Make the Spring Outing a Success!

It was a weekend of perfect weather — warm sunshine, a cool breeze, and flowers in gorgeous, full bloom.

Just the fact that I was going ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out with noona and Eunchae — heading off to look at flowers with the girls — was already enough to leave me stunned and buzzing. And then a system window popped up right in front of my eyes, cranking that excitement even higher.

"Success? What's the criteria for success?"

A quest with a 5pt reward. I hadn't seen one of those in a long time. Lately the ways to earn points had dried up so dramatically that even this much felt precious. With 5pt, I could push Charm Stat all the way to 20.

No — wait. I didn't need Charm Stat that badly right now. Don't get greedy. Better to put it into Editing or Speed...

Then again, maybe it was time to start investing in Planning? Every other stat was either approaching 20 or had already blown past 30, but Planning was still sitting at a measly 5. That imbalance didn't look great. I'd been neglecting it because I didn't think I needed it immediately, but this was a stat tied to my desires too, wasn't it? Or maybe it was something I'd need to keep moving forward.

"Planning, huh... What would even get better if I raised it?"

If I were going to stream myself, planning ability would definitely help. But what use would an ordinary editor have for it? Would I be able to plan noona's videos for her?

"Ah, whatever. I'll think about it after I finish the quest and grab the reward."

Still — make the outing a success? It was just a regular outing. What was there to succeed or fail at?

"Hmm. Maybe if everyone ends the day in a good mood, that counts as success?"

The system hadn't given me any specific criteria, and my thoughts were just starting to tangle themselves into a knot when another window unfolded.

Oh... it had a function like this? I'd never once bothered to wonder about the details, so I was only now finding out the system came with such a convenient feature. Still plenty left to learn about this thing.

"Well... none of this looks too hard."

The toughest one was definitely preparing a lunchbox.

"Come on, we leave in two hours. What am I supposed to do with this all of a sudden?"

A lunchbox. Mention the word and most people picture something straightforward — kimbap, inari sushi, that kind of thing. Hoping I might have something in that neighborhood, I dug through the fridge.

"Yeah, no."

I'd always figured buying kimbap was way more economical than making it at home, and I didn't like inari sushi enough to bother assembling it myself, so finding either in there would've actually been the weird outcome. Would just buying kimbap and packing it into a lunchbox still count?

Come to think of it, there'd been that quest about getting Eunchae to call me cool — I'd just asked her to say it, and it completed. If the system was that generous, store-bought would probably still qualify as a lunchbox.

"...Still. It's our first outing."

These days you could get groceries delivered in under an hour no matter how late you ordered, and we were meeting in front of the subway station near my place anyway. I put in a rush order for an inari sushi and kimbap set.

"What am I even doing first thing in the morning..."

At least I'd been smart enough to get up early. I waited and waited for the delivery to arrive, filling the time by showering and pulling out a few different outfits to try on — a restless little performance of just how excited I was.

"Dohyun's running a little late."

Dayeon, who usually lived in whatever was comfortable enough to stream in, had clearly put real effort into her clothes today. A white sleeveless top under a pale pink jacket, skinny jeans that hugged her legs, and beige heels — a feminine look that suited the spring air perfectly.

"Yeah. Think something happened?"

Where Dayeon leaned feminine, Eunchae had always preferred cute, and the difference in their outfits could not have been more obvious. A pink choker sat at her throat above a white collared shirt, the wide collar framing a pink heart and a little pink ribbon planted right in the center — accents that pushed the cuteness as far as it would go. A pink skirt in the same ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠accent color and a pair of pink sneakers finished it off. Anyone looking at her would have said the same thing: here was a girl on her way to a spring outing.

"Well, I'm sure he has a reason. Anyway, our Eunchae is looking adorable today."

"I went all out today! Not that I could ever compete with you no matter how hard I try, unnie."

"Hmm? What are you talking about. I think our Eunchae might be the prettiest girl in the world today."

They made no effort to hide the shameless, doting compliments they kept pouring on each other, and a warm little atmosphere had settled between them when—

"Aagh, I'm so sorry..!"

Dohyun finally came into view, tearing toward them in a breathless rush. He had dressed up too, clearly just as excited about the day as they were, and Dayeon and Eunchae both felt their hearts give an involuntary little kick at the sight of him.

"I lost track of time packing us lunchboxes. I'm really sorry..!"

He skidded to a stop in front of them, still panting, and launched into an explanation about the lunchboxes — and neither of them could hide how startled they were.

"Lunchboxes? Wait, you packed them yourself?"

Dayeon's eyes went wide.

"Uh, yeah. We could've just bought something tastier, but, you know. It's an outing."

The truth was he'd packed them because of the quest, but it wasn't as if he could say that out loud — and even if he could have, Dohyun wasn't so tone-deaf that he'd wreck the mood on purpose.

"Oh my god, I'm so touched. What even..."

Eunchae looked genuinely moved as she hooked her arm through his.

"Haha, well. Late is late, so let's get going."

They'd agreed to meet early because Dayeon had a stream in the afternoon. Running this late, Dohyun couldn't stop looking apologetic.

"You even packed us lunchboxes. Of course you might run a little late. It's fine, it's fine."

Dayeon patted his back with a smile, telling him without words to drop the guilty face. Then she made a small, restless motion that said she wanted his other arm for herself — before thinking better of it and stepping around to Eunchae's side instead, linking arms there.

"Alright, let's go!"

No matter how she felt, she was a streamer people might recognize out in public, and she and Dohyun weren't officially anything. Hooking her arm through his could easily become a problem.

"Maybe we should've taken a car."

The subway was packed with people who were, by the look of them, all heading out for the same kind of beautiful-weather outing.

"Yeah. It's pretty packed."

Dohyun agreed, then shifted into something like a defensive stance, angling his body so the two of them would have even a little more room to stand comfortably, every ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nerve on alert.

"Dohyun, you don't have to push yourself that hard."

Eunchae, who had ended up almost nestled against his chest, gave the hem of his shirt a light tug and whispered up at him from below.

"Please, this is nothing."

He said it, but the strain was real. Standing guard over someone like this took more strength than he'd expected — he was feeling that in a whole new way.

"Eunchae's so small she ended up practically tucked between us."

Wedged into the space between Dayeon on the inside and Dohyun on the outside, Eunchae couldn't help feeling completely protected.

"But if Dohyun gets shoved now, we'll all get squished together. Heheh."

"You'd get completely flattened, that's for sure."

Eunchae was giggling like the idea of being crushed was the funniest thing in the world, and Dohyun laughed as he answered her.

The two of them really do look beautiful.

Dayeon had been told they were partners, not a couple — but even knowing that, the picture they made was so pretty it made her chest ache.

Could I ever be like that too?

She was so much more careful than Eunchae, and there was so much more she had to watch out for. The constraints were real. They were real right now.

"Wait, is that Lee Dayeon?"

"Holy crap, I think it is. Who's the guy?"

"Are those two on a date?"

"No, no — there's someone else in the middle."

Every whispered word from the people who seemed to recognize her carried straight to her ears, and there was no way she could just tune it out.

...I'm not even a million-subscriber YouTuber. Why does everyone keep recognizing me?

It had never bothered her before. Right now, it did.

...No. I should be grateful they know who I am.

The thought felt almost blasphemous. Dayeon gave her head a sharp little shake, trying to put her mind back in order.

"Noona, what's wrong?"

Dohyun's eyes went round as he asked.

"Ah — nothing. Just, haha."

She let out an awkward little laugh and let it slide.

"Hey, unnie. Could you maybe take the rest of today off streaming?"

"Huh? Where did that come from?"

"We all came out together like this. It'd be such a waste to head back early."

Dayeon started to hesitate. Yesterday she had been dead set on wrapping the outing up early and getting on stream — but she knew as well as anyone that once things got busy again, a day like this, with all of them out together, would be hard to come by.

"Right, Dohyun? You want to stay out with unnie longer too, don't you?"

Eunchae turned a sparkling look on him, all but demanding ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he back her up.

"Yeah, well. If noona's okay with it, I'd like that."

Dohyun nodded along easily, falling in on Eunchae's side.

"Ugh, now Dohyun's saying it too?"

Dayeon's face grew even more conflicted. It wasn't as if she'd never taken consecutive days off stream before — but she hadn't done it in a while, and the thought of people calling her lazy nipped at her.

"I feel like the viewers would hate that."

"Come on. If you tell them you just want to have a little fun today, they'll all tell you to go enjoy yourself."

"A lot of people have been worried you haven't been resting enough lately. I think they'd actually tell you to take a real break and go have a good time."

The truth was, Eunchae and Dohyun had a better read on the audience than Dayeon did. Before they were her editor and her thumbnail artist, they had been her viewers.

"Mmm... then... maybe we should...?"

In the end she gave in, putting on a show of being talked into it — and Dohyun and Eunchae lit up so hard they shouted before they could stop themselves.

"Yes!"

"Hell yeah!"

"Hey — kids. Quiet..! We're on the subway..!"

A startled Dayeon hushed them both. They glanced around, mumbled a small apology, and clapped their mouths shut.