Chapter 118: Clip

Lately, the CLOSER voicecord was filled with more and more of our casual talk.

[unnies! i bought this!]

Murin had a custom griptok made of her character.

We all rushed to see it, making a fuss about how cute it was.

[Wow! Where did you get this made? Should I get one too?]

[How much does this cost? It might be nice to do an event like this for fans later.]

[Won’t there be griptoks when our official merchs come out?]

Of course, I joined in with them.

[they said they’re gonna open a merchs shop soon, so maybe they’ll show us the list first?]

Somehow, it felt like I was back in high school whenever we were having a chat like this. It felt nice.

I used to go to an all-girls high school, the atmosphere reminded me of it.

Of course, there were people who’d make a lot of fuss even back there too, but I wasn’t part of them.

I was just a quiet otaku from the start.

The one girl who was always quietly watching something from one step behind rather than being at the very front.

Yeah, that was the kind of person I was.

Of course, it wasn’t like I had no friends at all.

All the quiet kids had their own group of friends and I was no exception. Honestly, I was satisfied enough spending my time with them.

Actually, I was still eating meals and chatting with those girls until last year.

It was only after I started streaming and spent more time at home that I hung out with them less.

Especially after I joined CLOSER, I had so much work that it was hard for me to manage my relationships with my real-life acquaintances.

Like, I barely had the time to see Oppa, how could I make some time for my old classmates?

-Ding!

Suddenly, the manager unnie told us to join the VC, which meant it was time for our scheduled meeting, so we did just that.

「Hello~ Is everyone doing well?」

A gentle voice came through my earphones.

「Ah, of course~」

「Happy New Year~ Unnie~」

「Yes~ Hello~」

Usually, we would hold meetings once a week or whenever there was a special announcement. This case was the latter.

Today’s agenda was enough to make all our hearts race.

「The official announcement about the solo concert schedules for the members has come out, so I’d like to explain that.」

Normally, we would have been cheering so excitedly after hearing that, but maybe because we were all curious about what was coming next, we ended up not saying anything.

「First of all, our contract will last until December next year, right? All five of you?」

「Since it’s already January, we will schedule a solo concert for each member about once every two months.」

「I believe all of you are curious about the order, right~?」

No, unnie! Don’t leave us hanging like that!

The other members seemed to be thinking the same thing as me, as they all jeered at her.

「Woo~ Just tell us~」

「That’s right! Just say it all at once!」

By the way, we had talked plenty of times with manager unnie, so we were comfortable with each other joking around like this.

「Okay~ Okay~ Don’t be like that, I’ll tell you the confirmed ones first!」

Hm, who’d go first, I wonder?

Whoever it was, they’d probably get the concert around March, right? It should be around spring…

Hmm… To match our members with seasons… Spring, spring…

Maybe, our maknae that gave out a fresh impression, Murin?

Or Clover unnie with her fuzzy warmth?

As for the other two, Leah should fit winter best and Jennifer unnie had this sparkly atmosphere, so summer should suit her best.

「First up is Luka-ssi!」

「Huh?」

When I heard my name being mentioned so suddenly, a dumbfounded sound escaped my mouth.

Huh? Me? Why? How did I get the first turn??

「Wooo! Congratulations! Luka-taaaan~」

「Wow~~ As expected~ I mean, you’ve been so popular lately, no?」

「Unnie, be honest with me. You went and begged to go first, didn’t you?」

As everyone’s teasing mixed with envy continued, I asked for confirmation, wondering if this was some kind of hidden camera prank.

「Am I really going first?」

「Yes! Our metaverse team came to this conclusion after much deliberation!」

What the hell were they talking about in those meetings?

I couldn’t understand the logic behind this decision, but it wasn’t like I hated it or anything.

My chest started pounding excitedly.

We had done a few things that resembled group events before, but this was different. This was a solo event just for me.

I was excited about it, but at the same time, I was worried if it could go well.

「Anyway… Who’s next?」

Feeling awkward as they kept on hyping me up without me joining in, I asked that question.

「If Luka-ssi’s concert in March could be held without delay, Murin-ssi will be next in May, and Jennifer-ssi in July.」

「May, huh? Nice!」

Murin seemed happy to hear her name called, as she was making noises that sounded like a pterodactyl.

Jennifer unnie also seemed pleased with this, it was clear from her voice.

「W-Wait… What about us…?」

But there were two people who hadn’t been called yet.

Leah and Clover.

Clover unnie was the one who asked that question in a very small voice.

「It was decided that your turns will be in the second half of the year, but the order isn’t confirmed yet.」

「The general opinion is to put Clover-ssi in autumn and Leah-ssi in winter.」

「Winter…」

Leah’s voice sounded deflated, probably realizing she was far off alone.

「Going later isn’t all bad, though, there are many good things about it! By then, more of your albums will be released, your fanbase will also grow even further, and there will also be more song options for you to cover!」

Ah, she had a point…

By winter, we’d have several albums out, yeah…

As I thought this.

「…Then what about me?」

Would I not have any options since I’d be going first?

I wonder what kind of news would make me happy.

Judging by Doah’s playful voice when she told me that she’d explain everything after I got to her house, something big definitely happened.

When I pressed the doorbell with my index finger, I heard cute footsteps from inside.

“Come in.”

“Okay.”

I took off my shoes neatly and stepped inside, where Doah was waiting for me with a pleased expression.

“Guess what?”

“What?”

“Hey, I said guess! It won’t be fun if I just tell you, no?”

I crossed my arms, lost in thought for a moment before giving my answer.

“Is this about Luka?”

“Ding dong! So what about Luka?”

“Another new avatar?”

There was no way that would be the case, though. They just released the hanbok one recently…

“Nope. The scale is a little bit bigger than that!”

“Hmm… A new program then?”

Like, a debut on public TV or something?

Luka-tan appearing on TV, huh…?

That would be exciting but also a bit dizzying…

“No! It isn’t that!”

Doah stuck out her tongue before holding my hand tightly, looking a little embarrassed.

“Oppa… You see… I…”

I could see her eyes shone as she spoke.

“I’m gonna have a solo concert!!”

Ah… A solo concert, huh…?

I wished I could be genuinely surprised after hearing this, but I knew about this ahead of time, so my reaction was a little delayed.

“Wow! Congrats! Is it just you?”

“No~ Everyone’s doing it, but I’ll be the first one!”

“Jeez, I can’t wait for that!”

Still, just because I knew about it didn’t mean I wasn’t excited about it.

If anything, I was extremely excited about it. Hopefully, everything would go well. I mean, I signed a contract for this, you know?

“I know right? They said that I’ll be performing by myself for over an hour… Wooo… It’s great, but I’m so nervous…!”

As she sat on my lap, Doah chattered away like a baby bird, spilling all the details of what happened today.

Like how Leah was disappointed after finding out that she’d come in last.

Or how CLOSER’s second album was gonna come out around April.

There was a beautiful smile on her face as she revealed all sorts of insider information that only those involved would know.

“Do you think… I could do well?”

“There’s still some time until it starts. As long as you use the time to prepare, I’m sure you’ll do great.”

Honestly, even if Luka made a mistake or two during the concert, the Pink Army would find it cute.

Of course, it would be best if she could sing well during the concert, but the reason why we were crazy about her wasn’t because she was the best singer.

It was because of her charm as a character.

The charm of the person called Kim Doah.

“Oh,  right. I also have something to show you.”

Because of Doah’s exciting news, I forgot that I also had something to tell her.

“What is it?”

“Wait a moment.”

Of course, compared to her news, this was pretty much nothing.

It was something incomparable to a full two-hour concert with ten of thousands of people watching.

The news was the video my manager sent me.

I didn’t even appear for ten seconds on that video.

“Huh? What is this? Is this what you filmed that time, Oppa?”

“Yeah. It’s really short, though.”

It was embarrassing, but I thought I should show it to her anyway, so I tapped the screen to play the video.

The video showed me walking down the alley with heavy steps.

My face that was captured by the camera felt very strange.

Maybe it was because of the makeup, but I just couldn’t associate myself inside that screen with the real me.

Suddenly, I stopped walking, looked at the camera with a haughty gaze, and then.

“Otaku bastard, you should know your place.”

“…Pfft.”

At the same time, laughter burst from Doah’s mouth.

No, wait! You laughing like that just made me feel more embarrassed!

I could feel my ears burning up.

“Wait, Oppa, you acted too?”

“How does this count as acting?”

“You said you didn’t do much that day! Show me again!”

After watching that short video several times, Doah rubbed her fingers on the screen, as if trying to caress my face.

“Oh, my Oppa… You’re so handsome…”

And here I thought I had become indifferent to compliments about my appearance.

Her words make my heart tingle.

Unable to hide my expression, I tried to control my twitching lips and took back my phone.

“Ugh, stop watching it already, it’s embarrassing.”

“Says the one who watches Luka’s clips all the time! What’s the difference, huh?”

I wanted to say that it was Luka, not her, so badly, but…

Unlike her, I couldn’t pull out that convenient card…

“But Oppa.”

“Yeah?”

“Is it okay for an actual weeb like you to say something like that?”

…I know, right? I was wondering about that too.

In the end, I just shrugged it off and patted Doah’s head.

At this point, I had no idea that later, I would get caught up in the ‘experienced professional’ theory.