Chapter 123: The Three Idiots

“So, do you love our Taemin a lot?”

“Wait, hey! What the fcuk are you doing?!”

I tried to stop him hurriedly, but surprisingly, it was my girlfriend who held me back.

Doah…

“…Oppa, just a moment.”

When her finger touched the edge of my shoulder, I gave up on resisting and let Hyunsu continue.

It felt like everything had already gone wrong from the first line.

Not knowing what would happen next, I could feel cold sweat dripping down my forehead.

“Of course I like Taemin oppa. Isn’t that obvious?”

“Then, could you stay in love with him, even if he’s a little…lacking?”

At that, I could hear the other two fuckers snickered behind me.

Meanwhile, Doah stared at me with a puzzled expression.

She then nodded with a disgruntled face.

“I don’t think Oppa is lacking in any way as is, but even if he does have some shortcomings, I’m sure I could accept them all without a second thought.”

Doah, no!

Don’t take these idiots’ words seriously!

It seemed like because Hyunsu was wearing such a serious face, she was feeling the sincerity in his voice.

“Phew, I see… Then, Doah-ssi.”

Like a stereotypical four-eyes, Hyunsu pushed up his glasses using the tip of his finger.

“Please brace yourself first.”

“…Okay.”

Unable to stand it anymore, I tried to cover Hyunsu’s mouth, but Doah blocked my hand.

“He said he has something to say. Why do you keep interrupting him, Oppa?”

“No, seriously, there’s no need to listen to this guy.”

“If it’s really nothing, it should be fine for me to hear, right?”

When she pointed that out with her bright eyes, I finally raised the white flag.

“Doah-ssi, Taemin…”

Hyunsu closed his eyes tightly.

“…actually has someone else he’s liked for a long time.”

“Hey! You fucking bastard!”

I finally burst out cursing.

But there was something more important than beating this fucker up right here and then.

“…Huh?”

Doah wore a face as if she didn’t understand what was going on.

“W-What do you mean?”

She stammered, clearly flustered.

“While I don’t think Taemin ever meant to deceive you, as his friend, I just can’t let him go down the wrong path…”

She’d misunderstand if you say it like that, you fucker!

“Taemin! Apologize to her! Now!”

Hyunsu then pointed at me, as if to say, ‘I’ve revealed your sin!’, and at that moment, I felt the urge to just kill him right there and then.

Since he shouted that out loud for some reason, people’s gazes were turned toward us. Even the waiter hovered around our table awkwardly, unsure whether to intervene or not.

“…Let’s talk outside.”

Until the very end, Hyunsu bowed his head with a super serious expression on his face.

Meanwhile, Gyuho was cackling as if he found this situation hilarious and Seongjin was looking back and forth between me and Doah with a strange gaze.

This afternoon, the weather was pretty bright, even though it was winter.

Since it was after lunch, the streets were filled with people wandering around aimlessly.

After walking for a bit, we arrived at an ice cream shop.

Those fuckers each ordered their usual things, then I told them to go up first, telling them I’d pay for them.

“…Doah.”

As for Doah… She hadn’t said a word since we left the restaurant.

Her face looked gloomy, it was clear that she was bothered by Hyunsu’s nonsense.

“…Is it true?”

“Of course not! How could that be true?!”

“Then, why did they say that? Are they actually so evil that they’d play a cruel prank on someone they just met? Tell me!”

…Ugh. I could feel my blood pressure rising.

But, I couldn’t just tell her that those fuckers were being the idiot they were, as it would reflect poorly on me since I was the one who brought them here.

Since I was also unsure on where to even start, I just bent down to try and state the unadulterated facts.

“I’ll whisper it to you. Can I?”

Doah casted a suspicious gaze at me, but she readily offered her ear.

“First, about that person they said I like…”

“…Yes.”

“They meant Luka. So, they thought that I met a Luka look-alike in real life, that’s why they were saying those things.”

Hearing that, Doah blinked with a somewhat dumbfounded expression.

It seemed like her brain was lagging a little as she tried to process what I had just said.

“Huh… Ehh…?”

She then pointed at her own face with her finger.

I nodded vigorously in affirmation.

“Yeah, yeah. That’s right. You!”

“Excuse me! Do you need anything else?”

The clerk asked us, maybe because my friends’ orders were all ready.

“Ah, no…”

After that, we went up to the second floor, bringing five ice creams on a tray. When we arrived at the table, those three fuckers seemed to have made some strange plan again as they greeted us with solemn expressions.

“Doah-ssi.”

This time, the braindead villain Hyunsu sat in the middle.

“Yes.”

Thanks to my explanation, Doah could respond in a calmer voice to his call.

“So, you know that Taemin likes things like anime and manhwa, right?”

“Of course. I like them too.”

This unexpected answer seemed to surprise those three, but Hyunsu cleared his throat and continued the conversation with a pleased look.

“Well… There’s this VTuber that Taemin has told us he’s liked for a long time. Ah, you might not know what a VTuber is. It’s a streamer who uses a character model to do internet streams.”

“I know what VTubers are.”

Just as we had talked while paying, those three seemed to have had a meeting to decide the order of who would talk. This time, it was Gyuho who took over the baton.

“So, Taemin likes this VTuber called Luka, and you’re exactly like her. The way you talk and everything.”

“And?”

Doah replied, her tone was calm like a lake.

Indeed, having regained her composure, Doah’s voice was clearly different from Luka’s.

It was calmer and I could sense the confidence in it.

“So, we thought this might cause problems in your relationship later. As you know, Taemin is a little inexperienced with these things, so we thought it would be better if you knew…”

Their words made me feel touched, but at the same time, I wanted to smack them on the head.

Did they really think that I’d be doing something so horrible to Doah, huh?

I would be a genuine trash if I had hidden it and continued to date her!

Then again, if any of these guys were to tell me that they were dating someone who was very similar to a streamer they like, I’d try to stop them as well.

The problem in my case was that the truth wasn’t like that.

Well, rather than confirming what exactly happened to them myself, I decided to leave the decision to Doah.

“…So you’re saying Oppa has liked this Luka-ssi person for a very long time?”

“…Yes.”

“Is she very popular?”

The three idiots looked at each other, trying to gauge each other’s reaction.

“Yes, she’s really doing well these days.”

“She’s nearly top-tier in the VTuber world!”

“Ah, but I don’t think she’s more charming than Doah-ssi at all.”

Seongjin, maybe trying to defend me, added that one last comment. Who knows if it was as good thing or not, though.

“Hmm…”

Doah nodded as if interested.

“I see.”

Now, they finally realized that they had messed things up really badly, so they hastily threw out comments, trying to smooth things over.

“Ah! But even if Taemin has that side to him, he truly likes you, Doah-ssi!”

“That’s right! We also think that you have your own charms, Doah-ssi! Haha…”

“I…”

Doah gently closed her eyes.

“…don’t mind if Taemin oppa continues to like that VTuber or whatever.”

She stared at me, as if trying to make sure that I heard what she wanted to say.

“Because I’m confident.”

A playful smile formed on her lips.

“That he’ll end up liking me much more than that Luka person.”

Since I knew what she was trying to say, my reaction was mild, but those guys…

Were practically ‘mindblown’ by her words.

Hyunsu dropped the pink spoon he was holding, while Seongjin glared at me with an appalled face.

“So it’s okay! Thank you for your concern.”

From that point on, they dropped the subject entirely, refraining from pressing the issue any further.

[Hey, Han Taemin. I take back what I said yesterday about you being wasted on her.]

[whylolll]

[Ah fuck, that was one hell of a reality check huh?]

[fr doah-ssi’s an angel. a fucking otaku angel. covers for a mentally ill simp like that.]

[Hey, who are you calling mentally ill? Me? If I’m mentally ill, then this is a mental asylum.]

[Is this what they call a looks diff? Deadass feels like a wall;;]

[lmaoooo but if she’s understanding enough to accept that, just get married already. seriously doubt there’s many people who would put up with your shit.]

[Ah… Doah-ssi is really too good for that dumbass Han Taemin. Next time I see her, I’m definitely telling her to break up and run away asap.]

[Stfu. Had me sweating after needing to cover up for your fuck up without lying.]

[Fuck this. Not sending you the money. You have a gf, so you pay. Kthxbye]

After putting down my phone, I gently kissed Doah’s forehead as she slept beside me.