Date (2)
I slipped the tickets I’d just bought into my pocket and turned to Suhyeon.
“Should we head up right now? Or wait a little longer?”
“Wait a little?”
“Yeah. The reviews say the night view is way better. It’s not even five o’clock yet, so if we come back after eight, the scenery should be much prettier than it is now.”
“Have you… come here often?”
The way she looked up at me with slightly anxious eyes, brows raised, was both adorable and strangely sexy. I let out a small chuckle.
“No. I only came once with my family back in high school.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Still, since we’re already here, we might as well check out the observatory instead of just locking a padlock. The night view will look even better from up there. And the cable car tickets are valid all day, so we can use them anytime.”
“Coming back later sounds good, but… hmm. Is there anywhere around here to kill time?”
Suhyeon tilted her head. The building where you boarded the cable car was only three stories tall and contained nothing but restrooms, a ticket booth, and a small snack counter.
“If we head down a bit, there should be plenty of options. This is a popular spot for couples and families, so the area’s packed with stuff—bowling alleys, billiard halls, ping-pong rooms, karaoke bars, you name it. Tons of ways to pass the time.”
“Oh~.”
Suhyeon clapped her hands together as if she hadn’t even considered it. I wasn’t particularly good at bowling, billiards, ping-pong, or singing, but doing any of them with her sounded fun regardless. After thinking for a moment, she smiled brightly and grabbed my hand tightly.
“Then let’s do that! I think seeing the night view later would be nicer too.”
“Sounds good~.”
We walked back down the path we’d come from, hands linked. A quick internet search confirmed there were plenty of places nearby. Our first stop was a coin karaoke room.
“Say ‘I love you’ four times a day~ and laugh eight~ times. Give me six~ kisses~.”
She had seemed a little embarrassed before starting, but once she had the mic in her hand, she gained confidence. As she sang, she kept making eye contact with me and flashing bright, playful smiles. So this is what it’s like coming to karaoke with your girlfriend. I’d only ever gone with guy friends before, where we just screamed our lungs out in rage… I should come here more often from now on.
“Boy~ boy~ boy~ boy~ boy~ boy~~~. Hehe. How was I?”
“You’re really good at singing, Suhyeon.”
When the song ended, applause came naturally. She really was talented. She wasn’t some professional-level vocalist, but her voice was clear and beautiful. It suited her face perfectly. Her pitch was surprisingly accurate, and there was something healing and cute about her tone that made the corners of my mouth lift on their own.
“Hehe, thanks. What are you going to sing?”
“Hmm~. I should probably pick something upbeat, right?”
I didn’t make the reckless choice of picking a love song with ridiculously high notes. Still, I didn’t think I was a terrible singer, so I chose a few energetic or sweet tracks. Thanks to the affection filter in her ears, Suhyeon squealed with delight at every song.
“Ah~ that was so fun. I wanted to sing more.”
“We have to be careful not to strain your throat since you’re a broadcaster. Let’s come again next time.”
“Yeah. Promise?”
After karaoke, we stopped by a billiard hall. Out of bowling, ping-pong, and pool, she chose billiards. Surprisingly, she admitted she didn’t know how to play any of them and picked the one that looked the least exhausting.
“Ugh. I missed again… This is so hard.”
“It’s okay.”
For a full hour, Suhyeon and I played pocket billiards. Beginners usually found it more fun than regular pool anyway. She didn’t seem to have much talent for it and kept missing shots. I wasn’t exactly skilled either, but even though I went easy on her, I still won. On the bright side, teaching her gave me plenty of excuses for skinship… And she didn’t seem to mind me pressing close. Every time I leaned in to guide her, a blush would bloom across both her cheeks.
Once we left the billiard hall, I asked her, “Where should we go now? It’s six forty.”
“Hmm. In that case, maybe we could grab coffee at a café…”
She trailed off mid-sentence, her gaze suddenly locking onto something. I followed her line of sight and saw a glowing sign advertising a PC bang.
“PC bang?”
“Ah! N-no! It’s nothing… We’re on a date. We can’t go to a PC bang.”
“Why not? If you want to go, let’s go. Want to play for an hour?”
“S-should we…?”
I grabbed her wrist while she was still hesitating and headed straight for the PC bang. She looked a little embarrassed but didn’t resist at all.
“W-wow…”
The moment we stepped inside, Suhyeon let out a gasp of amazement. She looked around the interior with genuine surprise, eyes sparkling. What was that reaction? It looked like her first time here.
“Is this your first time at a PC bang?”
“Ah, no. It’s not my first time… but this place is really nice. It’s so spacious.”
“Yeah, it is pretty impressive.”
“When was the last time you went to one?”
“Hmm… back in high school?”
That made sense. She had a top-of-the-line PC at home. Unless she was meeting friends to play together, there was no real reason to visit a PC bang.
“Most PC bangs these days are like this.”
“It’s… amazing…”
Compared to the old days, PC bangs had evolved tremendously. The computers were constantly upgraded to stay competitive, the facilities were clean, and the menu was practically restaurant-level in variety. This particular place seemed especially nice. There were tons of seats, and the counter looked like a full café with an impressive array of options.
I led her inside to find seats. The moment Suhyeon walked in, the guys who had been gaming started sneaking glances at her.
“Dude, dude. Holy crap. She’s even prettier than the part-timer noona.”
“Wow. For real. I’m losing it…”
Their stares were a bit sticky, but hearing my girlfriend get compliments still felt good.
“Sniff sniff. And the smell where she walked by is amazing. You should try it.”
“You crazy bastard. Are you a pervert?”
“It really smells good though.”
“R-really? Sniff sniff…”
Well, there were perverts too…
“J-Jinhyun… where should we…”
“Let’s sit over there.”
Suhyeon seemed uncomfortable with all the eyes on her and tugged at my sleeve, urging me along. I spotted seats in a corner and headed that way. They were couple seats. I had her sit against the wall and took the seat right beside her.
“Whoa. They even have couple seats?”
“Yeah. The PC bangs you went to in high school must’ve been small?”
“Probably~ I think they were about four times smaller than this. I didn’t go that often either.”
She smiled and turned on the computer. After a quick membership signup and login, a wide desktop filled the large screen. I checked her username, then added 100 minutes to both our accounts. When I returned, she was inspecting the computer’s specs.
“Hehe. My computer’s better than this one?”
Well, of course it was. The PC she had at home was the best I’d ever seen in real life. As I watched her wear a victorious little smile, she suddenly asked,
“Now that I think about it, Jinhyun, what games do you play?”
Games? Uh… um?
Her question left me momentarily speechless. Come to think of it, I hadn’t played many PC games lately. I’d gone crazy with them until high school, but after that I mostly played mobile games. The few PC titles I touched were mostly visual novels. And after getting the Heroine App, I hadn’t touched those either. The most recent PC game I’d played was a visual novel called What Should I Do With the Busty Girl Living on the Same Island as Me?
“Hmm. I used to play a lot of Legend League back in the day…”
“Used to?”
“I quit after getting flamed too much.”
“Ah…”
Suhyeon let out a sympathetic sigh.
“But it might be fun to play again after so long. I never deleted my account, so I’ll look up my ID. Let’s play Legend League.”
“I-I don’t want you to play something you don’t like just because of me…”
She looked genuinely apologetic.
“It’s fine. I actually want to play again. Honestly, I haven’t played much besides Legend League anyway.”
“Hehe, really?”
“Yeah.”
The moment I answered, Suhyeon launched Legend League and logged in. While I watched her, I went to the official site to recover my own ID and password. After entering the verification code and looking back at her screen, I saw she was playing what looked like a visual novel inside the Legend League client. Wait, what the hell was that? Why was there a visual novel in Legend League?
[You are in a somewhat ominous forest.]
[In a place where quiet darkness and stickiness coexist, you feel someone’s gaze upon you.]
[1. Come out right now! Let’s fight!]
[2. Even in a forest like this… am I going to meet a beautiful, fated love?]
Curious, I watched the scene. Suhyeon glanced at me, then selected option 2.
[The leaves that had been as sharp as blades scatter like a lie. The place once stained with darkness instantly transforms into a garden of dreams.]
[Deer Spirit: You… think I’m beautiful?]
[Deer Spirit: Hmph!]
[1. Hello there, little deer.]
[2. Hmph?]
[3. Who… are you?]
The background suddenly changed, and a female character with a deer’s lower body and a human upper body appeared, beginning her story. A female version of a centaur? More importantly, why did she look like a heroine? The standing illustration was actually pretty decent. I stared at the character with a complicated expression.
Her face… her face is pretty, but her body…
Oh my god. There was a visual novel inside Legend League. And it was one where you romanced beast girls. I stared at the screen with my mouth hanging open in holy shock. Suhyeon, looking slightly embarrassed, quickly skipped through the scene.
“Ah, did you find your ID?”
“Ah, yeah.”
Just as she had been surprised by the PC bang, I was shocked by what Legend League had become. The world really changes fast and in the strangest ways. I logged in with the recovered account. While I waited for her friend request, I noticed her chatting with someone. Curious, I sneaked a peek at her messages.
Suhyeon seemed pretty close with the person nicknamed “Banpo-dong Church Bro.” I asked her about it.
“Who’s that?”
She stared at me for a moment, then broke into a mischievous smile.
“Why~ Are you curious?”
“Yeah.”
“Hehe. Just a streamer I’m friends with~. A girl streamer.”
She put extra emphasis on the word “girl.” She must have thought I was jealous.
Well, I am jealous.
Because Suhyeon would belong to me and only me forever. She went back to typing.
It was a relief that she had friends other than Yehwa. I watched the chat with a warm feeling. Once she finished, Suhyeon sent me a party invite.
“What position are you playing?”
She was probably asking about my role. There were five positions in the game.
“I’ll go jungle.”
“Okay, then I’ll take top.”
I played jungle for the first time in years.
“Ah…”
And… I got absolutely destroyed by the enemy. What the hell were these champions? My body suddenly wouldn’t move, and my full-health HP bar dropped to zero in a single hit. I used to be Gold, but honestly, I didn’t realize I’d gotten this bad. Sorry, Suhyeon.
People started flaming me one by one. Maybe it was because I’d gotten the Heroine App and my mentality had grown stronger, but unlike before, their insults didn’t hurt my mental at all. However, Suhyeon, who had been playing seriously beside me, clearly didn’t feel the same. She was puffing her cheeks out and typing furiously at the people criticizing me. Duck mode activated.
Suhyeon started typing furiously, and both the mid laner and bot laner joined in with equal enthusiasm. In the end, our entire team stopped moving from the fountain and threw a full-blown chat party instead. I simply didn’t type anything and focused on killing jungle monsters. I kept getting caught and dying repeatedly.
Aigoo…
Our teammates kept criticizing me for dying, but Suhyeon desperately defended me. It was true we were losing because of me, but with incredible chatting and political skill, she managed to redirect all the blame onto the enemy ADC’s personality issues instead.