Chapter 68: When?

「...Luhai?」It was the voice that I always heard.

The voice that I always sought out even on days without her streams. Now, it flowed directly into my earphones.

「I-Is it okay to do that here?」

Of course I was happy. Hell, I was more than happy! In fact, I could bounce in my seat right now! But, well, safety came first.

「Ah, well, I’ve set it up to invite-only, so it’s fine.」

Luka swung her right arm in the air, probably going through the settings window on her end.

「Yup, no one can come in here.」

Nodding her head, she got closer and closer to me.

Normally, I could see her avatar down to her thighs, but now I could only see what was above her shoulders.

Because she was right in front of my eyes.

As she let out a bright smile, I felt the sudden urge to dive right into the monitor.

「You know, Oppa? I am a little curious about the expression you’re making right now.」

「Huh? My expression?」

「You know that you’ve been moving your avatar with the same expressionless face this whole time, right?」

Uh, I knew that I could change its expressions if I were to manipulate it directly, but I hadn’t been doing that.

I mean, I was pretty much just an NPC observing from the side while helping with the filming. What was the use of me changing my expressions and stuff?

「Uh... Wait a second...」

What was the key for that again?

Using my mouse, I clicked on a bunch of things before succeeding in finding the expression change window.

「Uhh... This is how I look right now.」

Yeah, this was the closest one.

Actually, I might have made a more perverted look in real life, but whatever. The expression that I picked was the one that best reflected the emotions I was feeling.

I pulled out the [>_<] face that no real humans in the world could make before shaking the mouse up and down, trying to stimulate a nod.

「Pffft. Ah. Is that the face you're making?」

Seeing that, Doah stretched out her arms before weaving it wildly. Probably finding my clumsy manipulation funny.

「How is it, Lucario-ssi? Did you achieve Nirvana with this?」

Luka noona... I’m dying...

My heart can’t take it.

Fuck, I really shoulda bought the VR headset.

Later when I saved up enough money, I would definitely buy one…!

I never imagined an opportunity to greet Luka-tan directly would come this soon.

Even after I started dating Doah, I still thought that was the case.

I mean, if she were to say that she didn’t want to come anywhere near VR whenever we were dating or hanging out, what could I do? There was no way I could force her to say otherwise.

That was why I thought that the only way for me to do this was to become really lucky and win a spot for a viewer collab.

And now that I actually met her directly like this, I couldn’t do anything but resent my thin wallet.

「Oppa. Have you ever actually won a spot for a viewer collab while watching my stream?」

「...No.」

…She really hit it where it hurts, huh?

I’ve applied for a spot countless times, but I always got rejected every time.

「Really? How often did you apply?」

「...Probably almost every time I watched the stream?」

Probably finding my answer funny, Doah let out a giggle.

「But how did you not get picked even once?」

「I don't know!」

It felt like it was Luka who was teasing me, not Doah.

Still, even though I knew that she was mocking me, it felt good.

I mean, Luka was no different from a world-class idol to me.

While I was merely one of her nameless fans.

「Still, I don’t think I want to do a VR date.」

Luka furrowed one of her pink eyes.

「Because you seem like it way too much, Oppa! I hate that!」 Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ n0vᴇl(ꜰ)ire.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

In reflex, I immediately denied her words.

「No! I don't like it! Actually, I hate VR dates!」

Please don't do this to me, Doah.

Please...

At her words that felt like a death sentence, I swung the mouse left and right.

That should simulate me shaking my head.

「Still, Oppa, you’re actually just watching this through a monitor, so doesn’t it feel like a PC game to you?」

「Yeah, it does.」

「Why do you like it so much, then?」

The tone in her voice suggested that she genuinely didn’t understand that.

After a brief moment of hesitation, I decided to just give her an honest answer.

「Because I just do.」

Being a fan of Luka wasn’t a bad thing to say to Doah, at least that was what I was thinking.

Even if the way she acted during the stream was an act, the fact that I was completely captivated by her charm remained unchanged.

At my calm answer, Luka immediately blushed.

「P-Praising me like that won't get you anything.」

The tone she used when saying those words were the exact same one she used whenever she was roleplaying.

「Huu.」

I held my breath.

It felt like if I didn’t do this, I’d burst out laughing while she’d become startled by it and run away.

「What are you doing?」

But, since my avatar didn’t show any changes, she wasn’t aware of what was going on. So, she tilted her head and asked me.

「Nothing, something just got stuck in my throat.」

「Oh no... Are you okay?」

「Yup yup. Totally fine.」

After a moment of silence, Luka moved a bit further away and bid me farewell.

「Alright, let’s end this now.」

「...Huh?」

「Didn’t you promise Junseok oppa to edit the video and hand it to him by today, Oppa?」

「Ah, but that won’t take long at all! I can spend an hour hanging out with you!」

The moment I saw her showing her desire to log out, I hastily appealed to her of how free I was.

「Oh. Is that so?」

Luka nodded as if convinced by my words.

「Then I’ll just go to Oppa’s place and watch you edit, no biggie.」

Not waiting for my answer, my girlfriend disappeared from the VR World, leaving me alone in that Chinese Castle ruins…

“AAAAAHHHHHHHH!”

I could only throw my earphones in disappointment.

* * *

“Hm~ Hmm~ Hm hm~”

Having announced that I was going to hang out at Oppa’s place, I was contemplating what to wear.

But, maybe it would be okay to just go like this?

I mean, I didn’t look…unsightly…but I was wearing a sweatshirt…

This was still the early period of our relationship.

Which meant I still wanted to only show him my pretty side, but I had already shown him too much of my unsightly side.

He saw me in my pajamas.

And he saw me crying like an ugly duckling.

In the end, I decided to do the bare minimum, put on light makeup and threw on a hoodie over jeans.

The weather had gotten much colder, so it would be better for me to put on more layers, but his place was literally next door. I just wanted to get there quickly,

I opened the front door and left my apartment building. Then, I sprinted towards the building next door.

Ugh, so cold!

I barely spent twenty seconds running, but the chill had already seeped into my bones.

In no time, I climbed the stairs, standing in front of Oppa’s room. After taking a deep breath, I knocked on his door.

From behind the closed door, I could hear his footsteps approaching.

“You're here already?”

Taemin oppa was wearing a black t-shirt and gray shorts.

If I had an older brother, I imagined that he would dress exactly like this every single day.

“Yes.”

“It’s cold outside, come in quickly.”

After taking off my shoes, I came inside. Immediately, I noticed the diffuser that I gave him as a gift, sitting on his bookshelf.

“You put this here?”

Feeling pleased for no reason, I fiddled with the diffuser.

“Yeah. It smells nice.”

My boyfriend was clumsily standing next to me.

We still seemed to not really be used to each other.

“I’ll just quietly watch from behind as you edit.”

I pulled over the computer chair and gestured for Oppa to come over.

“Since you’ve met your beloved Luka-tan, it’s time to work now!”

At the mention of Luka’s name, his expression darkened slightly.

“...Right. I should get to work.”

Ah, that reaction…

Yeah, I was familiar with that. How should I put it?

It was like the reaction I had when I was a little, when my mom told me to stop watching TV and go to bed.

It was just like a child whose toy had been taken away, prompting me to let out a smirk at him.

“What’s wrong? Were you disappointed?”

“...No.”

“But why are you acting like that?”

Oppa silently sat in front of the computer and opened the video editing program window on the monitor.

“I’m just working on this.”

“...Are you upset?”

“I’m not upset.”

Anyone could tell he was upset from the tone of his voice.

While the reason why he was upset made me feel a little iffy, I found it cute that he was sulking like that, so I quietly approached the back of his chair.

He was busy opening up a bunch of files with his mouse, so he hadn’t noticed what I was doing yet.

...Should I do it?

I saw them doing it a lot in dramas and stuff.

You know, I thought I could just wing it after I took the first step, but it wasn’t the case at all! I felt blood rushing to my face.

Ah, whatever! Just do it, Kim Doah!

No more turning back! It would be dumb if I were to go back and sit down on the bed again!

I stretched out my arms and wrapped them around Oppa’s neck.

Then, I bent my upper body diagonally to lower my face to an angle where I could face him.

The first thing that caught my eye was Oppa’s flawless skin.

He was a guy, how could he have such fair skin?! Unfair!

Surprised by my action, Oppa’s widened eyes looked into mine.

“...N-next time, if there’s another chance, I'll show you Luka’s model in different outfits too.”

I wanted to speak confidently like Luka, all sly and smooth.

But the real-life Kim Doah took over and spoke like that instead!

I felt like I had failed the moment I stuttered, but I still persevered and continued speaking.

“So, please stop being upset...”

I thought I would just hear his answer and quickly retreat to the bed, but.

“...When?”

…What? What was with that serious look?!

Seeing his excessively earnest face, I was at a loss for words.

***

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