Chapter 65: Gumiho
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 65: Gumiho
[Shabba-doobee-dooba~ Doobee-doobee-doobee-doobee-doobee-doobee doobee-dooba~]
Her spiky pink hair, sticking up like a little stem, swayed back and forth.
A hairstyle impossible in real life.
But here, inside the metaverse world of a 2D monitor, nothing was impossible.
[No way. Luka unnie, what are you doing? Hehehehehehe.]
Fumurin burst out laughing at the sight of Doah completely lost in the song.
[You guys aren't swinging at all.]
Luka, who was doing an impression, raised her cute little index finger and wagged it from side to side.
[That's why you have to re-record your parts too, Murin.]
[Hey! You got rejected too, unnie, so why are you only picking on me!]
Her cry, full of indignation, filled the Pink Army's chat with laughter.
[Ah, there's Luka's classic deflection, right?]
[Look at Luka teasing her members now that she's gotten closer to them.]
[LMAO someone clip this pls.]
[cuteee]
As always, I was sitting in front of my monitor, and a smile naturally formed on my lips.
Ah, she's so damn cute.
I could feel the quality of their collab streams improving over time.
Compared to the first week when they were awkward and used formal speech with each other, they now felt like a group of really close friends.
Luka had the best chemistry with Clover and Fumurin.
She'd always had good chemistry with Clover, even before CLOSER's debut, and her recent witty banter with Fumurin was just delicious.
Their back-and-forth, which sometimes teetered on the edge, was thrilling for viewers to watch.
It seemed they even got scolded by their YM manager when they exchanged jokes that made you wonder if they were really idols.
From what I could see, Doah still seemed to find Jennifer a bit difficult to deal with.
Just watching their streams, I got the feeling their vibes might not match.
Jennifer's streams had a lot of foreign viewers and were full of extremely high-energy social butterflies, whereas Luka's channel had a vibe that was more for the domestic, introverted otaku audience.
The ultimate example of a member she didn't have chemistry with was, of course, Leah.
I hadn't watched her solo streams, but from what I saw on Luka's screen, Leah was just too quiet.
Like a character with a calm, lady-like concept?
She was a character who seemed like she'd genuinely popped out of a manga.
I heard that because she was much less reactive than the other members, clips of Leah smiling were incredibly popular and got a ton of views.
When it was just the two of them, Luka looked like she was dying of awkwardness...
It was a bit of a malicious thought, but my honest feeling was that I hoped they wouldn't get much closer in the future.
It was because Luka looked so cute sweating nervously, struggling to talk to Leah.
[Alright, members of CLOSER! The content we'll be doing today is the One Voice Game!]
At the host's call, the CLOSER members all rushed to sit at their desks.
[You all know what the One Voice Game is, right?]
[Yes!]
It was a very famous game with simple rules.
It was a game where you just had to pick the one you preferred out of two choices.
[I'll call out the options, and you'll have five seconds to write down your answer and hold it up. Got it?]
[Okay~]
Luka, still seated, whispered to the Pink Army.
[You guys should play along with me. I'm curious how many in the Pink Army will get all the same answers as me.]
The Pink Army spammed emotes of signs with circles, signifying their agreement.
[Alright! Let's get started! Shall we see how in sync our CLOSER members are? Let's have the first question~ Please!]
Inside the large monitor on screen, the display split exactly in half to show the options.
[Jjamppong! Or Jajangmyeon!]
[5. 4. 3. 2. 1!]
[Please show your answers!]
The Pink Army was the type to participate enthusiastically in things like this, so everyone eagerly shared their opinions.
[Jjamppong!]
[JJ]
[Jjamppong!]
[Jajangmyeon, large size, no question!]
Everyone was typing their answers in the chat, but I was different today.
I picked up a pencil and wrote my answer on a piece of paper.
The reason was simple. I wanted to take a picture of it later and brag to Doah about how many we got right after her stream ended.
Anyway, Jajangmyeon or Jjamppong...
It really depends on what I'm craving that day.
I decided to just go with the one I ate most recently and wrote down "Jajang."
And then, the answers were revealed!
[Jajang! Jajang! Jjamppong! Jajang! And Jjamppong! Ah... you're already out of sync right from the start, aren't you?]
You could see the CLOSER members' tastes were clearly divided.
I thought it was a topic that could easily cause that, though.
And my girlfriend had written down Jjamppong.
[What! Isn't it obviously Jjamppong?]
Luka demanded.
[Luka... Jajang is the foundation... when you go to a Chinese restaurant.]
Clover shook her head.
[What are you talking about! The reason it's called Jjamjjamyeon and not Jajjamyeon is because Jjamppong is more fundamental!]
The viewers could only laugh at Luka's absurd logic.
[Isn't that just because the pronunciation overlaps with Jajangmyeon?]
[I'm telling you, it's not! Hmph... You people have no taste.]
After a short back-and-forth, the next question followed.
[The next choice is~]
Oh, this one's a bit tough, too.
[Dogs versus cats. What's your choice?]
I wrote down "cat."
I'd wanted to raise a cat since I was little, so there was no hesitation.
[Reveal your answers!]
[Dog! Dog! Dog! Dog! And cat! Ah, that's too bad, Leah-ssi. You were the only one to choose cat. Could you tell us why?]
Leah's avatar glanced to the side, looking at the other members, before answering with a prim expression.
[...Because they're cute.]
Hmm... I think I can kind of understand why she has so many fans.
Leah's viewers were probably dying from the cuteness right now.
[Hahaha~ Cats are certainly cute! Let's go right to the next one!]
One, two, three, four... fifteen.
Counting the answers I'd written down, I realized we'd already reached the last question.
Man, we're not matching at all...
We'd only chosen the same answer twice, so I was embarrassed to even think about showing this to Doah.
Are we surprisingly incompatible?
Getting them wrong over and over didn't feel great.
[Alright, that's all for the officially prepared questions. As a special event, we'll do one more encore question just for fun!]
It seemed they had a little time left, so the host threw in an extra question.
[This is just for fun, so don't feel any pressure and please answer comfortably.]
I wondered what kind of question they were about to ask.
[In the future, I would want my spouse to be an otaku! Please answer honestly with O or X!]
Ah, so that's why they said it was just for fun.
If they took this seriously, some fans would probably cough up blood.
It was hard to think of it as controversial, but there are always people who will nitpick strange things.
[O! O! X! X! O!]
So three are okay with it, and two aren't.
[It seems many of you are curious about the reasons. First, Jennifer-ssi, why did you choose O?]
[I have way too much merch at home, and I don't think I could ever throw it away.]
The blonde-haired avatar smiled brightly.
I let out a small laugh at the unexpected answer.
True. If your partner didn't share the same hobby, they'd probably pressure you to throw a lot of it away.
[Then, this time, Fumurin-ssi, who chose X. Why did you say no?]
[Ah, for me, when I get deep into something, I can't control myself, so I think it'd be good to have someone next to me who can stop me.]
[Back to an O, Leah-ssi! Could you give us a brief, one-line explanation?]
[Because I like that kind of stuff.]
[Clover-ssi, I thought you'd choose O, so this is a bit of a surprise. You don't want an otaku husband?]
[Ah... for me...]
Clover's laugh was tinged with embarrassment.
[If they know too much about this subculture, I feel like they'd constantly be giving me unsolicited advice about my work?]
...My body flinched.
Of course, she wasn't aiming her words at me, but the effect was devastating.
N-No way Doah thinks that way too, right? We started dating after I told her, so I should be safe, right?
[Aha. Right, there are a lot of stories like that. That people in the same industry fight a lot because they know each other's work too well. That's a very common tale.]
[And finally, Luka-ssi, you chose O. What's your reason?]
[Um... well, actually.]
Luka's light pink eyes zoomed in on the screen.
[Before, I used to think, 'An otaku husband... isn't that a bit much?' To be honest.]
[But my thinking has changed a bit recently.]
[You know? The whole situation of having to ask the person I like to understand my hobbies.]
She was different from the real-life Doah I talked to at school.
Her clear, articulate voice was filled with confidence.
She really felt like an idol competing on the Golden Bell quiz show.
[So I want to meet someone who can like the things I like, together with me.]
At the same time, her avatar's cheeks blushed red.
Knowing who that last comment was for, my heart couldn't take it.
Ah. Kim Doah, you... seriously.
Doah must have been a gumiho in a past life.