Chapter 121: The Sneeze
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 121: The Sneeze
I think everyone has their own way of marking the passage of time. Back in high school, for me, it was webtoons.
On Mondays, I looked forward to my favorite shounen manga webtoon.
On Tuesdays, it was a martial arts series.
A week would pass in a cycle of waiting for the next release. But now, my week revolved around Luka.
It was the morning after the regular Saturday Closer collab stream.
Waking up this early on a weekend could only mean one thing: I was anxious about something.
I threw off the covers, got up, and immediately checked my phone.
The chaotic messages from my high school friends' group chat were still there.
[No talking about VTubers. No otaku talk. Please, just act like normal human beings.]
Just telling them wouldn't be enough; I knew at least one or two of them would inevitably lose their minds and say something stupid in front of Doah. That's why I'd already bribed them all with ice cream gift cards.
“Haaa...”
Ugh... still, why am I so anxious?
They're human, after all. They wouldn't say anything too weird, right?
A part of me wanted to just cancel the whole thing, but I couldn't bring myself to turn down Doah, who had been so insistent on meeting them.
And to be honest, they were good kids.
They barely drank or smoked.
They didn't have a single delinquent mark on their records.
They were just harmless creatures who holed up in the corners of their rooms, watching whatever anime they were into.
The friends I kept were mostly this type of person.
The plan was just to grab a meal and a cup of coffee, so as long as they watched their mouths, it should be fine.
I’d considered getting drinks, but they didn't really drink anyway, so there was no need.
After showering and drying my hair, I came out to see new notifications on my phone.
One was from Doah, and the other was from the guys' group chat.
I called my girlfriend, who I was supposed to meet soon.
[Hewwo?]
Was she brushing her teeth?
Her muffled voice came through the phone.
[Brushing your teeth?]
[Yeh.]
[Should I hang up?]
To be honest, I didn't really have anything important to say.
[Ehhhh?]
Instead of saying no, Doah just raised her voice in protest.
After the sound of running water, she started speaking clearly again.
[You're up early.]
[We're meeting at one.]
[But didn't you stay up late watching the stream last night?]
Luka's stream had ended at 3 AM, so her assumption wasn't wrong.
[Still, I have to get ready too.]
[Oh, really? For someone who usually just washes his face twenty minutes before leaving to see me.]
There were too many bombshells to drop if I were to explain the source of my anxiety.
[It's a bit far today.]
The place we were meeting my friends was near the neighborhood where we went to the VR Experience Center.
Since we all lived far apart, it seemed best to pick a central spot in the city that was relatively close for everyone.
[I just have to do my makeup. Do you want to come over here, Oppa?]
[No, I still have stuff to do. Let's just meet at the scheduled time.]
[Hmph... okay, then. I have to finish this, so I'll see you later!]
[Yeah. Okay.]
After hanging up, I went into the group chat and made the message I sent yesterday an announcement.
[No talking about VTubers. No otaku talk. Please, just act like normal human beings.]
The yellow number indicating unread messages disappeared, and the chat window was immediately flooded with 'ㅋ's.
[Taemin-kun~ Getting nervous?]
This was Gyuho, who had the most malicious personality of the three I was meeting today.
[Yeah, I'm fucking terrified.]
[LMAO, you should've behaved better then.]
What? What did I ever do wrong?
[If you just keep your mouth shut today, I'll owe you one, for real.]
[Ah... but the fact that your girlfriend doesn't know the real you... it just kills me.]
She knows! She already knows! She knows I'm a die-hard otaku and a member of the Pink Army, so you don't have to say a thing!
[Ah... please... dude...]
[LOL, but you know we can't say much in front of people anyway. I'm the same.]
That was true.
Basically, if I had to point out one characteristic of this group, this den of otakus, it would be our incredibly poor communication skills.
We might look normal on the outside, but we didn't particularly enjoy socializing with others offline.
The term ‘keyboard warrior’ fit us perfectly.
We were a group that preferred darkness over light, 2D over 3D.
[Ah, I can't wait. You just wait, Han Taemin.]
With Seongjin adding fuel to the fire, I sighed, thinking these bastards were a lost cause.
Haaa... this is so hard...
What would be worse? Going on another double date with Fumurin and her boyfriend, or having a meal with Doah and these guys?
Pondering this impossible choice, a true clash of titans, I grabbed my coat and headed out.
*
“Final check.”
In front of me, Doah spun around on one foot.
“Nothing weird, right?”
“I told you, no.”
She did the same thing when we met in front of her place earlier, and now she was asking for confirmation again.
“Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
I reached out to pat her head like I usually do, but Doah stopped my hand.
“You'll mess up my hair.”
“...Aren't you the one putting in too much effort? You're meeting my friends, not me.”
We'd decided to stop picking at things that would only lead to hurtful words, so we just held hands tightly and left the subway station.
“Will everyone be on time?”
“Yeah. They're super punctual.”
They were weirdly well-mannered in that respect, so I wasn't worried about any no-shows.
As we rode the escalator up, I looked around and saw the familiar silhouettes of my friends, glancing over at us furtively.
“Hey!”
I raised my hand to signal them, but they just whispered amongst themselves before bustling over.
“Ah... hello.”
Why is it so fucking annoying when these bastards act shy?
Gyuho, the one who'd declared in the chat that he'd send Han Taemin to his doom, just gave an awkward nod, looking like a guy on a blind date.
“Hello.”
I felt Doah's fingers twitch in my hand.
Seongjin and Hyunsu, also known as the single-brain-cell duo, still hadn't managed to say a word or even greet her properly.
Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore and had to step in.
“Uh... these are my high school friends I told you about. This is Seongjin.”
“Hello.”
Realizing it was his cue, he bowed his head.
“This is Hyunsu.”
“Ah. Taemin told me a lot about you.”
“...About me?”
Doah looked up at me, her pupils shaking.
I quickly shook my head, signaling no.
“Don't talk nonsense, you punk.”
“Ah! I'm Lee Gyuho! Doah-ssi!”
Once Gyuho, the most sociable of the bunch, finished his introduction, we headed into the restaurant I'd picked out.
Haaa... I can't believe I'm at a place like this with these guys.
Still, since I was introducing Doah to my friends, I couldn't take them to a place that was too much of a 'guy's pick,' so we ended up at a Western-style restaurant that served pasta and pizza.
A table where warm sunlight streamed in.
The guys, all sitting together in their black padded jackets.
We'd known each other for years, but we'd never been in a situation like this, so we were all awkward around each other.
Expecting that even choosing from the menu would be a struggle, I averted the crisis by just ordering all of the staff's recommendations.
“Uh... so...”
In MBTI terms, it was a situation with no extroverts.
As the host, I had to get things moving, so I forced a smile through gritted teeth.
“Doah. What do you think of my friends now that you've met them in person?”
You said you were curious, so I brought you here. You can at least answer that, right?
“Ah! You all seem so nice!”
Hey. Isn't that a bit too much like your streamer voice?
When Doah resorted to her usual method of avoiding awkwardness, I was the one who got more nervous.
I'd told her beforehand that my friends knew about Closer and Luka, so I thought there wouldn't be any slip-ups.
But it seemed Doah herself wasn't conscious of it yet.
I had a bad feeling that if she kept that up, things would get dangerous.
My friends weren't the most perceptive, but when it came to otaku culture, their knowledge surpassed even mine.
And I had to protect my girlfriend from them.
“What do you guys think of Doah?”
“I think she's a great match for you, Taemin.”
“Yeah. A perfect couple~ Totally~”
Still, thanks for the empty compliments...
Silence fell again.
Just as I was struggling with the stalled conversation, Gyuho came to the rescue.
“So... how did you two meet?”
“Ah. We...”
This wasn't a big problem either, since Doah and I had already coordinated our story.
The story was that we met during a group project and hit it off.
Seongjin, who had been listening quietly, tilted his head.
“But Han Taemin, what did you like so much about Doah-ssi?”
“...Huh?”
“I mean, based on how you usually act, you seemed like the type who would never date.”
Ah, just let it be. Why are you making a fuss?
“Hey... I'm human, I can change my mind. What's the big deal.”
“I guess... Well, anyway, you two look good together. Poor Luka-tan, though.”
Ah, fuck. I told you not to talk about Luka!
“...Achoo!”
A sneeze escaped Doah's lips.