Chapter 95: For Real?

The passing of Christmas marked another year added to our age.¹

Though, the thought that half of my college life had already passed left me feeling depressed.

On the internet, news about various award ceremonies and end-of-year music programs were flooding out.

So the year really passed by in the blink of an eye just like this.

I buried my face in the pillow, feeling sad about the fact that I was getting older.

Even though I felt like I hadn’t grown at all.

My age approached twenty-four, but I still liked manhwa and enjoyed watching clips of my favorite vtuber the most.

I reached out my hand and grabbed my cell phone.

Maybe Doah had contacted me.

Still, there was something that the current Han Taemin had but last year Han Taemin didn’t.

An adorable and lovely girlfriend.

After her late stream last night and our phone call before bed, Doah seemed to have completely crashed out.

Usually, she’d already be messaging me this time.

I opened the refrigerator, chugged some water, then took out a pot from the cupboard.

Next, came my peaceful Saturday lunch.

As for what I’d get, it would be ramen.

Yeah, if there was something else that I got better on, it would be my ramen cooking skill.

In my whole year of living by myself, I must have cooked over 100 packs of ramen.

Now, I could gauge the amount of water needed with my eyes closed and my timing for taking it out was nearly perfect.

-Slurp slurp

Though, it still felt awkward for me to eat with someone other than Doah.

Eating in front of my monitor made me feel most at ease.

I turned on the edited version of the CLOSER collab and watched my girlfriend’s model with a satisfied expression.

「You perverted Pink Army!」

Luka swung her fists at the camera.

Even though she was supposed to be hitting them, the viewers were praising her, calling it a reward of some sorts.

「Eugh… I can’t deal with you guys…」

I swear Luka shaking her head in resignation was close to becoming a certified classic by now.

-Riiiing

When I was contemplating whether to drink the remaining soup or not, a call came in.

And as I had expected, it was from my girlfriend, Doah.

「Heloo.」

「Hewwo.」

Hearing her half-awake voice made me let out a chuckle.

「Did you just wake up?」

「Mhm…」

Looking at this, I realized once again how different Doah and I were.

Normally, whenever I just woke up, I’d rather not do anything at all.

To make calls and such, I’d rather do it when I am awake.

But Doah was different.

「Mmh…」

Hey, hey, why are you going back to sleep again? You just greeted me!

Even though she went out of her way to call me, Doah ended up falling asleep again.

Thinking she might have really fallen asleep, I softly called out her name.

「Hey, Kim Doah.」

「Hmm?」

But she still answered me…

At this moment, I realized that a girlfriend who’d only respond to you without bringing up a topic to talk about was a challenging entity to deal with.

「Doah, why don’t you sleep a bit more? You can call me again later.」

「Don’t wannaaaa…」

「Aren’t you sleepy? You seem really sleepy though?」

「Noooo…」

After her denial and a thirty seconds silence, I could hear her soft snoring again.

In the end, I quietly ended the call, thinking that I should let her sleep in some more.

She’d call me again when she fully woke up anyway.

Anyway, I had something I wanted to do, had she not called me.

And that was none other than…

-Ding!

After I wore the headset, my hand fumbled around on the desk and grabbed the controller.

This was the VR headset Doah gave me as a Christmas present.

What I was planning to do was to try all the games I couldn’t play because I didn’t have the headset before.

Of course, that included the games that Doah had tried on her streams, but there were also a lot of games she didn’t play that I wanted to try.

The game I was going to play today was one of them, a VR FPS game based in a futuristic city.

After logging in and connecting, I was no longer inside the ordinary single room.

Rain was falling from the dark sky of the slums, and I had become the youngest member of a special forces team.

I ran following the Captain’s orders while holding a gun, subduing all the enemies as the commands fell.

Before my eyes were scenes that looked so real that I couldn’t help but let out exclaims throughout the gameplay.

The sound and motion of metal wheels turning gave me a sensation that felt even more real than reality.

Since the story itself was also interesting, I ended up playing it without realizing how much time had passed.

After I died once, I took off the headset. It was then that I noticed the odd direction of the shadows.

…Huh? What time was it now?

I realized that I was really immersed in the game, but I still thought only about an hour had passed.

As I picked up my phone to check the time, my expression began to distort.

[3 missed calls]

[10 unread messages]

There would only be one person who’d try to contact me this persistently.

The idol next door.

No one else but my girlfriend.

After gulping once, I opened the Messenger.

[oppa, why did you hang up on me?]

[what are you doing now?]

[you remember our promise to meet this afternoon, right?]

[…are you sleeping?]

[oppa, when you see this, call me immediately!]

[…wait, are you playing a game?]

[wow. i cant believe this;;;]

Oh, shit, I’m fucked.

That was my unfiltered, honest assessment of the situation.

Realizing that Doah’s patience was running thin, I knew that I had to call her right away.

-Riing riing

I felt my mouth going dry with each ring.

Ugh, I knew it, I’m really going to get it.

It felt like when I got caught playing games behind my mom’s back as a kid.

I hadn’t felt this kind of feeling since middle school.

「…Hello.」

Could phones also transmit chills these days?

Hearing her icy tone, I cleared my throat nervously.

「Ahem. Did you sleep well?」

「Yes.」

I-I…have to continue the conversation…

Deciding not to try any tricks, I immediately bowed my head in apology.

「I’m sorry!」

「Why don’t you just go back to your game?」

「No, no! I’m coming over to see you right now!」

「Oppa, do you even know what time it is?」

「…Three.」

「Do you remember what I said before I went to bed yesterday?」

She was basically asking if I even knew what I did wrong.

Even the nuance was similar to my mom’s words when I was young, it gave me chills.

「You asked me to go to the arcade with you during the day, Doah-ssi.」

「And…?」

「You said you wanted to eat malatang together…」

「You knew and yet you still did that?!」

At her sudden shriek, I almost dropped my phone.

「No! Oppa! Do you know what’s the thing that made me mad the most?!」

「Please tell me.」

「It’s the fact that I gave you that headset! How can you be late for a promise with me while playing games with something that I gave you!」

No words could ever justify my actions.

B-But… Technically speaking… It was the game developer’s fault for making such a good game!

I thought of such an excuse, but there was no way I’d say it out loud.

Meanwhile, Doah… Seemed to be getting more and more violent as time passed…

Well, to be more exact, rather than getting more violent, it felt like she was showing more Luka-like reactions.

Which was quite wild considering the first time I saw her at campus, I thought she was the quiet type.

「Tch…」

Still not calmed down, Doah clicked her tongue and passed an extreme punishment upon me.

「Give me back the headset.」

「What…?」

Hey. I haven’t even had the game for a day, and you wanted me to give it back?

Facing her shocking statement, I bowed my head even more desperately.

「Oh respected idol Luka-nim! Please forgive this unworthy Pink Army and shower me your mercy!」

「No! I won’t change my mind! Give it back!」

My mind went blank as Doah imitated the clip of a certain famous judge.²

「A-Are you really taking it back?」

Doah, please…

Don’t do this, I beg you…

I wasn’t mentally prepared for such a sudden farewell.

「Ugh… really…」

Seeing me looking so pitiful, she let out a deep sigh.

「Did you at least wash up?」

「Yeah. I was all ready. I just didn’t check my messages because I was playing the game for a bit.」

「Then can you come out in ten minutes?」

「Ah, sure.」

Well, I lied, I hadn’t washed up.

But I was Han Taemin, the guy who had already completed his mandatory military service!

Five minutes was more than enough to wash up!

「Okay, then I’ll see you in front of your house.」

「Yeah~ Sorry~」

As soon as she ended the call, I rushed to the bathroom, washed my hair with one hand and brushed my teeth with the other.

I rushed and rushed…

Quickly putting on whatever clothes I saw and stuffed my feet into sneakers before heading out.

Even though I did everything as quickly as possible, it still took me 13 minutes.

Doah was already waiting for me with her arms crossed, looking at me with narrowed eyes.

“S-Sorry, I’m a little late.”

“…You should have dried your hair before coming out.”

“My hair…?”

I raised my hand to touch it and realized that I hadn’t used the hair dryer.

“Haaa.”

Doah’s blunt reaction stabbed my heart like a knife.

It seemed like my lie about me already getting ready beforehand was exposed, huh?

Can I just…disappear now…?

“Let’s go.”

Despite everything, Doah reached out her hand to the unworthy me, and I held it tightly as we walked down the alley.

“What game were you playing that made you this late?”

At Doah’s question, I sensed it was an opportunity.

“Ah…that… You see… It’s called Cybernetic Cross, the setting is a futuristic city…”

I gave a long-winded explanation about how great the game was, but her reaction wasn’t good at all.

“So you abandoned Luka-tan for that precious game of yours?”

“No! That’s not it! How did you reach that conclusion! I’m telling you, if you play this on your stream, everyone will love it, you know?”

As I twisted my entire body trying to express that wasn’t the case, Doah gave a resigned smile.

“Oppa, just shut your mouth. You look the coolest when you don’t speak.”

…But, you were the one who asked!

Drip.

A tear fell on one side of my heart.

“That aside, Oppa, Murin said she wants to meet next Tuesday. Are you available?”

A question mark appeared above my head at this sudden change of topic.

“Murin? Fumurin?”

“I told you before. Murin said she wants to go on a double date.”

For real?

We’re gonna do that for real?

For a loner like me, this event seemed like too high a hurdle.