Unexpected Date (1)
The time we'd agreed to meet had come.
Before that hour arrived, I had done a great many things.
I'd bought chocolate for Lua, stuck it in the fridge, and pulled it back out; I'd put on the nicest clothes I could manage. On top of that, I'd even spritzed on some of Dad's cologne—Mom's contribution.
Whether it was actually a decent cologne, I still wasn't sure. It felt a little too much like something a middle-aged guy would wear.
Borrowing my brother's might have been the better call… but it was too late for regrets. Spilled water, and all that.
Anyway, there I was in front of Lua's house, wound tight with nerves, waiting for her…
"Jinwoo~!"
Making my whole wait feel pointless, Lua stepped out a full ten minutes early.
"Oh—you're here?"
"Hi~"
Lua waved at me with the same bright, easy smile she always wore.
Her outfit was, for lack of a better word, textbook. The absolute gold standard of a winter date look that actually suited her.
A black quilted skirt and black tights; above that, a white blouse and black vest, finished with a black winter coat that tied it all together and a pair of round glasses.
She had dressed herself so beautifully it was almost unfair—so pretty it was hard to imagine anyone doing better.
"Jinwoo?"
"Ah… uh, ah, uh, yeah."
"What's wrong? All of a sudden."
"Ah… nothing. It's nothing."
Lua stared up at me for a moment, then gave a little nod.
"If you say it's nothing, then I guess it's nothing."
Utter, unshakable faith in me, right there.
…I'd known Lua was pretty. Up here, in my head.
I just hadn't known she was pretty like this.
Before, her prettiness had been something abstract—an idea. Now it was the kind that made my chest stutter.
Don't you dare, heart. Seriously. Sit still and behave.
She's just a girl who's a friend. Not a girlfriend. Not the kind of person you get to feel that way about—and she's a VTuber on top of it. Dating thoughts are off-limits.
"So, Jinwoo. Where do you want to go?"
"Uh… well…"
"Didn't you have something you wanted us to do together?"
"……Yeah."
"What is that. You're a total idiot, aren't you?"
Lua giggled, then stepped in beside me and looked up at my face.
"Fine. You made the promise, so from here on out, I'll plan the schedule."
"Huh?"
"Follow me~"
"Wait—hold on…!?"
Without so much as waiting for an answer, Lua started running the whole operation on her own terms.
She strode off toward the bus stop like she owned the sidewalk, and I fell in at her side so I wouldn't lose her, chasing after her pace.
Once we were walking side by side, Lua and I didn't say a word—we just kept heading for the stop.
At the bus stop we let a few buses go by, until Lua finally climbed aboard one of them.
"Lua, is this the one?"
"Yeah. Hurry up."
I followed her onto the bus.
We sat next to each other, staring blankly out the window as a few stops slid past.
About ten minutes later, Lua pressed the red stop button beside her.
"Let's get off here."
"This is…"
"You know this place pretty well, right?"
I nodded at the little smile mixed into her question.
Yeah. Of course I knew it.
This was the biggest downtown in the area—pretty much the best place you could pick for a date.
I got off the bus with her, and the moment she confirmed I was on the ground, Lua hit me with a question.
"Jinwoo, have you eaten?"
"Eaten? Uh… no."
"Why not? Don't tell me—you wanted to eat with me?"
She looked up at me with a smile full of mischief, and between the mild annoyance and the sheer smugness of it, I just nodded right back.
"Yeah. That's what I was going for."
"Huh…?"
Lua had been the one teasing, and now she was the one flustered—a complete amateur move. A weird little sense of victory rose in me, and I pressed the counterattack immediately.
"We said we'd hang out together, so of course we should eat together too. We were meeting at one."
"Ah… uh… th-that… yeah… uh… right… yeah…!"
Nodding hard like her head might fall off, Lua eventually stuck her hand out toward me.
"Th-then, let's go already…!"
Lua's outstretched hand. Was I even allowed to take it?
My brain was chewing on the question at great length—but my body moved faster than the thought.
Squeeze.
Without a shred of hesitation, my hand closed around the one she had offered me.
"Kyaah!?"
Lua reacted like I'd startled her half to death, and the sound made me jump enough that I let go at once.
"L… Lua?"
"Ah… uh… why… why did you… hold my hand…?"
Had taking her hand been that unpleasant? My insides were already scraped raw; all I could do was apologize.
"…Sorry. You stuck your hand out, so I thought you wanted me to take it."
"No… uh… ah… th-that's… right, I…"
She stammered and flailed for a moment, then bowed her head toward me.
"I'm… sorry too. I only put my hand out because… I did it without thinking."
"I see… Sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel weird."
"No!"
Lua practically shouted it, took a step closer—
Squeeze.
—and suddenly grabbed my hand.
"Huh…?"
"It didn't feel weird. Not even a little…!"
"Ah… uh."
"So take it back. That apology you just made."
"……I'll take it back."
"…Good."
Lua nodded, then kept hold of my hand and started pulling me somewhere.
"Lua…?"
"Just walk with me. There are a lot of good places to eat around here."
"No, I know that, but…"
I had a mountain of things I wanted to ask.
If it hadn't felt weird, why had she yelped when I took her hand—and why was she gripping it so firmly now?
I wanted to ask, and I couldn't.
Her stride was too strong, and even just keeping up with it…
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
…my heart was hammering like it had lost its mind.
If only to hide the sound of it, this was a time for keeping my mouth shut.
I stayed tight-lipped and followed her for maybe five minutes, until a certain shop came into view.
"Jinwoo, let's go in."
"This is…"
"We've eaten here once before, remember? Gyukatsu."
"Ah…"
The place Lua had brought me to was none other than a gyukatsu restaurant.
A few months back, when we'd gone out to buy snacks that came with Sweet Mare collab merch.
I'd helped her with her shopping that day, and as thanks she'd treated me to gyukatsu.
That place had already looked pretty upscale—this one looked even more so.
"Whoa… is it okay for us to go in here?"
"Yeah. The prices aren't that different from the other gyukatsu place. They just have more on the menu."
"Got it."
We stepped a little farther inside, and a server hurried over at once.
"How many in your party?"
"Two."
"Would you like a window seat?"
"Hmm… please take us to a seat farther in."
"Of course~"
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Lua led me toward an inner table—the most tucked-away corner seat they had.
With my hand still caught in hers, I had no choice but to follow her all the way there.
The moment we arrived at that corner table, she shoved a menu at me.
"Jinwoo, pick whatever you want. My treat."
"Huh? Why are you treating?"
"A bribe for the Ruru-dan, and for a future member of the Rudongbu?"
The way she said it—pure Ruru, all sly and slick—made me want to throw my hands up in surrender.
But then…
…something about it stung my pride.
I was still a guy, for one thing. And even if I didn't make as much as Lua, I made more than most people my age.
I had more than enough money to cover something like this.
The thought of that summoned a courage I wouldn't have had a moment before.
"…I'll pay."
"Hm?"
"I'll treat you."
"I already told you—it's a bribe for the Ruru-dan and a future Rudongbu member."
"Then I'll buy it as a gift for my friend Lua."
"Eh?"
She blinked up at me, looking thoroughly rattled.
If this was Kuroa Ruru giving a gift to a fan, or a bribe to a future Rudongbu member, I didn't stand a chance of winning.
So I steered it hard toward a gift for my friend Lua instead of Ruru.
"It's a gift for Lua—my closest friend. I'm paying."
"Ah… uh… eh…?"
Her eyes darted all over the place; then she hid her whole face behind that long hair of hers.
How flustered did you have to be to do that?
Watching her reaction, I almost laughed out loud.
"What are you getting? I'm going with the spicy curry gyukatsu set."
"Ugh… uuuuugh… I don't know, you pervert."
Exactly which of my actions had earned me a "pervert," I had no idea.
Either way, if she wouldn't answer, I was just going to order something for her.
"If you don't say anything, I'm getting you the gyukatsu udon set."
"……Make it the soba set."
"Okay~"
I ordered the spicy curry set and the soba set on the table kiosk.
Before long our personal grills and food arrived, and I just smiled down at that mouthwatering meat.
The joy of treating her—of not losing to Im Lua—was bigger than I ever would have guessed.
"……Thanks for the meal, Jinwoo."
"Yeah. Dig in."
That was the end of the conversation. We turned to the ridiculously good-looking gyukatsu sets in front of us and started to eat.