Chapter 50: The Reason Behind His Kindness
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 50: The Reason Behind His Kindness
I was folding the paper bag that had held the porridge, getting ready to take it home.
-Bzzzzzt
My phone vibrated.
Seeing it was Minji, I put the phone to my ear.
[Hello?]
[Yeah? What's up?]
[Doah! You're in Advertising Management, right!]
[Yeah.]
Her voice sounded so urgent, I wondered what was wrong.
[Did you turn in your mid-term report?]
[I did. Wasn't it due today?]
Since I planned on hanging out with Oppa today, I'd finished and submitted it yesterday before my stream.
[Where did you submit it?]
Where? Well...
[To the professor's email, right?]
I remembered him writing the address on the board last week, telling us to email it.
[Dude, it changed. You didn't see the notification on the school website either, huh.]
[What?]
[Ugh, some friends just told me. I can't believe this, it's so ridiculous.]
I had no idea what she was talking about, but if there was something to fix, I had to do it now.
[So where do I have to submit it now? And what's the deadline?]
[There's an assignment submission section on our online class page. You have to upload it there.]
[Ah, what the hell. Seriously.]
Annoying.
It was so damn annoying.
Couldn't they have at least told us during the last class before exams?
The system was a complete mess, and I could feel a deep rage bubbling up inside me.
After checking the official school app and finding the notice buried in some corner, I seriously wanted to bomb the professor's evaluation with one-star reviews.
Who even posts a notice like that?
[And the deadline is ridiculous, it says there are only 15 minutes left. Hurry up and upload it!]
[Okay, okay. Thanks so much, Minji. Thank you!]
After hanging up, I thought I should rush home and re-upload it, but...
A thought struck me just as I grabbed the doorknob.
...Did Oppa submit his correctly?
If Minji and I didn't know, there was a high chance Oppa had made the same mistake.
I was about to unlock the door, but I cursed 'fuck' under my breath and sat back down in Oppa's computer chair.
I pressed the power button.
“Oppa.”
Taemin Oppa was sleeping as if he'd passed out.
Ah... what should I do...
Being sick is one thing, but this is another.
I felt bad for waking him, but I had no choice.
“Oppa! Oppa!”
When he didn't respond to a gentle shake, I grabbed his shoulders and shook him a little more forcefully.
“The Advertising Management! Report! You have to send it again!”
His eyes were half-closed.
Oppa shook his head.
“No... I already sent it...”
“No! That's not it! You're not supposed to email it to the professor! You have to submit it on the school page!”
Maybe it was the medicine, but Oppa couldn't seem to come to his senses.
“No, Doah... why haven't you gone home...”
I can't go because I'm worried your report will be screwed up, you dummy!
“Oppa, get up.”
I grabbed both his arms and pulled with all my might, and he staggered out of bed.
“Sit here.”
After finally succeeding in planting the corpse in front of the computer, I opened an internet browser and pulled up the school page.
“Log in here.”
As soon as I sat him down, he started dozing off in the chair.
Aish... seriously... I have to do mine too...
Still, when I clicked the login button, his ID and password were saved, so I could get in right away.
Good. This way, I can just submit it for him.
“Oppa.”
“...Yeah?”
“I'll do this for you. Go back to sleep.”
“...Okay.”
After delivering Oppa back to his bed, I clicked the file upload button.
The title for the document submission was fixed anyway, so finding the file wasn't that hard.
“Advertising Management Mid-term Report... Han Taemin...”
Nice. It popped right up.
After successfully uploading the file, I quickly pressed the logout button and tried to log into my own account.
First, go to my email, download the file... then upload it here again...
Somehow, I managed to finish submitting mine as well and let out a deep sigh.
Ah... that professor is a son of a bitch... seriously...
Ugh...
I should send Minji a coffee gift card or something.
If she hadn't called, I would've been completely clueless, probably saying, "Huh...? But I submitted it...?" in the next class.
Just thinking about it made me feel so wronged I could die.
Haa... I decided to just turn off the computer and leave, and grabbed the mouse.
It was the moment I was about to close the browser after logging out.
[Luka (Ruka025)'s stream...]
...What's this.
The mouse, heading for the top bar to click the X, froze.
A page name that was all too familiar.
There was no way I wouldn't recognize it.
It's like not recognizing your own home address.
But the important thing was that the space where I was using this computer was not my house.
Just as I, having discovered my other name in Oppa's bookmarks tab, was about to click it.
“Doah.”
“...Yes?”
I was so startled I thought I'd stop breathing.
When I turned to look behind me, Taemin Oppa was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at me with drowsy eyes.
“What was that about?”
“Huh?”
“Ah. I was so out of it from sleeping, I don't think I heard you properly.”
As if he'd finally woken up, Oppa got up and stood behind me.
“It looked like you were on the school page just now.”
“Ah... yes... that... um... the professor gave the wrong instructions...”
When I explained the whole story, Oppa had a reaction similar to mine.
“Wow... that professor is hopeless...”
“I know, right? It seems like a lot of students only found out today.”
“Still, I'm so glad you were here.”
Oppa gave me a pleasant smile, but my movements were stiff and awkward, like a broken doll.
“Haha... yes... Oppa. Well, I'll get going now.”
“Thanks, Doah.”
“It's nothing. You should rest now, Oppa. Sorry for waking you.”
“Don't be. If you hadn't done it, I might have gotten a zero.”
“Don't see me out, just rest.”
“Okay. Sorry about today, and let's definitely go somewhere nice next time.”
I fled from Oppa's house as if I were escaping.
*
...He must have known.
Otherwise, the story just didn't make sense.
It wasn't until the crack of dawn that I finally understood the reason for all the kindness Oppa had shown me.
Oppa knew everything.
That I was Luka.
That I was some cringey otaku virtual streamer who likes anime.
Then does that mean he also knew I ditched him to stream yesterday?
“Ha.”
I looked so pathetic that a dry laugh escaped my lips.
Just because I felt like such an idiot.
How pathetic must I have looked in his eyes?
The feeling that every moment I spent with Oppa, all those times that made my heart pound, had been negated was truly...
The worst.
Of course, there was a chance this wasn't true.
Maybe Oppa was just a genuine fan of the VTuber Luka, and he didn't think Kim Doah was the same person.
But that felt like a biased interpretation, just wishful thinking on my part.
Oppa's not an idiot.
At the very least, if he'd seen yesterday's birthday stream, there's no way he wouldn't have realized it was me.
Even lying in bed, I couldn't sleep.
What should I do?
Should I just pretend I don't know?
Should I just meet him again with a smile, as if nothing happened?
No. I don't think I can do that.
I just didn't have the confidence to keep seeing him while harboring this anxiety.
But to just come out and ask him, "Oppa, are you seeing me because I'm Luka?"...
That's too scary.
What if he says yes?
What if he says he just wanted to mess around with some girl who's a VTuber?
Honestly, with his looks, it wouldn't even feel that strange if he said something like that.
My mind was a mess, and I couldn't fall asleep...
-Bzzzzzt
My phone vibrated, and I fumbled for it beside my pillow.
Who could it be at this hour?
[Doah. Today I was really so... -Han Taemin]
It didn't seem like it would be anything bad, but I was afraid to open it.
Because if I read it, I'd feel like I had to reply.
Still, I was curious about the contents, so I used a little trick.
[Activate Airplane Mode?]
I pressed 'Confirm' and opened the messenger app.
The little yellow number didn't disappear.
I slowly read through Oppa's rather long message.
[Doah. I was so, so sorry about today.]
[It was your birthday, so I wanted to take you somewhere nice and have a good time, but as you saw, I was in no condition to do anything ㅠㅠ]
[You came all the way over, and I couldn't even treat you right, just lying there like a bum. When I came to my senses, I felt so embarrassed.]
[And I checked on the exam thing—if it weren't for you, I would've been in huge trouble.]
[A bunch of my friends got screwed over too. They're all freaking out in their group chat, saying they're going to complain.]
[There are kids threatening to report the professor to the school if he grades based on that, so maybe something will be done?]
[Anyway, that's that. To make up for you buying me porridge today, I'll buy you a meal next time!]
[I ate it and went to sleep, and I feel a lot more human now! ㅎㅎ]
[See you Monday morning on the way to school!]
[Thank you so much for today!]
A puppy emoji ran toward me, a heart in its mouth.
Ah. What do I do.
Is there no return policy for love?