Lim Sarang's Everyday Life

Lim Sarang had been living through a relentless stretch of busy days. She barely managed to show up for the fixed raid party's once-a-week dungeon clear, and she was so swamped she could hardly even log into Haven.

"Haa. I'm exhausted."

"Ugh, I just want to rest. It's been a whole year since the album dropped—how are we still booked with this many shows?"

"It's festival season."

The schedules never ended. They hadn't even released a new Lovely song lately; they were only working through whatever gigs happened to come in, and still they grew busier as the days went on. Even so, the members never lost their smiles. They grumbled, but they kept their condition in check for the next schedule all the same.

Chief among them, the leader—Lim Sarang—was staring at a tablet in the name of perfect condition management.

"Unnie. Aren't you tired? Why don't you sleep a little?"

When one of the members asked, Lim Sarang shook her head.

"This is better healing."

"Unnie's crush?"

"Ooooh."

"For real? It really was a crush?"

"No! What crush? He's someone I met in a game."

At that single line, the three members lunged like hyenas that had spotted prey. They snatched her phone and teased her with the photo-booth strip tucked behind the case.

"Hehe. Unnie, you know if the wrong person snaps this, it's an instant dating scandal, right?"

"Sarang unnie's first scandal?"

"But you've never even met him once, have you? Is this that online-only romance thing?"

"You little—"

Lim Sarang put on a stern face, though her cheeks went red.

"Oh my. You really like him, don't you?"

"This type isn't really my thing. He's handsome, I'll give him that. But a man should be macho!"

"Listen to you. Don't you know it's the nerdy ones who are the real deal after dark?"

"Kya! Unnie! I'm twenty-three!"

The usual girl talk. Clicking her tongue, Lim Sarang went back to what she had been watching.

Kim Siwoo's stream. Haven was broadcasting the moment he purchased a Windy mixed-use complex.

"He... bought a place..."

They still couldn't meet in real life, but in the game they had grown fairly close. Maybe he would invite her. In Haven, a housewarming was the ordinary thing once you bought a house. Or else—since it was a Windy apartment, and owning the unit in-game made you its owner in reality too—maybe he would invite her out there?

"I want to go to the housewarming..."

"Unnie. We may have debuted as idols and never dated even once, but we're still Lovely, the most popular group there is, and you're the number-one ideal type for male celebrities. Pining like this is kind of beneath you, you know? Just ask him to meet!"

"I can't. What if he thinks it's weird?"

"Why would it be weird? If a woman as pretty as you says she likes him, guys would be nothing but grateful. Right, Hyeju unnie?"

Oh Hyeju—the self-proclaimed romance guru of Lovely, the one who fired off unfiltered, back-alley lines without hesitation—clicked her tongue.

"Dummy. If that man looked like that in real life too, of course he'd say yes and meet her. But it's a game. He definitely had that face done. You think he'd actually meet her?"

"Ehh. Why not?"

At Kim Yeoul's protest, Hyeju sighed and crooked a finger. When the girl leaned in, she whispered.

"Look. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Why does Sarang like that guy?"

"Mm... because he's rich and handsome?"

"No. Have you ever seen Sarang go for a rich man?"

"Uh... no... Unnie's got money too."

"Exactly. Handsome men with money are everywhere. So why does Sarang, who'd say no even if you dumped a whole truckload of them on her, like this one?"

"Why? Why, why!?"

Faced with a riddle she couldn't solve herself, Kim Yeoul hurried her on.

"Because he's Sarang's type. And it's... not an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠easy type. A handsome nerd who still has ease about him, who's passionate about whatever he wants to do, who has no interest in any woman but her—and who's indifferent to her, too, except he lets that interest slip out in little glances. That kind of man."

"...Huh?"

"Complicated, right?"

"Yeah... what even is that? Isn't that just a handsome rich guy?"

"No, I'm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠telling you it's different. You just know the second you see him. Have you ever seen a man like this before?"

"Mmm... he's handsome, but it is a style I've never seen."

"Right? He looks like he has nothing whatsoever to do with a camera. He is streaming, though."

Oh Hyeju grinned and needled Lim Sarang, who was locked on the screen.

"He's not bad, I'll admit. I'd like to meet him once myself."

"....Huh?"

For the first time, Lim Sarang—who hadn't turned her eyes away even once—looked over. Her pupils were trembling.

"Pfft. Puahahaha! You greedy thing. I'm not taking him. I won't snatch him, so go get him. Like Yeoul said, meeting him properly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠once doesn't sound bad. How long are you going to just stay like this?"

"..."

Lim Sarang knew it too. She had never dated, not once, but she was a woman with a firm sense of her own standards—the kind who, once she liked someone, wanted to see him even one more time.

"Yeah... I need to be sure, too. Whether I'm only like this because he matches my ideal look..."

One way or another, she had to reach a verdict. About her own heart.

"We've got three days off, right?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. You're going right now?"

She made up her mind.

"Huh? A housewarming?"

"Yes... I saw that you bought a house... aren't you having one?"

"Uh... I hadn't really thought about it..."

After I'd asked anyone selling a level-11 five-star mage accessory to contact me and shut the stream off to rest, Lim Sarang reached out, and we met. On an ordinary day I would have logged out and rested in reality, but today, to mark buying a house in Haven, I was resting in the Haven house. And then the message came. Actually trying to rest in Haven turned out to be boring—there wasn't much to do—so I was glad I'd stayed logged in. Lim Sarang was beautiful, and simply looking at that face was healing in itself.

"Heh heh."

"Did something good happen?"

"Ah. No. You're just too pretty."

"...Eh?"

"Hrk. Ah. Sorry. That was my inside voice..."

"...You're handsome too, Siwoo."

Ever since I'd slept with Lee Yeonju, I felt as if I'd gained a little confidence around women. A baseless confidence that I was a halfway decent man. Of course, thinking that would work on Lim Sarang too was a wild leap. Lee Yeonju was plenty beautiful herself.

"Come on. Me? Haha. Thank you for seeing me that way."

"...Then the housewarming..."

"Ah. If you want one, then of course we have to! Hmm... should I invite a few more of the people who helped me in Haven and do the housewarming together?"

"I'm fine with that."

"Man. But what should we do about the stream? The viewers were going crazy telling me to do an online housewarming at least once..."

"Oh! I don't mind. Of course you should stream."

"Thank you. And this is a bit of a personal request... my junior members said they want to come hang out once, too. Would it be all right if they came along?"

"Hrk. The Lovely members?"

"Yes... they saw me watching your stream and said... they wanted to meet you once..."

"Ah. I'd love that! But I wonder if it's all right for them to appear on stream..."

"I'll ask, and if they're fine with it, I'll bring them!"

"Yes! Wow... I've never seen them before. The Lovely members. This is huge..."

"I'm one of them, though..."

"Ah—"

And just like that, a housewarming was suddenly on the calendar. Lim Sarang's schedule was packed, but she had about three days off, so we set it for tomorrow. There wasn't anything special to prepare, and food in Haven was just a matter of ordering.

"Hmm. Who should I invite?"

Honestly, if I had my way, I wanted to kill the stream and do a one-on-one housewarming with just Lim Sarang. A small hope that, the way it had gone with Lee Yeonju, if the two of us ate and drank we might grow a little closer—even if it never reached anything deep. But that still felt too soon, so there was nothing for it. I turned over who to call. The people I at least had some tie to in Haven.

"Hmm..."

The first name that came to mind was GoldenHolyKnight.

I called him right away.

Inviting someone inside Haven felt awkward, and a little wondrous. I'd never invited anyone to a housewarming in real life, either. Lee Yeonju, once. That was it.

"Hmm."

No one else came to mind. Maybe Seobi, at most—the one who had sold me the Lich King's soul pouch. For the sake of the broadcast, Taegeuk came to mind as well, the owner of Ellen's Tears, but plenty of people disliked him, so I left him off the list. It was a housewarming I hadn't even planned, and yet because Lim Sarang was coming I found myself fussing over this and that.

"This is going to be fun."

Heh heh.

It was the same as when I looked at Lim Sarang's face: the thought alone made me smile.

Is she my type?

Lee Yeonju had been beautiful enough, but looking at her had never felt like this. There was a bewitching charm about Sarang that made a person smile whether they meant to or not. That only made me more careful. I wanted to draw close carefully. I wanted to see her. My heart fluttered, a ticklish little pound in my chest.

I wonder what she likes.

I searched the internet.

The worry over whether I could even get my hands on a level-11 five-star accessory had long since vanished from my head.