Live Performance

Yuna rubbed the rim of her glass with her fingers, asking awkwardly, “Oppa. Do you have time after class today…?”

Her eyes had been fixed on the floor for a while now, carefully avoiding mine. …Why is she asking me that? It sounded like something you’d say when you’re trying to make plans with someone you’re crushing on. There was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no reason for Yuna to say something like that if she didn’t like me. Unless… maybe she wasn’t happy with the results of the meeting? Was she asking to meet again afterward to go over it?

To be honest, I was fine with just getting decent grades, so I didn’t feel like working that hard. I figured a B was plenty good enough. I hadn’t expected Yuna to be so passionate about grades, though.

I gave her an awkward smile and answered, “Uh, yeah. I do have time… why?”

Please, just don’t say you want to have another meeting! I sent a telepathic plea in her direction. Of course I liked spending more time with Yuna, but I didn’t want to do it because of some assignment.

“Ah, well… that’s right! I wanted to repay you for today. I’m the type who can’t live with debts hanging over me.”

Yuna threw out an excuse that sounded like she’d just made it up on the spot. Something felt off, but I decided to let it slide. Even if I pressed her, she probably wouldn’t give me a real answer. There had to be a reason she was acting like this. Or maybe she really was just grateful.

“Repay me? It wasn’t even a big deal. You don’t have to go that far…”

Honestly, all I’d done was rescue her from that cult. And even if I hadn’t done anything, she probably would’ve gotten out eventually. The only thing I really did was shorten the time she had to wait to be freed.

“No. I’m doing this for my own satisfaction, so please just accept it.”

It was a little burdensome, but honestly, I had no desire to refuse. Of course I was on board. Any extra second I got to spend with you was a win for me. That meant I could reduce my Yuna withdrawal by even one second.

“Alright. I got it. But what did you have in mind?”

Was she going to buy me a meal again like last time? Even so, it felt wrong to let someone younger than me treat me to food twice. Maybe I should pay this time? I wasn’t exactly rolling in money, but I did have a part-time job, so I wasn’t completely broke either.

“I… haven’t actually thought about that yet?”

Yuna glanced at me with slightly panicked eyes. You said it without even deciding on anything?

“Then let’s figure it out together. What do you want to do?”

“What do you want to do, oppa?”

Repayment, huh. Things I wanted to do with Yuna. There were so many. An endless list. But if I had to pick the one I wanted most…

“Then… do you want to go to a coin karaoke room with me?”

My desire to watch my favorite idol’s live performance in person was simply the unavoidable greed of a fan.

*

“Do you come here often, oppa?”

“No. It’s been a while for me too.”

After class, Yuna and I headed to the coin karaoke room near school. It was popular with students because each song only cost five hundred won. I remembered coming here once a long time ago with Jaemin. As we walked down into the basement-level karaoke place, we finally started seeing rooms with numbers on them. We picked the one at the very end labeled 17 and went inside.

The problem was that because the prices were cheap, the space was tiny. The bench was so narrow that two people could barely sit side by side. If either of us shifted even a little, our knees or thighs would brush. If I moved my arm, my elbow would touch her.

“…Ah. Sorry.”

“Ah, no, it’s fine.”

I jumped when my arm brushed against Yuna’s as she set her bag down beside her. …Ugh. You idiot. Why would you pick a place like this? Honestly, I’d chosen it without thinking because it was close. If I’d known, I would’ve spent a little more and gone somewhere bigger.

After we put our bags on one side, a heavy silence filled the karaoke room. Just being alone together in such a cramped space was already awkward, but the constant physical contact made it ten times worse.

…This was bad. Coin karaoke might have been the worst possible choice. All because I was too eager to hear Yuna sing.

I decided to break the awkward silence by putting in some coins first. “S-so, how many songs do you want to do?”

“I have a schedule later, so I can’t stay too long. How about four songs?”

“Okay. I’ll pay then.”

“No, no. I’m the one who wanted to repay you, so I should…”

When I stepped toward the machine to pay, Yuna reached out to stop me and ended up grabbing my hand instead.

…Ah. We touched again.

With us standing so close, the sweet, pleasant scent of her shampoo drifted toward me. The moment her soft, delicate hand touched mine, the memory of what happened earlier flashed through my mind again.

“Ah! Sorry. Um… I’ve been doing that since earlier.”

It seemed like Yuna was thinking the same thing I was. She quickly pulled her hand back and took ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a step away. My heart was racing for some reason. Just because our bodies kept touching, I was becoming hyper-aware of her. Whether on stream or in real life, Yuna was undeniably a cute girl. Both inside and out.

“Ah. Sorry. I really shouldn’t have picked a place like this.”

I ended up paying the four thousand won and apologized to her.

“It’s okay, oppa. The price is cheap and it’s nice, right?”

“Should I just stand instead?”

If I stood up, at least we wouldn’t keep bumping into each other.

“No. Then I’d feel too uncomfortable to enjoy it. Please just sit down.”

Yeah, if someone stood right next to me the whole time, I’d feel awkward too. I followed Yuna’s request and sat back down. Still, I pressed myself as far into the corner as possible to avoid touching her.

After the guide announcement ended, the karaoke machine finally started up.

“Do you want to go first, oppa?”

“Ah, sure.”

I took the remote from Yuna. Honestly, I wouldn’t say I was a good singer. I was just average. I could barely keep the pitch and rhythm. But there was a reason I wanted to go first.

Karaoke is all about the first pick advantage. What does that mean? The first song sets the mood for the entire session. In other words, if I started with a ballad, it increased the chances that Yuna would sing one too. And the reason I was steering her toward ballads was simple—I wanted to hear them. After all, ballads were what Yuna mainly sang.

I picked one of the easy ballads I usually sang.

The highlight didn’t have a huge vocal range difference from the rest of the song, which was why I liked it. I didn’t have to strain or scream. Even though having Yuna right next to me made me a little nervous, it was a familiar song.

…It wasn’t that bad. My voice actually felt pretty good today.

“Whoa. Oppa, you’re good at singing?”

“Huh? No way. My throat just feels good today, that’s all.”

“Come on~. That didn’t sound like someone who’s only sung it a couple times.”

Well, that was true. It was a song I sang almost every day when I went to the solo karaoke room. It was one of the few songs I had completely memorized.

Then the song Yuna had reserved started playing.

…Oh! Of course it was this one first. It was so familiar I could’ve sung it from memory. It was one of the cover songs she’d uploaded to VTube. I’d probably listened to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it hundreds of times already.

But my heart was still pounding. This was my first time hearing it live, after all. Because of Yuna’s usual setup without a soundproof booth, she could never do proper music streams. I could sometimes catch her humming quietly, but hearing her live was an incredible privilege.

“I’m really looking forward to this. I bet you’re going to sound amazing.”

“Ah~. Don’t put so much pressure on me. I won’t be able to sing properly then.”

Seeing her like this really made her seem like a completely different person from her on-stream persona.

The girl who always asked for applause, expectations, and cheers on stream was now shrinking back from just me.

Wow. It really gave me goosebumps. I felt chills running from my toes all the way up my body. This was on a completely different level from a normal person’s performance. They say you can tell from the first line of a song, and the moment I heard her first verse, I could feel how different her level was. Her sorrowful expression made it even more immersive.

Yuna’s first song ended, but I couldn’t react at all. I was so moved that I even forgot to clap.

…Was this really Yuna? The emotion was on a completely different level from listening to the recorded version. Now I understood why people went out of their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠way to attend concerts.

“…Oppa?”

“Yeah?”

“What did you think? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Had she called me? I must have been so lost in my own thoughts that I didn’t even hear her.

“Was it bad?”

“No. It was amazing. Like, seriously insane?”

“Right? I knew you’d say that.”

I let out a small laugh at how shameless she was being. If you knew that, why did you even ask?

“I almost cried for real just now.”

“Ehehe~. It wasn’t that good. Just a tiny bit?”

“Hey. If that was just a little, then what does that make me?”

“You sang well too, oppa. What are you talking about?”

“After hearing you sing, I feel embarrassed to sing next.”

“I learned singing a little when I was young, that’s all. You never learned anything, right? So doing that well is already impressive.”

Ah… so that was it. I’d thought she was way beyond normal person level, and I was right. Hearing about Yuna’s personal background made me feel strangely happy. I’d just learned a behind-the-scenes detail about her that I’d never heard on stream.

“Oppa. You look like you’re in a good mood?”

“Huh? Yeah, I am. Listening to you sing makes me feel good.”

I couldn’t hide the smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.