Chapter 96: It's Doomed...
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 96: It's Doomed...
"Bam ba ba ba ba!"
Doah hummed a beat, her fingers splayed wide.
Was she trying to blow off some steam? Her small hands were furiously tapping away at the rhythm game machine.
I stood behind her, watching blankly.
When the song finally ended, Doah turned her head toward me.
"...Oppa, aren't you going to play?"
"Uh... I'll just watch."
Since we were at the arcade, it would have been nice to do something together, but rhythm games didn't seem like the right choice.
She was a pro.
I was a casual.
I didn't think it was something we could really enjoy together.
"It's okay, you can play on easy mode!"
As if sensing my hesitation, Doah offered again, but my mind was made up.
"No, you go ahead."
If rhythm games and VR games had one thing in common, it was that they looked incredibly ridiculous to an outsider.
The players themselves might be completely absorbed, thinking they look cool and are having fun, but from a distance, it's pure comedy.
And if you were bad at it, you looked even more hilarious.
Doah, who wasn't very big, cleared the next song, her shoulders bouncing with the rhythm.
When an 'S' rank appeared on the final screen, I figured that was good and clapped from behind her.
"You're good!"
"...Are you making fun of me?"
It's an S rank. How is that making fun of me?
"Isn't that good?"
"This is a song I've gotten a full combo on before."
How was I supposed to know that, Luka-nim?
I was willing to wait if she wanted to put in more coins, but Doah said she was done and led me outside.
"You said malatang, right?"
Doah had two requests for our date today: malatang and the arcade.
Starting to feel hungry, I checked the time.
"Yep. Now would be the perfect time to go."
"Do you know a place around here?"
"We have to walk a bit, is that okay?"
A little walking was no problem for me, so I readily accepted.
We left the usual restaurant district and started walking toward a new area.
"...Are you sure there's a restaurant this way?"
It looked like we were in a residential area.
"You know the best places are always hidden away in spots like this," she said.
"Is that so?"
"But this malatang place is actually pretty famous among students from our school."
She looked up at me, puzzled.
"You've never been?"
Hey now, Kim Doah-ssi. Are you doing this on purpose? You know I'm a loner, so why would you ask that?
"...It's too much to eat alone," I said.
When you get used to eating alone, there are certain dishes you naturally start to avoid.
Foods that are typically eaten by two or more people, like malatang or budae-jjigae, were out of the question.
The same went for ordering delivery.
"Do you like it?"
"Hmm... It's okay, I guess?"
The truth was, I'd only had it once, so it was hard to give a proper opinion.
Besides, that one time was in the military with a senior, so I was probably too nervous to even taste it properly.
"I'll make it super delicious for you!"
Smiling brightly, she grabbed my hand and pushed the glass door open with her other.
"Welcome."
Inside the small restaurant, I took off my coat, ready to pick out toppings with Doah.
"Is there anything you don't eat?" she asked, tongs in hand. I scanned the display counter.
"I'm fine with anything that isn't green."
"...Bok choy?"
"Yeah."
Doah's eyebrow twitched.
"But this is delicious!"
Her gesture, like a hamster protecting its food stash, made me burst out laughing.
"Ah, if you want to add it, go ahead. You can just eat it yourself."
"Still, I have to ask in case you have an allergy or something..."
"Are there people with bok choy allergies?"
It seemed possible, but I'd never met anyone with one.
"Okay, then I'll just start grabbing stuff. Let me know if there's anything else you want to add, Oppa."
With that, Doah began busily moving the tongs, piling ingredients into the bowl.
Heaps of bean sprouts and glass noodles.
It looked like way more than we could eat, but Doah assured me it would shrink once it was cooked.
"Ah, this is going to be so good!"
Doah grinned happily before the food had even arrived.
"If you say so, I guess it must be."
"Mhm. This place is amazing, so just trust me and try it."
Maybe because there weren't many customers, the food came out faster than I expected.
A bright red broth served in a black bowl.
It was the color of what I imagined lava in hell would look like.
"Ah."
Doah picked up a piece of meat dripping with broth and held her chopsticks out to my mouth.
It was pretty embarrassing to have other people see this, so I moved as quickly as possible.
Like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
"No one's going to steal it from you. You can eat slowly," she teased.
"Just because."
I mumbled, chewing the meat.
"How is it?"
"It's pretty good."
There was a slightly astringent aftertaste, a numbing sensation on my tongue, but overall, I thought it was excellent.
"Right? The glass noodles and sujebi are delicious too. Hurry up and eat."
We ladled our portions into smaller bowls and started eating in earnest, silent for a while.
"About that double date..." I started.
"Yes?"
The bowl I thought we'd never finish was now nearly empty.
"It's on the 30th, right?"
"That's a Tuesday, so yes."
"Where are we meeting?"
"They suggested meeting near Korea University."
So, right in the city center. A street for young people. A place overflowing with clubs and nightlife. A holy site for all sorts of Instagram photos.
"What are we doing?"
A date is supposed to be about two people in a relationship having a good time. Isn't there a high chance it won't be fun if two strangers tag along? Why do we have to go and create such an awkward situation? Whatever we do, it'll probably be less fun than just the two of us.
"Um... it's not set in stone yet, but they suggested something like an escape room cafe."
"An escape room... hmm..."
It was a place I never thought I'd visit in my entire life.
People usually go in groups, after all.
Besides, I had zero talent for mystery stuff.
The character I always trusted would turn out to be the culprit, while the ones I suspected were always innocent victims.
"...That's okay, right?"
Seeing me silently clutching my spoon, Doah seemed to get worried and studied my expression.
"Ah. Yeah. I already agreed to go."
"That's a relief. Hehe. I'll text Fumurin to set a specific time, then."
"Okay."
Well, at least one of the four of us has to be smart. Of course, watching Luka play games, I knew she wouldn't be a master detective, but maybe the other two would be better. I knew Fumurin was a bit better at games than Luka, at least.
After sending the text, Doah put her phone down on the table and grabbed my hand.
"Let's have a lot of fun that day!"
On the 30th, in front of the Korea University subway station.
The weather was clear.
There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the sunlight was warm, but whenever the wind blew, we had to pull our coats tighter.
"Should I call Fumurin?"
It was a little past our 1 PM meeting time, but the couple was nowhere to be seen.
"Let's give them five more minutes before you call."
Today was a special occasion: Doah had personally picked out my clothes.
Of course, they were all from my own closet, so it wasn't anything wildly different, but I felt more dressed up than usual.
I rarely wore shoes like these loafers.
I was most comfortable in my black sneakers.
Just as Doah pulled out her phone, since they were still nowhere in sight...
"Doah unnie!"
It was a voice I'd unwillingly become familiar with from their collab streams.
Both Doah and I instinctively turned toward the sound.
"Ah~ Sorry~ We're late~~"
CLOSER's youngest member, Fumurin, threw her arms around Doah, whom she was meeting for the first time.
But her appearance was... something else.
Her belly button was just visible inside her open padded jacket.
She wore a black leather skirt above nearly knee-high boots.
She was even quite a bit taller than Doah.
"Ah. Fumurin. Hi?"
Doah also seemed taken aback by her real-life appearance, her tone sounding more like Luka than her usual self.
"No! Unnie! You have to call me Gahee here!"
"Ah... sorry... Gahee..."
Is that really the look of the girl known among CLOSER fans as the cute youngest member? She even has a lip piercing... Fumurin's fans would probably freak out if they saw this completely contradictory image.
"Ah! Haeng-nim! How're you doing~"
The man who appeared next to Fumurin placed a hand on my shoulder.
Why is he touching me? Why the hell are you touching me, you bastard! Do you even know me?!
But this was all just a scream inside my head.
I couldn't help but feel incredibly intimidated by the tattoo visible on the inside of his wrist.
This guy was dressed like a rapper.
He was decked out in accessories you'd never find in my house.
Two rings on his fingers. A bracelet, too.
And he was wearing some incredibly flashy basketball-like shoes. He felt like my polar opposite.
"I've heard a lot about you~ Hahahaha!"
I gave an awkward nod at his hearty laugh.
For a moment, Doah and I made eye contact.
They say that when you're a couple, you can tell what the other is thinking just by their expression.
We both knew this was going to be a rough day.
We could feel it, right there in the bright afternoon sun.