121. Sneezing
I think each person has their own unique way of calculating the days of the week, but when I think back to high school, I felt like I was a webtoon.
On Mondays, I liked boy cartoons and webtoons the most.
On Tuesday, I liked cartoons based on martial arts the most.
If I repeat the rotation and wait every day, a week passes, and now the measure of my sun has become Luca.
The morning after the regular closing ceremony on Saturday.
Waking up this early even on the weekend means I feel some kind of anxiety.
After throwing off the blanket and waking up, the first thing I did was check my phone.
The messy contents of group chats with high school classmates remained intact.
[No talking about vertubers. No bullsh*t talk. Please act like a normal person.]
I thought that even if I did this with my bare mouth, one or two of them would eventually lose their minds and say something outrageous in front of Doa, so I had already given them ice cream gifticons one by one.
“Use it…”
Ah… But why am I so anxious?
They’re humans too, so they won’t say anything strange, right?
I wanted to throw Pato away, but I couldn’t throw Doa away who expressed her wish to meet him.
And to be honest, they were good kids.
I hardly ever drink or smoke.
There is no bad history whatsoever.
Harmless beings who just sit in a corner of their room and watch their favorite animations.
Most of the kids I maintained friends with felt like this.
I made a plan to have a meal and a cup of coffee, so I just need to watch my mouth.
I thought about having a drinking party, but the kids didn’t drink so there was no need to have a party.
When I went into the bathroom, took a shower, dried my hair, and came out, there were notifications on my phone.
From noble mtl dot com
One was Doa and the other was a boys’ chat room.
I’m calling my girlfriend who I’m planning to meet soon.
[Yaboseya?]
Was he brushing his teeth?
Inaccurate pronunciation was transmitted over the airwaves.
[Brushing your teeth?]
[E.]
[Should I hang up?]
Actually, I didn’t have much to say.
[Eeh?]
Doah raised her voice instead of expressing dislike.
After her sound of water continued, Doa began to speak properly again.
[You woke up early?]
[It’s scheduled for 1 o’clock.]
[But didn’t you stay up late yesterday watching the broadcast?]
Luca’s broadcast ended at 3 am, so she wasn’t strange.
[But I still have to prepare.]
[What the heck… When I look at it, I just wash my face 20 minutes before leaving.]
There was too much explosive information to explain the cause of the anxiety.
[It’s a bit far today.]
The place where she decided to meet her friends was near the neighborhood where she had previously visited a VR experience center.
Since the places where everyone lived were far apart, she thought it would be better to target the city center that was closest.
[I just need to put on my makeup now. Would you like to come over here?]
[No. I still have things to do, so I’ll see you later at the agreed upon time.]
[Chi… Okay. Then. I have to do this now, so come down and take a look!]
[Yes. Okay.]
After hanging up the phone, I entered the group chat and converted the message I sent yesterday into a notice.
[No talking about vertubers. No bullsh*t talk. Please act like a normal person.]
The chat window is filled with ㅋ after the yellow number decreases by one.
[Taemin Kun~ Are you scared?]
Of the three we were supposed to meet today, Kyu-ho had the most vicious personality.
[ㅇㅇㅇㅇ I’m scared.]
[hahahaha.
No. Are you saying there’s something I’m usually not good at?
[If I just shut up today, I will do well with ㄹㅇ.]
[Ah… But it hurts so much that your girlfriend doesn’t know who you really are.]
I know! I already know!
You already know that I’m a b*tch, so don’t bother saying it!
[Ah… Please… You…]
[LOL Oh, but I know that I can’t say anything in front of kids anyway.]
That was also true.
This group by default.
The characteristic of this otaku den is that communication skills are very poor.
It may look fine on the outside, but we didn’t really enjoy hanging out with others offline.
I think the expression ‘keyboard warrior’ suits me very well.
Darkness rather than light.
This was a group that preferred 2D over 3D.
[Ah. It is expected. Just say it. Taemin Han.]
As Seongjin poured fuel on the fire, these bastards sighed, thinking that there was no answer.
Ha… It’s really hard…
Would it be difficult to have another double date with Humulingne?
Would it be more difficult to take the kids and eat with Doa?
After playing the balance game of Jagangducheon, where decisions are difficult to make, I put on my coat and went outside.
* * *
“Last inspection.”
Doa, standing in front of me, turned her body around on one foot.
“Is there anything strange?”
“Even if there isn’t one.”
He did that when we met in front of the house earlier, and he asked me to confirm once again.
“Really?”
“Yes. Really.”
I reached out his hand to stroke my head like usual, but Doa blocked my hand as if telling me not to do it.
“My hair is ruined.”
“…Aren’t you putting too much effort into looking after my friends and not me?”
We decided to stop saying things that could be hurtful, so we held hands and left the subway station.
“Will everyone come on time?”
“Yes. “They are very punctual.”
Strangely enough, the kids in this corner had good manners, so there was no need to worry about no-shows.
As we went up the escalator and looked around, we saw kids with familiar silhouettes glancing at us.
“Hey!”
I raised my hand and made a signal as if asking what they were doing, but they were just whispering something among themselves and came towards me making a fuss.
“Ah… Hello.”
Why are these guys so shy?
Kyu-ho, who had declared that he would send Han Tae-min to hell through chatting, nodded with a shy expression, almost like a man on a blind date.
“Hello.”
I felt Doa’s fingers that I was holding tremble.
Seongjin and Hyunsoo, also known as the small duo, have not yet been able to talk or say hello properly.
In the end, it was my turn to step forward.
“Uh… Like I said, these are all my classmates, and this is Seongjin.”
“Hello.”
He realized that now was the right time and bowed his head.
“This is Hyeonsu.”
“Ah. “I heard a lot from Taemin.”
“…What about me?”
Doa looks up at me with shaking pupils.
I quickly shook my head to say no.
“Don’t talk nonsense. “You bastard.”
“Ah! My name is Gyuho Lee! Mr. Doa!”
After Gyu-ho, who was at least friendly, was introduced, we went into the restaurant I had been looking for.
Ha… I never thought I would come to a place like this with these guys.
Still, we wanted to meet Doa and her friends, but it was too manly to go to a restaurant, so we ended up at a Western restaurant that sells pasta and pizza.
A table bathed in warm sunlight.
Children sitting in a pile wearing black padding.
We’ve known each other for several years, but we’ve never been in a situation like this, so we felt awkward around each other.
I expected that even choosing a menu would be difficult, so I just asked for all the menu items recommended by the staff and got over the crisis.
“Uh… So…”
In terms of MBTI, no one has an E.
I, who had to conduct the proceedings under the name of the host, gritted my teeth and smiled.
“Doa. “How about seeing my friends in person?”
I brought you here because you were curious, so I guess I can give you this answer.
“Ah! “Everyone looks so impressive!”
Hey. Isn’t that too much of a broadcast tone?
I was the one who became nervous when Doa adopted the method she used to avoid awkwardness.
I thought there would be no mistake because they were notified in advance that they were aware of the existence of Closer and Luca.
Doa himself seemed not to be aware of it yet.
I had a feeling that it would be dangerous if I kept doing that.
They weren’t friends with a good sense of humor, but they were more knowledgeable than me when it came to things like Chewdeok.
And I had to protect my girlfriend from them.
“How do you feel about Doaboni?”
“I think Taemin suits you very well.”
“That’s right. “He’s a handsome man and pretty girl~ Very~”
Thank you for speaking up though…
Silence comes again.
When I was having trouble because the conversation couldn’t continue, it was Gyu-ho who helped me.
“How did you two meet?”
“Ah. We are…”
This wasn’t a big problem because I was in sync with Doa to some extent.
The story is that we met while playing a team game because we saw eye to eye.
Seongjin, who was quietly listening to her story, tilted his head.
“But Han Taemin, what did you like so much about Mr. Doa?”
“…Huh?”
“No. “Looking at your usual behavior, it seemed like you would never date.”
Ah. If it’s just like that, let’s just say it’s like that.
What are you trying to tackle?
“Hey… I’m a human too, so maybe I should reconsider. What.”
“I see… Well. Anyway, it looks good. I only felt sorry for our Luca-tan. What.”
Ah. f*ck. I told you not to talk about Luca!
“…Ecchi!”
Her sneeze came out of Doa’s mouth.