Chapter 13
“Hehe... Hehehe...”
Was my brain broken or something? Giggles kept leaking out of my mouth in little bursts.
I stared into the private message window, feeling my facial muscles dancing with delight.
A gift. I got a gift.
Of course, if you added up all the donations I'd sent Luca, it was well over 500,000 won, but I'd never imagined a day would come when she would send me something.
This wasn't the time to space out. I needed to reply quick...
Not too cold, but not overly burdensome either. I didn't want to just fire off curt one-word answers like before.
And hey, she'd even sent a gift today.
Sssp... Too uncle-like?
I kinda agreed with the idea that everyone turns into an uncle after military service.
I hammered the backspace key and tried my thumb again.
This felt too wordy and hesitant...
After agonizing over it, I decided on a single concise line.
This seemed decent. Not rude, and it showed I cared.
Then pass for sure! Lukaland! Pass and come back in glory!
But that was just a silent cheer in my head. I sent a thumbs-up emoji and closed the messenger.
“Hoo...”
Luca's recent stream kept flashing in my mind. My favorite, cracking up and bantering with viewers.
And now I was exchanging private messages with her. For real? This had to be real life.
“Hehe...”
Ah. Thank God I was home alone. No way I wanted anyone seeing this doofus grin on my face.
I still had some PT to wrap up, but strangely, energy was surging through me.
A little secret between Doa and me, unknown to the world. That secret became the fuel to conquer this long night.
Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep.
I fumbled to silence the alarm and grabbed my phone, eyes barely open.
“Gone...”
Still nothing. Not yesterday, not the day before, not even this morning.
Luca's channel, stripped of her warmth. She wasn't the only one like me, scouring for traces—her fellow pingtuk fans were out there too.
The final hurdle for the virtual idol group Closer was announced as private. They said it was to handle real-life issues about whether they could actually debut and keep up activities, but leaving the results date unconfirmed was too much.
I just wished Luca would post even a quick update, but it had been about a week since Thursday, and here we were on Wednesday with nothing but radio silence in her notices.
“...Kim Doa.”
I breathed deeply from my core, murmuring her real name, then checked the group chat from yesterday.
Minji and Junseok seemed understanding despite the hassle.
Ah, but Junseok might straight-up call her out next time...
People who kept their grades up were always grinding projects sincerely, so it was fair.
I wondered if she'd actually keep up with the schedule once filming started... If Luca skipped streams for crap like this...
Yeah, on days she had streams scheduled, I'd probably block my own schedule too.
No, forget that—why was she replying in group chat like crazy but ignoring her notices? Why not post something! Lukaland! Can't you see your pingtuks shivering out here?
It was a weird feeling. Why did it bug me so much that she was pouring energy into her real life, which directly affected me?
Screw it, I just wanted her to go live. And the audition results—dying to know. Did you pass? Fail? What'd the company say?
A million questions bubbled up, but this wasn't stuff to text about. I'd ask in chat next stream.
I dragged myself out of bed, splashed water on my face, and showered quick.
Clothes... Normally I'd grab whatever and head to school, but thinking about seeing Luca made me rummage through the closet.
Hmm. Nothing special.
Most of my spending went to games and stream donations anyway. Stuck at home, no point in fancy clothes.
I'd never dolled up to impress anyone.
The clean semi-formal suit I wore for presentations was the rarest item in there.
After a moment's thought, I threw on a black tee with a denim jacket. Black slacks—standard issue.
In the mirror, I fiddled with my hair. Looked okay-ish...
Eh, whatever. Not like I was trying to woo Doa or anything. Mild regret hit me for caring this much.
Stepping out, the autumn breeze felt perfect—not too chilly.
Man, ideal weather for open windows and a stream. Six crisp hours would hit just right.
At the lecture hall door, I swallowed hard.
Every class with Doa felt like a fan meet to me.
“Taemin oppa!”
Minji, sitting alone, spotted me and waved.
“Hey. Hi.”
“You worked so hard last week!”
“Nah, it was nothing.”
“I was kinda shocked? You were super passionate out of nowhere.”
Well... Luca's gotta debut...
No thirst for grades, but desperation for her success. I nodded awkwardly.
Chatting more with Minji felt heavy, right as—
“Oh? Doa hi!”
Minji turned; there was Doa in a beige trench coat.
“Hey. Hi. Hello.”
She bowed politely my way. I dipped my head back.
Minji on the left. Doa on the right.
Normally I'd cringe at girls and hide in a corner, but Luca was turning me into a stronger guy all around.
“Oh. Everyone's here?”
Junseok arrived last, plunking his bag on the desk.
“Hey. You brought the laptop, right?”
“Duh. I always carry this thing.”
He'd been laptop duty since day one—not that we forced him; he volunteered, so I never bothered.
“Let's begin class.”
Prof came in; like last week, we got project review time.
“This...”
Prof scrutinized our ad plan, stroking his chin.
“Like I said in feedback last time, this doesn't seem like an easy area to tackle.”
“Metaverse. VR. I get it's hot right now, but building an ad strategy around it for real? Not simple.”
“Anyone here actually tried VR? Or has it as a hobby?”
My gaze instinctively flicked to Doa. She averted hers, pretending not to hear.
“If you pull it off, it'll be fresh and innovative. Botch it, and it'll be half-assed nowhere territory.”
In short, big reward if done right.
“We can make it super original! We'll do our best!”
Junseok's grade-lust burned in his eyes.
“If you're set on it, I won't stop you.”
“But study up more on VR itself, deep-dive target audience analysis. And actually go to a VR arcade, hands-on experience—that'd mean something.”
“Anyway, next week, bring deeper analysis data. If you've tried it, share that too.”
“Yes!”
Prof moved to the next group; Junseok spoke up.
“Guys.”
“Yeah?”
“Clear some time.”
His eyes blazed with academic fire.
“We're hitting up a VR spot.”
“Atchoo!”
The cute sneeze—straight out of her stream—burst from Doa's mouth.