Chapter 100: How to Welcome the New Year

December 31st.

The last day of the year.

I was currently sitting in my computer chair, taking a moment to reflect on how I usually spend the final day of the year.

Before I entered college, I think I mostly spent it with my mom.

After I did though…

Uh, actually, I couldn’t remember. That meant, I probably didn’t do anything particularly special.

But this year was different.

Because today was…

[New Year’s Event with CLOSER!]

Reflected on the monitor was an illustration on YM Entertainment’s official website.

I didn’t know who drew it, but damn, they were good.

Normally, collabs would start at 8, but today, it started at 11.

Watching the sunrise or hearing the bell ring for the New Year wasn’t really a gen MZ thing to do.

It felt like the world was being taken over by the Metaverse.

But honestly, the thought of everyone wearing VR headsets in their homes for the New Year’s didn’t feel that cool.

-Riiing

When I felt that vibration coming from my phone, I immediately opened it.

[oppa, i’ll be about 10 mins late ㅠ]

[Ah, it’s okay. I’ll head out in 10 minutes then.]

[okay ♥]

That heart from her was cute, but honestly, I felt like taking a day off today…

I swear, ever since I met Doah, the number of outings I had increased dramatically.

Not to mention that I was still exhausted from being dragged around by the Fumurin Couple yesterday…

If possible, I’d rather just lie down and watch the stream…

But, I knew that Doah would be disappointed if I were to say that out loud, so I agreed to go out for dinner with her today.

I fumbled around to grab my socks and put them on when I found them.

Ugh, it’d be cold outside…

No kidding, it would be fucking cold outside…

The blanket’s temptation to pull me back in possessed a stronger force than I had imagined.

But a promise is a promise, so I reluctantly put on my coat and trudged down the stairs with heavy steps.

Even though I had already told her that I’d come out later, by the time I came out, Doah was already there.

“Oppa.”

The moment I saw her face, I instantly felt better.

As if I hadn’t been grumbling about this whole thing just now, a smile bloomed on my face.

I swear, all the bad feelings disappeared the moment I came outside.

Humans truly were unpredictable creatures.

“Huh, why are you here? Didn’t you say that you’d be late?”

“Well, I finished putting on my makeup earlier than I thought, so I figured I came out earlier.”

Seeing how she was wearing mittens, it seemed like she also didn’t want to suffer in the cold either.

“Wouldn’t gloves feel more comfortable?”

Honestly, those mittens looked inconvenient, no matter how I looked at it.

“Nope! These are warm and nice!”

“But, won’t it be a hassle if you were to use your phone?”

Like, you’d need to take those mittens off to unlock your phone then wear them back on…

“I don’t need to look at my phone when I’m with you, Oppa.”

That innocent reply without any ill intent from her turned my self-reflection mode on.

“…Good point.”

Thanks to her words, it felt like I was the only one looking at my phone while we were on dates.

Even though in reality, I barely even do that.

“Let’s go quickly!”

Anyway, the place we decided to go today was a somewhat pricey Japanese Restaurant.

Since we hadn’t made an early reservation, I was a little worried that we might not get a table, but apparently, someone canceled their reservation, so we were able to barely get one.

“Wow.”

Doah let out an exclamation.

Since it was the end of the year, the Christmas decorations were still there.

There were cute little ornaments, arranged in an adorable way inside the restaurant.

-Click

Doah took out her phone and snapped a picture.

“Alright, let’s go in!”

Following the staff’s lead, we went inside and sat at the most secluded window seat.

“What should we order?”

“Umm… How about the sashimi we saw before? Also, some tempura shrimp will be nice. I think that’s enough for now?”

After we were done placing our orders, we filled our ice glasses with the cola that the staff had brought.

“Cheers!”

Since Doah had to stream and I wasn’t really fond of drinking, we decided that today was a cola-only day.

“Happy New Year, Oppa.”

“Happy New Year to you too, Doah.”

Getting a year older always made me a little sad, but with Doah and Luka-tan by my side, I felt like I could enjoy next year too.

“You’re going to watch the stream today, right?”

“Of course.”

“From my PoV, right?”

For a moment there, I didn’t understand what she meant by that question, but then I realized that she was probably still feeling conscious of the time I watched Leah’s stream.

“Of course I’m gonna watch from Luka-tan’s PoV! Jeez, what are you on about even?”

“Oh, just you wait if I catch you watching from someone else’s…”

“I won’t do that, I swear.”

Hell, after her scolding last time, I didn’t even dare to think of doing that…

“By the way, they made me a new model for me. I’ll be using that today.”

Huh? A new model?

Information that only insiders would know leaked from her mouth.

“Yeah! They changed the hairstyle a little, and they put in a lot of effort into the outfit and stuff…”

They just gave her the Christmas model and now they were going to give her another one?

Knowing that this would be a special collab already made my heart race, but now that I heard this thing about a new model… I swear, my heart was about to burst out.

“Really? That sounds great!”

“Look forward to Luka’s new outfit! Yay!”

She wasn’t really using her Luka voice, but that came out in a perfect Luka’s tone. Seriously, her cuteness was driving me crazy!

“Here’s your food!”

I was contemplating whether to pinch those cheeks to express my feelings, but…

The colorful, shimmering assortment of sashimi cooled my burning heart.

“Wow…”

Jeez, this was definitely something I would never try to eat if I were to go here by myself.

We picked up our chopsticks carefully while swallowing our saliva.

Destroying this beautiful-looking food felt like a shame…

“W-Why don’t we start eating now?”

“…Sure.”

I picked up a thick, oily piece of salmon, dipped it lightly in soy sauce, and popped it into my mouth.

“Mmm…”

This was it! This was the stuff!

Usually, we’d chat while eating, but this time, we both just ate in silence.

“This is crazy!”

“Right?”

This was a perfectly delicious meal to end the year with.

“Oppa, um…”

When about half the food was gone, Doah suddenly called out to me. It seemed like she had something to talk to me about.

“Yes?”

“Can we…stay up late tonight?”

Silly girl. What else would a college student who didn’t need to go to school do?

“Of course we can.”

“Then, do you want to hang out after the stream ends? Just the two of us?”

“Hm? You want us to meet up at the break of dawn again?”

It hadn’t been long since we did just that on Christmas. If possible, I didn’t want us to meet up that early in the morning for a while…

I didn’t dislike it or anything, but you know, at that point, wouldn’t it be better for us to just meet each other the next day?

“No, not that! I don’t think we should meet in person… Uh… I think that maybe we should meet up in VRWorld instead…?”

That was when I remembered about the VR headset that Doah had bought me.

Prior to this, I had used it alone a few times, but we had never done anything together.

“Ah, I see. Let’s do that then.”

It should be fine, I think? We’d just hang out online for a short time after stream…

…Huh?

Hold on a second…

She wanted the two of us to meet in VRWorld…? That meant…

“Are you…going to bring Luka out this time…?”

No, Han Taemin! Don’t get your hopes up!

Chances were she’d just use a basic model like before!

Her model was made by the company. For her to use it carelessly for fun—-

“Hm? Yeah, of course I’m gonna bring Luka out…”

God, please, please I beg you. Freeze the time on December 31st, please.

* * *

11 PM.

Luka turned on her stream right on schedule.

「Ah, everyone~ Luhai luhai~」

I could hear her voice, but I couldn’t see her model at all.

This drove the Pink Army into an uproar, as they spammed the chat, demanding to see her.

「Wait, why isn’t this working?! Am I lagging?」

「Ah, it’s working, it’s working!」

After that, the camera angle stayed the same, but part of her pink hair was now visible inside the frame.

[oh?]

[gasp]

[Ah! Luka-tan, come out quickly!]

The more perceptive viewers didn’t miss the slight difference and instantly realized what was going on.

Luka was teasing them because she had a new outfit to show them.

-Lukatancomeout-nim donated 20,000.

「Oh~ Lukatancomeout-nim~ Ah… then… should… Luka-tan show you now?」

As she shifted the camera angle, it revealed her body, wearing a princess-like pink dress.

「W-Well! It’s an end-of-the-year awards ceremony, so I had to dress up at least this much!」

When she hyped it up and told me to look forward to it, she wasn’t kidding.

This outfit was grand enough to send several Pink Armies straight to heaven.

From the fluttering dress to her hair tied up high.

The outfit perfectly striked the heartstrings of otakus.

[so cuteee!]

[Luka-nim! I love you!]

[Marry me next year, Kim Luka!]

Hehehe…

Man, this felt good…

Even though I had a girlfriend already…

I could feel my affection for Luka growing deeper.

「It’s cute, isn’t it? But, I’m not the only one! Other members will also be looking super pretty today, so look forward to it!」

「Alright, I’m going to where the other members are now!」

I was wondering what kind of map they would use to welcome the New Year, but when I saw the place she moved to, I couldn’t help but laugh.

No way. I thought the era of ringing bells was over.

「Everyone! Are you ready to ring the bell with us?」

Wearing a gold dress, her signature color, Jennifer cheered to the viewers with a voice befitting of a leader of an idol’s group.

A virtual clock was displayed right above the bell.

The clock was already pointing to 11:59.

All the members were gathered as they stood in front of the bell, looking up at the clock.

「Three! Two! One!」

-Dong! Dong! Dong!

「Happy New Year!」

The year began with the sound of a virtual bell, and the voice of my oshi.