But today, I’d let it slide.
You know, I felt like letting him do whatever he wanted today.
“Uh, so when are you going?”
“Huh? Going where?”
“Home, of course.”
It was almost 3 am.
“Well, I was just about to leave.”
From his response, it was clear that he didn’t plan to stay long, and I understood that. But, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
I didn’t want this sweet feeling to end just like that, so I grabbed his wrist.
“Yeah?”
He looked at my hand, as if asking what it was that I wanted.
I didn’t know what he was thinking, but I wanted to follow my heart.
“Just a while longer.”
I wasn’t asking for much.
“Can’t you stay just a bit longer?”
Just earlier, I did the same thing to the Pink Army, pitifully begging them, desperately negotiating with them.
This oddly overlapping scene made me feel a mysterious feeling,
“You have to go to school tomorrow and study too.”
“Going to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual won’t make that much of a difference...”
He seemingly tried to reject the idea, so my eyes darted around as I muttered the words quietly, but then…
“Doah.”
After he called my name, what I felt was a sensation I had never experienced before in my life.
-Chuu
Oppa, who removed his lips from my forehead, turned his head around as if he were shy.
“...Can’t you let me off just for today?”
Ah...
Uh...
Uggghhhh...
My ears were hot.
And my heart seemed to beat really fast.
If this was a manhwa, there would be steam coming above my head.
“G…G…Go...”
The two of us were unable to make eye contact.
Oppa stepped back as if running away and slipped on his shoes.
“I-I’ll contact you tomorrow then?”
“Y-Yeeesh!”
Ah, my voice cracked.
I was so embarrassed that I wanted to dive under the covers, so I hoped Oppa would leave quickly.
He waved his hand briefly, opened the door, and went out. Now all alone, I buried my face in the pillow.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh!”
I let out a strange sound, similar to a dolphin and hit the pillow.
Then I raised my hand and touched the part of my forehead where his lips touched.
Oppa.
I didn’t even tell him to.
On my forehead, he…
Also, that reaction of his after doing it…
Remembering his face again, I tried to calm down my breathing.
“Phew...”
He left first, telling me to go sleep because we’d have tomorrow to talk more.
But how was I supposed to sleep after he pulled out something like that before he left?
In the end, I was only able to sleep at 5 am.
* * *
Doah and I promised to meet at 11.30.
The lecture that started at 12 would end today as well.
A notice was posted earlier, saying that the professor couldn’t hold the final class due to personal reasons, so after listening to today’s class and submitting the assignment online next time, the course would be effectively over.
It was about time to leave…
The moment I put my hand in my pocket, thinking that I should probably call her…
“Sorry!”
The glass door swung wide open, my girlfriend came out, accompanied by the white fog that came out of her mouth.
“What happened? Did you oversleep?”
“Ugh… I swear I set five alarms yesterday before falling asleep…”
She kept on explaining her grievances all the way to school, that was how frustrated she was, I guess.
Honestly, it was fine even if she was a little late.
I didn’t understand why she was so hung up about this.
Like, I already told her that it was okay. Several times. But, she said that she didn’t feel the sincerity in my tone and repeated her explanation over and over again.
“Hey, I said I got it.”
“...Really?”
“Yeah. I totally understood.”
Only then did she finally calm down and grab my hand. She was cute like this.
When we arrived at the lecture hall, the professor was already there and the last class of this semester began.
Just like other classes that replaced exams with assignments for its evaluations, the professor spent around the last thirty minutes on introductions and Q&A about the final assignment.
“If anyone has questions about this or things you don’t properly understand, please contact my email address here, I will do my best to reply.”
Seeing that no one raised their hand, the professor ended the final lecture like that. After that, Doah and I grabbed our bags and went outside.
“What should we eat?”
“...Want to eat at the cafeteria?”
“Hmm...”
Actually, I’d been eating there way too often recently, so I was getting a bit tired of it.
“I’ll see the menu and decide.”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
We diligently walked for five minutes to get there, but…
“...Let’s go out to eat.”
Ugh, seriously. Why was there only these kinds of food here?
“Why? You don’t like rice noodles, Oppa?”
“No, I don’t like cilantro.”
“They’ll take it out if you ask them to.”
“I still don’t like it.”
When I firmly expressed my refusal, Doah shrugged and followed me outside.
“Since we’re eating out, I’ll pay.”
“I suggested it, why would you be paying?”
“Because I want to thank you for the snacks yesterday.”
Doah smiled brightly.
Still, she didn’t even know how much she’d need to pay, why was she doing this?
“What if I eat something really expensive?”
I said that as a joke, but she only nodded as if it didn’t matter.
“Well, I’ll still pay for it. Oppa, aren’t you looking down on me too much?”
“Huh?”
My girlfriend, slightly tiptoeing, pulled my ear closer to her mouth.
“I’m an idol, you know.”
Hearing her whisper, I let out a chuckle.
She returned to her original position.
“Look at you, acting cocky before even getting paid.”
I lightly hit her head and she grabbed it with both hands, as if in pain.
“You know I have money saved up from when I was a solo streamer, right?”
“C’mon, I know you spent all that on your model.”
Doah flinched, not expecting I’d know about that, then she quickly looked away.
“Facts are banned.”
“This ain’t your channel, you have no power here.”
While we exchanged more nonsense, we arrived at a pizza place not far from the school’s main gate.
We ordered potato pizza and while waiting for it to arrive, we drank our cola.
“Right, Oppa, I told you before, no? I might get my own studio.”
“Yeah, you did.”
I was consciously trying to not talk about Luka unless she brought it up first.
Well, I could do this if I tried, but the problem here was I might suddenly get too excited and start talking about her.
Honestly, I wasn’t confident that I could fully control myself yet.
“I’ll probably move in next week, so can you help me then?”
“Sure.”
What wouldn’t I do for you when it came to your stream?
“It should be around an eight minute walk from where we live.”
“You have the location ready?”
“One sec.”
Doah took out her phone, moved her small thumb here and there, and showed me the screen.
“Ta-da! It’s here!”
“Woah. Huh? Doesn’t this look bigger than my place?”
I wasn’t lying. The place looked bigger and more comfortable than my one-room apartment.
“They probably chose it after taking the full-body tracker into consideration.”
“Makes sense.”
What can I say? As expected of a big company.
“Manager-nim said she’ll probably come that day too.”
“Is that so? Have you met them in person?”
“Nope, I haven’t. I don’t think we’ve ever had to meet till now.”
Thinking back, I wondered what would require meeting in person when working as a vtuber.
“Anyway, let me know when the date is confirmed. I’ll make time for you.”
Another name for new encounters, is the beginning of new worries.
***
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