The Reluctant Mixer

"Woohyuk. Come on, can't you just go with me this one time?"

"You know I don't do that kind of thing. I said no."

Kim Jaemin. This classmate of mine from the same department had been trailing after me and pestering me since earlier. The thing he was trying to sell me on was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠going to a department mixer with him...

"Please. Just this once~! There's exactly one spot left. If you come, it's perfect. Really."

"Then fill that spot with someone else instead. Seriously."

A mixer? What mixer? To someone like me who didn't even participate in department activities. To someone like me who hadn't made many friends since starting college. I had zero interest in finding a girlfriend.

"It's because I don't have any other decent-looking friends besides you. If you really don't like it, you can leave right away, okay?"

"..."

"Besides, how often do opportunities like this come around? Wouldn't it be great to make some friends from our department this time?"

If I was going to leave midway anyway, it was better not to go at all. It was just a waste of everyone's time. I was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠uncomfortable with those kinds of drinking and partying scenes. I'd rather hole up in my one-room apartment and watch streams. And on top of that, this mixer was weird even for a mixer. What department does a mixer with their own department? No matter how many people were in our department. That was just a regular group blind date.

"No."

"Sigh... Fine. I didn't want to pull this card, but. I'll cover your share of the mixer fee. How about that?"

"Ha..."

A sigh escaped me. He wasn't the type to take no for an answer no matter how much I refused. Jaemin stared at me with eyes as desperate as a believer making a wish. I knew why he was doing this. This bastard. His girlfriend had cheated on him and they broke up while he was in Jeonju. Ever since then, burning with revenge and loneliness, he'd been going crazy trying to get a new girlfriend.

...It was kind of pitiful. Should I just go with him once? Honestly, I didn't have anything to do at home anyway. I'd probably just play some games and watch VTube before sleeping. Normally, I'd go home and end the day with my favorite streamer's broadcast. But today, there had been a notice posted in the morning.

It was a sudden hiatus notice. Since she didn't do this often, the other viewers would understand. But understanding didn't stop my heart from breaking. Today was Friday, and I'd planned to wrap up the week nicely with some chicken and beer while watching the stream. Yeah. Since I didn't have anything else to do anyway. I could just show up to fill the numbers and then leave.

"Fine. I'll go. But I'm really just filling the headcount and then dipping."

"For real?"

"I'm only going because you look so pathetic. I shouldn't have seen you crying like that. Sigh."

That day, after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠drinking a lot, Jaemin had come to me and cried his eyes out. Saying his heart hurt so much while pounding his chest. Even if I was cold-blooded, it was hard to just ignore that sight.

"I love you, Kang Woohyuk. It's only you. For real."

"That's cringey, so shut up."

"Yes sir."

Jaemin dramatically covering his mouth with exaggerated gestures. Seeing that made me feel like he was from a different world than me. His reactions were on another level. I'd die of embarrassment before I could act like that.

"Hey, then be ready and come out in front of your place by five. I'll come pick you up in the car."

Jaemin was what you'd call from a well-off family. Not quite a golden spoon, but maybe a silver spoon or at least bronze. If his parents bought him a car at that age, that said enough. I still didn't know how I'd become friends with a guy like him.

"Okay. You have another class, right? Hurry and go."

"Yeah. See you."

Jaemin heading toward his next classroom. And I didn't have any more classes today. I headed to my one-room apartment, which was about a ten-minute walk from school. I connected my Bluetooth earphones to my phone and opened the VTube playlist.

Uni Cover Collection

I opened the playlist of my favorite's songs that I'd organized and started autoplay. A pleasant voice flowed out alongside soft piano accompaniment.

She was seriously incredible. No matter how many times I heard it, her sweet voice could melt ears. Uni was a variety game streamer, but she had an astonishingly unique voice. And it wasn't just any ordinary pretty voice. It was a rare, distinctive tone you didn't hear often. She had the kind of voice that made the phrase "jade beads rolling on a tray" feel perfect. There were even viewers who spammed her asking why she didn't debut as a singer.

Singer? I'm already everyone's idol, though.

There were clips of her playfully responding to that kind of flattery too. Anyway, because of viewer requests, she had quite a few cover songs despite being a variety streamer. The songs she mainly sang were Korean ballads that Uni liked.

Our Uni was good at so many things. She was good at games, good at singing, good at talking. Humming along to Uni's songs as I walked, I soon arrived at my one-room apartment. When I opened the door and stepped inside, the house was dark and empty. The only furniture was a bed, a refrigerator, and a desk with a computer on it.

"It's really quiet here."

The apartment was in a slightly secluded spot, so there was almost no outside noise. It was a neighborhood where you couldn't sense any presence of other people. Maybe that was why. Living alone often felt a little lonely. But I didn't really have any friends. I had no one to invite over either. So whenever I felt empty, I would just turn on a stream. That's how I found the streamer named Uni. She was the only hope that soothed the lonely life of an outsider like me.

The appointment was at five. It was three now, so I had two hours left.

"Guess I'll kill some time."

With that thought, I lay down on the bed, opened VTube, and naturally put on a Uni VOD. Real fans like me preferred VODs over edited clips. The rapid clacking of a keyboard. It was in the middle of a heated team fight. Uni's ranged carry character was kiting hard, poking at the enemy jungler in front and chipping away at their health nicely.

[Ah...?]

In the blink of an eye, she was deleted by a single combo from the enemy top Akali, who had scaled ridiculously well.

[Wow! Seriously. What is this damage? It's broken.]

Uni’s screen went black instantly. As she spoke in a dazed voice, the chat scrolled upward.

Uni must have seen the chat reactions, because she continued in a grumbling voice.

"It's really the top gap. Why is it always only our team that gets screwed like this?"

But even though Uni had been deleted instantly, the mysterious Chinese master-level Viktor was carrying so hard that the team fight was heading toward victory for Uni's team.

"Our mid is so good! Nice! That's how you play the game, guys."

Uni’s attitude flipped in an instant like a hand turning over. And the flood of criticism poured in just as fast.

And then came Uni’s signature move. Media control. Uni was a dictator through and through.

"Manager~! Ban every single person who typed spoon right now."

"I'll apply temporary bans top to bottom for everyone who said spoon."

"Why are you killing us? That's why! You should have moderated the chat properly!"

My laughter as I watched the VOD from bed didn't stop. By now, the bickering between Uni, who had completely shed her newbie status, and the viewers was the most entertaining part of the stream. You’d often see comments saying the chatters were what kept Uni’s stream alive.

In the end, the game that had been turned around by Viktor’s carry ended in victory.

"Everyone. You all know I carried this game, right? If you don't, you really don't know games."

The moment she dropped that line, the chat caught fire again. It seemed Uni genuinely enjoyed making her viewers angry.

Yeah. This was my Yasuo. This was my club. No matter what anyone said, that was the truth for me. For a while, the corners of my mouth refused to come down.

"Jaemin."

"Yeah?"

I asked while looking at Jaemin gripping the steering wheel.

"It's not even that far. Why did you bring the car?"

When the appointed time came, I got into Jaemin’s car and arrived at the meeting place. Once we got there, it was a bar not far from school.

"You idiot. This is also a point of appeal. What would you know about this hyung’s deep intentions?"

I’d thought he brought it just to give me a ride as a favor, but it seemed Jaemin had other motives. There were definitely girls who liked that kind of thing. Things like a man’s financial power, or girls who liked guys with cars.

After parking, Jaemin and I entered the bar. The interior had a slightly upscale feel compared to a cheap neighborhood dive. Expensive-looking liquor bottles were displayed everywhere.

"Over there. Right there."

When I looked where Jaemin was pointing, several guys and girls were already seated at the table.

"Looks like we’re the last ones."

"Why is everyone so diligent?"

"Right?"

We had arrived exactly on time, but everyone else was already settled in and waiting. As we got closer to the table, I saw a few faces I thought I’d seen in lectures before. Since we were in the same department, we must have shared at least one class. Of course, they wouldn’t know me.

We gave light nods in greeting and sat down.

"Then shall we start?"

Jaemin trying to take the lead, while the others, still awkward, just glanced at each other and nodded silently.

"Then to break the ice, should we drop the formal speech? Anyone against it?"

"..."

When no one seemed opposed, Jaemin immediately switched to casual speech.

"Then let’s speak comfortably. First, should we order?"

Yeah. It was nice having someone like him to lead. These kinds of situations were especially awkward. Not that I planned to say anything anyway.

"I’m Kim Jaemin, twenty-three, Business Administration major. Nice to meet you."

"Wow. You’re our senior."

"I went to the military, that’s why. Since we’re the same year, let’s just be comfortable with each other."

Even in the same year, there was a difference in student numbers between the guys and the girls. It was the same for me. Introductions continued, starting with Jaemin’s self-introduction.

"I’m Jeong Dabin, second year. Hello."

"Hey. No formal speech allowed."

The girls who weren’t used ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to it kept using honorifics, but he told them to stop. He was also great at drinking games that livened up the mood.

"Drink! Drink, drink. Alcohol’s going down! Chug chug chug!"

Of course, I who couldn’t play drinking games got hit hard. As time passed and the awkwardness faded a little, people started getting drunk one by one.

"I’m going to the bathroom. Jiyoon."

"Mm. Go ahead."

One of the girls told the girl next to her that she was going to the bathroom and stood up from the table. I think her name was Lee Yuna. Short black hair and a cute face. I thought I’d heard it during the introductions. Her voice had been so small that I hadn’t caught it clearly. It seemed like Yuna had also been dragged here by her friend, just like me. Throughout the entire drinking session, she hadn’t said a word and just sipped her drink alone.

"Jaemin, I’m going to the bathroom too."

I followed her to cool off the heat that had risen to my face from the alcohol. The bathroom for this bar was outside, so we had to step out of the building. Once I felt the outside air, the heat on my face went down a little. At this point, I could head home soon.

Looking ahead, I saw Yuna walking ahead, stumbling slightly. She must be drunk. Her steps looked really unsteady. I was wondering if I should support her since it seemed like she might fall over.

"Ah. I shouldn’t have come out. Ugh."

She, who hadn’t spoken inside the bar, started muttering to herself.

"Can’t even drink alcohol... what the hell am I doing, stupid."

Her pronunciation was a little slurred, probably from being drunk. But that voice somehow felt incredibly familiar.

...What is this? It’s too familiar... where have I heard it?

"...I should have just streamed from home. Sigh."

...Stream? The moment I heard those words, I realized who the owner of that voice was.

Why hadn’t I realized it? Uni. This voice was completely Uni’s.

"...No way. That can’t be."

It must just be similar. No matter how unique Uni’s voice was, there could be people with similar voices. That was what I had thought back then, naively. I never imagined my favorite could be this close.