My First Date Ever?
About five minutes from now.
In five minutes, I was going to have my first date with a woman in my entire life.
Around me, I could hear people whispering as they watched me wait.
"Whoa! He's insanely handsome… Should I ask if he has a girlfriend?"
"Are you stupid? With a face like that, he's got at least ten."
"He looks like an idol. What if we ask for an autograph?"
"You go alone. If I try talking to him, I'll have a heart attack."
Hearing compliments I'd never received even once before made my toes curl in embarrassment.
I hadn't planned on going out today at all.
How did things end up like this…?
I carefully rewound my memories.
At the time, I had just barely talked Haruna down from jumping out a fifteenth-floor window and potentially becoming a Darwin Award candidate.
"So… anyone can make a mistake like that, and Kim Minseo doesn't mind at all and doesn't think badly of me… right…?"
"Of course. I don't even remember what Lee Jiyeon said earlier. I might be developing early-onset dementia or something."
Inwardly I wondered what kind of thought process could turn "I'm in a hurry" into a friends-with-benefits proposition, but if I said that out loud I was pretty sure she'd say goodbye before I ever got an answer.
And I wouldn't get a camera either.
"To cut straight to the point with no room for misunderstanding: I tripped by accident and body-pressed a level-10 camera with 999 power."
"Yeah, yeah. I saw it on stream. It was so shocking I wanted to be reborn as that camera in my next life."
"I'm not sure which part made you want to be reborn as a camera… Anyway, what I wanted to ask is, if Haruna has a spare camera, could I buy it or maybe borrow it?"
"I-I'll give it to you! Coincidentally, I just happened to be cleaning up a spare camera at home."
She answered as if she'd been waiting for the question.
"I-if that's not enough, I-I'll buy you a new one!"
Giving me a used camera for free was already more than generous, and now she wanted to buy a new one?
"No. You don't need to buy me a new one. You already told me your real name; I can't impose any further. Even taking a used camera for free feels weird… Is there anything I can help you with?"
I felt bad just accepting something I'd originally planned to buy.
If things had gotten desperate enough I might have tried a romance scam with this face of mine, but Haruna turned out to be far kinder than expected.
"Help with something?"
"I don't have money, but I'm good at paying with my body. If you need to move a wardrobe or a bed or anything that takes manpower, I'll help."
Looking back, that part still seemed like the right call.
And the request Haruna made after I offered to help was…
"P-please go shopping with me!!"
On top of that, she claimed she didn't have enough clothes and wanted me to pick some out for her.
Since I'd been the one to offer, I reluctantly accepted…
But what fashion sense could I possibly have?!
Computer parts, maybe. When it came to clothes—especially women's clothes—I could safely declare my sense was rock bottom.
"What am I even supposed to do? Best case I just nod and say everything she picks looks fine."
Leave character customization to an extreme efficiency freak and all you'll get is "Black makes it harder for enemies to spot you" and "Smaller body means smaller hitbox."
I'd probably end up saying something equally dumb like "Tracksuits work as pajamas so they're practical."
"Guess I just have to escort her as best I can. Even if I mess it up, please don't hate me."
"Haa… haa… I did it. I successfully asked Konoko out on a date."
Unable to contain her excitement, her whole body trembled like a motorcycle engine.
A date was originally a magical act where a man and a woman met one-on-one.
Even though Kim Minseo was clearly a woman, to her it still felt exactly like going on a date.
"This is no time to stand around! First I need to get clothes ready, then makeup… except I don't have any cosmetics."
She was so scared of people that she almost never left the house, so there had never been a need to buy makeup.
Even if she did her face, there was no one to show it to.
And she didn't know how to put makeup on in the first place.
"Sunscreen and… a mask? We're meeting at night so I won't need those."
She rushed around the house that looked like a garbage dump and finished getting ready.
Since they'd met at a convenience store, their homes turned out to be closer than expected.
The meeting place was a clothing district where fashion shops fought tooth and nail for customers.
That was where they would meet.
Lee Jiyeon carefully chose a hoodie, put it on, and arrived at the meeting spot.
In the distance she could see Kim Minseo, looking so handsome it was as if she lived in a completely different world.
Just standing there with her left hand in her pocket and her right hand playing with her smartphone somehow looked impossibly chic.
The people around only stole glances; no one dared approach that sacred zone.
Feeling the superior thrill of being the only one allowed into that sanctuary, Lee Jiyeon walked up to Kim Minseo.
"A-ah, hellooo…!"
Her voice wouldn't come out properly because she was so nervous. Screwing up the first impression—what was she even trying to do?!
But as if banishing the darkness in her heart, Kim Minseo greeted her with a smile that even included a gentle eye-smile.
"Hello, Haru… wait, I should call you Jiyeon here."
Pressed by that fragrant mid-to-low voice that smelled like black tea, Lee Jiyeon dropped her head.
My face must be bright red. Embarrassing embarrassing embarrassing…!!
At least the hoodie automatically covered her head when she bowed. If it hadn't, the fact that even her ears were red would have been exposed…
Whoosh.
Huh…?
The hood had come off!
"Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"
Startled by the sudden loss of her hood, she opened her eyes wide—and found a noble, beautiful face that looked like it had received a divine blessing staring at her from a distance close enough to feel breath.
When Lee Jiyeon suddenly lowered her head, a worried Kim Minseo had crouched down to match her height and check on her.
"Aaaah…! Aaaah! I'm fine, I'm fine! So please don't stare at me like that."
"I'm sorry. You suddenly ducked your head so I looked without thinking. That was rude of me."
Kim Minseo took a step back from Lee Jiyeon.
"Y-you don't have to go that far away. Just don't stare so hard… I-it's not that I dislike it or anything. I-I'm just embarrassed…"
"Like this, then?"
Kim Minseo leaned her face right up to Lee Jiyeon's.
"Hweh…! Hweeh…!! Too close, too close…!"
Under the sudden attack(?), Lee Jiyeon's eyes spun and her mind went hazy.
"Jiyeon? Lee Jiyeon?"
She was so dizzy she couldn't even react to the faintly audible beautiful mid-low voice.
When she finally came to her senses, she found herself sitting on a bench next to Kim Minseo with a cold bottle of water in her hand.
"You with us again? I bought some water from the convenience store nearby, so drink that."
"Ah… okay."
The cold stream slid down her throat and her mind snapped clear.
"How's your body feeling? I was being too mischievous earlier. Who knew you'd just keep making 'hweh…!' sounds for five whole minutes."
"No no no no…!! It's my fault! Minseo didn't do anything wrong!"
She wanted to say that shoving such a handsome face at someone without warning was also Minseo's fault, but fainting over it made her own fault bigger.
Besides, her words made Minseo's expression lighten a little.
Wearing the same smile as before, Minseo spoke.
"If you're done with the water, can you give it to me?"
"Yeah yeah, here."
Without thinking, she handed over the bottle at Minseo's request.
But then—
Minseo casually opened the cap and gulped the water down.
The same water her lips had touched…!
"Hweh…! Is that okay?!"
"Is what okay?"
Minseo asked back as if nothing was wrong.
"This… that's an… i-i-i-indirect kiss!"
Only then did Minseo react with an "Ah," as if she'd just realized.
Too defenseless. Wasn't that way too defenseless for someone with that face?!
Or was it…?
Was she the one overthinking it?
She and Kim Minseo were both women, after all.
And they were friends.
"Aaaah… Sorry. I said something weird again. Between friends this kind of thing is normal."
There was something Lee Jiyeon hadn't realized yet.
Kim Minseo was also very much aware of the indirect kiss.
What do I do? I was just thirsty and drank without thinking, and now it's become an indirect kiss!
She hadn't done it on purpose.
She had simply been driven by the primal desire of thirst.
By the time she noticed it was an indirect kiss, it was already far too late.
In the end, the answer Kim Minseo came up with was:
"No, it's fine. I was the one who wasn't conscious enough of the fact that we're friends. If it made you uncomfortable, I'll be more careful from now on."
"Y-you really don't have to…"
"If we take any longer the clothing stores might all close! Let's hurry and look at as many clothes as we can."
Hastily changing the subject was the best she could manage.