Chapter 69: Photo

The scent of Doah’s shampoo, wafting from her hair, tickled my nose for just a moment.This couldn’t do. I had to get an answer from her now.

“...When?”

I was so disappointed in myself, to the point that I felt gloomy.

Thankfully, my considerate girlfriend gave me hope.

“Uh... I don't know...? On the day when I’m not streaming?”

“On the weekend then? What about Sunday?”

I turned the chair completely around to face Doah and tightly grasped her hand.

“Nice! I was so sad just a moment ago because I didn’t get the chance to take a single screenshot.”

I’ve been trying to compose myself and focus on editing.

But as soon as that little leeway came up, my sincere feelings as her fan burst out through that gap.

“...Tsk.”

At that moment, Doah let out a reaction that seemed to indicate that she wasn’t pleased with something.

She stared at me with narrowed eyes.

“But Oppa, we haven’t even taken a single photo together.”

Hearing her words, I started wracking my brain, trying to scour through my memory.

Seriously? We haven’t?

I swear we had been together for quite a while, but I haven’t taken any photos together?

As I tried to find out the reason why, I managed to find it quite easily.

Because I didn’t really like taking photos.

If she suggested taking one, I’d definitely take up on that, but there was no way I’d ever suggest that to her.

When it came to photos, the most was probably Doah changing my messenger profile picture to her own photo I guess?

“R-Really?”

“Yes! And here you are, whining about taking a screenshot of Luka!”5

She raised her tone as I instinctively straightened my back.

“...Wanna take one together?”

I knew that it was already too late, but it wasn’t like I had no other choice!

Like, she was acting like this because I was babbling about taking Luka’s pictures but not hers, right?

“No. What’s the point? You have no interest in me anyway.”

With those words, the air turned chilly.

She forcefully pulled her hand out of my grasp and returned to the bed.

“Get to work.”

She then took her phone out of her pocket.

Looking like a sulky squirrel, she fiddled with her phone in a curled up pose with her knees together.

After quietly watching her for a little while, I got up and turned on my phone’s camera app.

“Look here. One. Two. Three!”

As if pulling aggro, I got up from the chair and raised my voice as cheerfully as if I had become a graduation day photographer.

-Click

At the following camera sound, Doah hastily sat up.

“Ah! What are you doing?!”

“Didn't you say you wanted to take a photo together?”

I was trying to get her out of her sulky state, but that was easier than I thought.

“No! When did I say that?! Ah. And delete that!”

“Sure, if you take a proper one with me.”

She tried to snatch the phone away from me as she bounced up and down, but it was no use.

Well, she might be able to do it if she stood on the bed.

But, with that pathetic jumping power, she couldn’t catch my phone.

“Ah fuck...”

I swear I could see her tiny nostrils flared. Cute.

“...Fine, I get it, come here, we’ll take a picture properly!”

“Alright.”

Having achieved a dramatic compromise, I let out a sigh of relief inwardly.

Phew. If this method hadn’t worked, I’d be even more screwed.

“Where should we take it?”

I had suggested taking a photo together, but I hadn’t given any thought to how we would take it.

“...Here?”

When I roughly shoved the phone camera frame at her, Doah looked at me. Her gaze seemed like she was asking, ‘What is wrong with you?’

“...Oppa, I know you’re living alone and all, but isn’t this a little too much?”

I turned around to see the spot that would become the background of the picture, and I immediately understood that reaction, somehow.

It was my bookshelf, and it was a little…

No, not a little. It was messy as fuck.

“Then where should we take it?”

“Haaa...”

After letting out a sigh, Doah tapped the bed a couple times, gesturing me to come over.

“Sit here and take it here.”

Following my girlfriend’s instructions, I sat next to her, only wishing to end this trying time quickly.

“Okay. I'll take it. One. Two. Three!”

Even though I pressed the button right away, the shadow cast on Doah’s face showed no signs of disappearing.

“...Oppa.”

“Yeah?”

“If you take it like that, my face will look way too big!”

“Isn’t it normal for the person in front to look bigger?”

She was in the front, of course her face would look bigger.

“Huh...?”

She looked at me dumbfoundedly.

“...Did I do something wrong?”

Checking to see if I had made the wrong choice again, Doah rubbed her forehead as if she had a headache.

“Yes... Well, no...”

Okay, look, the anime and novels I consumed didn’t teach me what camera filters to use or which angles I should pick to take photos!

Maybe stuff like Instagram could teach me that, but, you know…

Anyway, rather than trying to do more on my own and messing it up, it would be better to just come clean and ask her for help.

“Teach me.”

After saying that, I grasped Doah’s small hands.

“I-I've never taken photos with anyone else, so I don't really know,”

“Also, I don’t understand what girls prefer when taking photos.”

“Hell, I don’t even know which camera apps I should use.”

I said those words, calmly.

“So please teach me.”

“If I learn it once, I might be able to take good photos next time, right?”

Unsure on how to wrap it up, I gave her an apologetic smile.

Doah who had only been listening to me quietly looked into my eyes briefly before slowly opening her mouth,

“...Come closer.”

We were already almost stuck together, but I pressed my body even closer to her.

“A little more.”

As I leaned against her, Doah slightly lifted her body and gently placed her bottom on my right thigh.

“Now hold the phone over there and take it looking down from slightly above.”

“...You know you have to smile, right?”

Following her instructions, I stretched out my arm and pressed the home button only after hearing Doah's okay.

“...Here.”

When I handed her the phone, Doah got off my thigh and this time stuck close to the far wall to check the photo.

After fiddling with the screen for a bit, she handed the phone back to me.

“It came out good.”

On the screen, there was me with my awkward smile and Doah with her bright smile.

“...Next time, let’s take it outside.”

Doah pulled the computer chair over again and sat me in front of the desk.

* * *

[No, Luka! This unnie is really disappointed in you.]

Hanbit unnie snickered at Sungdang unnie’s message.

[Ahahahahahaha]

[I told you, don’t work during the day!]

[Being jobless gets you the opportunity to do idol relationship consultations with us~]

When I showed up in the voicecord server after a long time, the other unnies except Hanbit unnie tore into me fiercely as if they had found a tasty prey.

[but i didn’t tell hanbit unnie much either!]

[Still! How could you! I thought our relationship was special!]

[That’s right~ Luka-tan~ Wow~ You’re going to abandon us now that you’re an idol? Are you really abandoning us?]

I hadn’t gone anywhere, stop saying that I abandoned you!

Still, I didn’t say that out loud, instead I let out an awkward smile at their nonsense.

I could only give an awkward smile at the unnies’ nonsense.

[So Luka, is your dating life going well these days?]

At Hanbit unnie’s question, I couldn’t help but contemplate my answer for a bit.

I guess it was going well?

Like, it was a bit far from a dream-like, diabetes-inducing, sugary dating life.

There were also some things about Oppa’s personality that were different from what I had thought,

[it’s not bad.]

Yeah, that should be good enough for an answer. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NʘvᴇlFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

[Hey, hey! It’s supposed to be the happiest and sweetest time for you! ‘Not bad’ means there is a bit of a problem in your relationship!]

[no! we’re doing well!]

Yeah, it wasn’t like we had a strained relationship or anything. We weren’t totally incompatible either.

Well, there was the pork vs beef debacle.

But, other than it made us raise our voices a little higher, there was nothing else.

[That’s a relief then.]

[But Luka. This unnie heard that your boyfriend is sooo~ handsome.]

I started to dislike Hanbit unnie.

No. Was it okay for you to leak all the counseling details like this?

[Can I see a picture of him?]

...What should I do?

It wasn’t like I didn’t trust the unnies.

We had known each other for over two years and they had been keeping my secret steadfastly even when I told them that I was a vtuber.

But still, a picture of Oppa… Hmm…

[Seriously, how handsome is he for you to act like this…?]

[Yeah, actually, I’m also curious about that, Luka-tan.]

When even Hanbit unnie, who had made a great contribution to my relationship success, joined in, I finally raised the white flag.

[i’ll upload it for just a moment and then delete it.]

Ini unnie, the only one who couldn’t see the picture would be disappointed later on, but oh well.

Scrolling through my photo gallery, I found the picture we took at Oppa’s place and gulped.

It was a bit embarrassing to show everything, so I put one sticker on my face.

Then, I put a small sticker to hide the lower part of Oppa’s face.

They should be able to tell how handsome he was from his eyes and the shape of his face.

[im only giving 3 seconds!]

I wouldn’t let them take a screenshot of it, so I’ll upload it and delete it quickly.

And so, I pressed the send button and deleted the picture immediately after three seconds passed.

But the unnies didn’t miss that gap and seemed to have all seen it, as reactions followed.

[Luka. How much do vtuber models cost?]

...It seemed like they had been filled with the wrong illusion.

***

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