Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: Falling Asleep Under the Same Blanket with a Friend for the First Time!
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Uwuu, I ended up crying again today.
I'd sworn to myself that I absolutely wouldn't cry this time.
I'm so embarrassed. I want to hide somewhere.
This is all the fault of those evil developers who slapped Chapter 2 onto it.
If it'd just been Chapter 1, it probably would've ended on a tame note.
But nooo, they had to go and add Chapter 2... And right when you think it's over at the end, that boss comes charging in so terrifyingly—who wouldn't jump?
"Lulu-chan, you feeling a bit calmer now?"
"Y-yeah. Sorry... Cherries, sorry about that."
"Nah, it's fine. If anything, it's our fault for pushing you into it."
What do you mean innocent, you naughty Cherries.
Okay, fine, Yuna was the one who suggested it.
But who was it that chimed in with "Horror game! Horror game!" like it was the best idea ever?
"Anyway, now that the horror game's done, wanna do a quick low-chat and call it? You look wiped out for more streaming, Lulu-chan."
"Y-yeah, think that's best."
Anyway, once the tears dried up and my emotions settled,
we prepped to end the stream while doing a bit of low-key chat.
Come to think of it, I'd never done a collab just the two of us with Yuna.
The one and only time was with Line-chan—er, Verdi.
So chatting casually while reading messages together like this felt super fresh.
"First impressions? Hmm, not sure. What about you, Lulu-chan?"
"At first, it wasn't overwhelming or anything, but I was a little thrown off. Yuki-chan came right up like, 'We're friends, right? Let's drop the formalities!' with zero distance."
In a way, finding out we're the same age might be like taking the red pill, but since I'm the only one in Blue LUV who drops formal speech with Yuna, the Cherries probably already know we're actually same-age and don't mind.
The President even said from the start it was her mistake not mentioning it,
and now it's too late to change, so just ignore it.
"Ehehe, yeah, that happened."
Yep, yep, totally the same.
Everyone else has a bit of a gap between their stream and real selves,
but Yuna? Identical. For real.
That's why meeting the real Yuna—not Yuki—felt the least weird at first.
How to put it...
It was like she just took off the avatar skin, and the Yuki-chan I knew had descended into reality.
"For me, it was kinda surprising. You're more relaxed on stream, but IRL you're even shyer. Especially at first—you were super standoffish."
"W-was I that bad?"
"You were! Even when we gathered all the members to chat, the President had to go, 'Lulu, it's fine, just say something.'"
"R-right... Yeah."
Quiet, you noisy bunch.
You tease me all the time and pull your evil stunts like it's breakfast.
Of course I had to toughen up. You're the monsters you created, hmph.
"Honestly, at first I wondered, 'Can she really handle streaming?' But that changed on our first practice stream."
"Practice stream?"
"Yeah, that one where the President had us test in order. I went first, and you played the viewer role."
"Oh...!"
Right, right. That's how it went.
But was there anything special that day?
It felt pretty straightforward...
"Thinking back, it's hilarious. I started the stream and greeted, then boom—Lulu-chan goes feral."
"F-feral...?!"
W-was I?
I just typed normal chat...?!
"Normally, playing viewer means casual back-and-forth, right? But you drop a novel-length 'Yukiko-nim is so cute!' gushing praise that was straight-up embarrassing."
"President was watching from the next room, got startled, burst in slamming the door, and scolded, 'Lulu!'"
Uwuu, but I couldn't help it.
It'd been ages since I'd seen Yuki-chan.
And thinking it was her first stream? I had so much I wanted to say, tons of praise.
I even held back, though...
"Anyway, watching you since then has been amazing. I like the members too, but seeing you prioritize them over yourself like that? I was like, 'How?!'"
"Ehehehe..."
Hearing praise right to my face made me shy,
so I scratched my cheek and looked away without thinking.
Still, Yuna saying this meant my love for the members was getting through. Made me so happy.
"So watching you feels like having a friend who's also a mentor with tons to learn from."
"Watching you makes me wanna be as upbeat and vitamin-like as you."
"Really?! That's touching, Lulu-chan...!"
"Hehe, same here."
*Hug!*
Hugging and rocking Yuna as she lunges in warms my heart.
In that cozy atmosphere, we got ready to end the stream...
"Alright, to the bed we go!"
"Eh? B-bed?"
"Lulu-chan, horror games leave you too scared to sleep alone, right? I'll sleep with you tonight—special service!"
"W-wait! Yukiii~?!"
...not even close—Yuna scooped me up outta nowhere and hauled me to bed, so cleanup took forever before we could finally end.
Meanwhile, she—the one carrying me—worried, "Lulu-chan, aren't you too light? How are you this skinny?" Total secret.
After showers, Yuna and I spread blankets in the living room and lay down together.
My room has a bed, but we put that on hold for tonight.
To capture that school trip vibe, sleeping here it was.
Not that I've ever been on one, so I wouldn't know the feeling.
"Sorry for pushing you too hard today, Da-jeong. Must've been scary, huh?"
Can't sleep yet?
Yuna lay head-to-head with me, staring at the ceiling as she spoke.
Her moist voice blending into the night air sounded so nice.
"Nuh-uh, it's okay. Having you there made it less scary."
"Liar. You bawled at the end."
"Uwuu... Th-that was just the shock."
"Hehe, got it. Won't tease."
*Pat pat*
Feeling bad for bringing up my dark history again,
Yuna stroked my hair with audible swishes, grinning mischievously.
We're same-age, but it felt like little-sis treatment—kinda embarrassing.
Feels good though, so mum's the word.
"Th-thanks for sleeping together anyway, Yuna. Truth is, during the horror game I was already stressing about tonight..."
"Psh, what thanks between friends."
"Fr-friends... Yeah...? Hehe."
Thinking about it, Yuna's the only same-age friend I've ever had.
"Friend" makes my heart flutter weirdly.
We started more like business acquaintances,
but getting closer with members—and Yuna too.
Collabs helped open up more.
Now we're true besties, I dared to think.
Of course, Yuna has tons of friends.
Maybe she sees me as just Friend #1, not bestie... Ow?!
"Y-Yuna, why'd you hit me...?"
"Felt like you were thinking something bad."
"Suddenly...?!"
"Yup. Your eyes go like this when you're scheming. Didn't know?"
She tugged her lower eyelids down,
mouth in a dopey inverted triangle, mimicking me.
D-did I look like that?
And with the lights off, she caught it? Sharp eyes, Yuna.
"N-no bad thoughts. Just... You're my first friend ever, but you have so many..."
"So you think you're not special?"
"Y-yeah, a little...?"
"That's a bad thought! C'mere!"
"Eek?! S-sorrryyy~!"
I tried defending myself, sorta,
but she got more annoyed and tackled me.
Blankets flew everywhere as we wrestled inside for ages.
Well, "wrestled" is generous—I got one-sidedly wrecked.
Learned tonight she's stronger than she looks.
"Da-jeong, y'know what?"
"Wh-what...?"
Once we calmed a bit,
Yuna dropped a random zen question.
"This is my first time sleeping under the same blanket with a friend? Slept over at friends' before, but always separate."
"Eh? R-really...?!"
"Yup."
The fact she shared was pretty surprising.
Don't girls usually share blankets at sleepovers?
Pretty sure I've heard that somewhere.
But social butterfly Yuna never has?
Blinking in curiosity, she smiled at me and spoke.
"Truth is, I make friends easy... but there's always this last mental barrier."
"Barrier?"
"Yeah. Makes letting anyone past a point feel iffy. Probably shows in that."
"I see..."
So sharing a blanket holds big meaning for her.
Means she's ready to bare it all to this person.
Being her first? Felt incredibly special.
"So you're super precious to me too, Da-jeong. BFF, bestie. Not just Friend #1—specifically Jeong Da-jeong. Got it?"
"Y-yeah."
Her making me realize my place in her heart moved me quietly; I nodded.
I see.
I'm super precious to Yuna too.
She's my only friend, so of course she's precious—but with all her friends, I'm the special one? Joyful and wondrous.
*Hug!*
"Hehe, thanks, Yuna. You're my best friend ever."
"...Ugh, can't hold back!"
I hugged her back, grinning like an idiot in joy.
Yuna flung her arms wide and smother-tackled me.
Caught off-guard, I yelped "Kyaa!" but soon tangled up giggling, playing around.
Maybe this is the school trip vibe she mentioned.
Never experienced it, but...
Yeah, definitely fun.
That thought crossed my mind on this night.