Meetings with Gachi

Still buzzing from being told we looked like a couple, I came home and flopped onto my bed, my head a garden of flowers that refused to settle.

I'd only been rolling around for five minutes.

And I already missed Gachi.

"...Should I call him?"

We'd exchanged numbers so we could stay in touch, after all.

It should be fine, right?

...Yeah. Let's do it.

I worked up the courage, found Gachi's number, and dialed.

He picked up.

And just like that, our first phone call began.

"It really feels like we're talking on a landline."

"It does, doesn't it. I could reach your room in under a minute, sunbae."

"Oh my. Is that flirting?"

That was real flirting. My heart was hammering too hard for it to be anything else.

"No, it's not. More importantly... is there a reason you called?"

He said no... But a reason. Honestly, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I just wanted to hear his voice, so I had nothing prepared.

But I was a VTuber. Kiri. A streamer.

Finding something to say was a skill I'd already mastered.

"Yeah, well... I just had something I wanted to ask. Gachi, what do you think of people who have secrets?"

I asked it. A question that held my real feelings.

"Was I that obvious?"

"...Yes."

Ugh... I'd been so transparent that Gachi immediately realized I was talking about myself.

It was a little embarrassing, but the way he seriously listened to my worries lightened something in my chest, and we kept talking. I wanted to stay like that a little longer.

In the end, though—

"...Alright. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Enjoy the stream."

A phone call that was bashful and sweet and tingly all at once came to a close.

But I didn't feel any regret. Because—!

"...I'm crazy. I'm crazy. I'm crazy!!"

I had a date with Gachi!!

And he'd been the one to suggest it first!!

I was so happy I started thrashing my legs up and down on the bed like I was swimming.

I figured I should calm down... but I had a collab with Eve coming up soon. Might as well burn off all this feeling first.

Hehehe.

A date with Gachi~

I managed to pull myself together before the collab with Eve, but my energy was still running high.

I completely forgot what day tomorrow was and streamed until dawn.

The result:

"...I'm screwed."

I'd overslept.

No matter how frantically I got ready now, I was going to be late.

A retake course, and late on the very first day. Was my GPA about to abandon me all over again...

The thought made me gloomy, but since I was already late, being a little later wouldn't change much. I even ate breakfast at a leisurely pace before heading out, and my heart felt lighter than it had in a long time.

Yeah, just like the morning of first-year first-semester finals... Wait, why are my eyes watering?

"Haa. It's all Gachi's fault..."

Taking it out on him was pretty unfair. But he wasn't here, so it was fine.

Seriously, being that attractive for no reason. The way he acted, the things he said—all of it.

Thanks to him, I couldn't even control my own feelings.

Of course, even thinking that, the moment I actually saw Gachi I'd probably just feel happy.

Like right now.

"Huh?"

Right in front of me stood Gachi, late to class ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just like me.

For a second I thought about ditching the lecture entirely and just going somewhere with him—but at the same time, a plan formed. Something that would let me tease him a little and benefit me too.

"Hey. Running late?"

"...Yes. I got too into the stream last night."

Last night's stream was my collab with Eve.

Hehe. So he'd enjoyed a stream that was partly mine.

"Hehe. That's such a Gachi reason. Let's see... Professor Yu Eun-yeong's class."

I stepped a little closer to him.

Thump.

Ah. My heart was racing over something this small. But Gachi had clearly been rushing—so why did he smell this good?

He looked like he'd broken a sweat, too. Weird...

I barely managed to hide what I was feeling and laid out my plan for him.

Honestly, I wasn't sure it would work—but somehow, with Gachi, I felt like it would.

And just as I'd expected—

"I'm sorry! I'm late!"

Gachi shouted it at the top of his lungs.

I immediately opened the back door, hung my bag on a seat by the entrance, and sat down. Luckily, no one seemed to have noticed me.

Phew. Made it.

"Alright, everyone see that? Do it like that and I'll let it slide once."

I know, I know. I'd seen people pull that exact move a few times back in first year.

Still, better not to use it if you can help it. You never know how the world works—best to save those chances.

"Or sneak in on your own, if you can manage it."

Ah... She was looking right at me as she said that.

This was... probably found out.

As expected of Professor Yu Eun-yeong. You couldn't underestimate her.

"..."

And there was Gachi, staring at me in a daze.

Looks like he'd figured it out too.

"...Oh. Did I get caught?"

Shh.

I put a finger to my lips and smiled, and the look on Gachi's face when he saw it—

...Cute.

That was probably just the rose-colored glasses talking.

I wanted to thank Professor Yu Eun-yeong for wrapping up the first class with just an orientation, but something else took priority.

"Ahaha, don't be mad."

I tried to laugh it off.

"Huu."

Wait. Was he actually angry?

"A little. But... strangely, most of it just went away."

If I took that to mean it went away because I kept talking to him, that would be pure delusion.

But my brain went there on its own anyway...

"Well, everything turned out fine in the end."

"Hehe, that's true~"

"Though sunbae came out of it the best of all."

Gachi, that's a misunderstanding... I got caught too.

Even if I tried to explain, lasers were shooting out of his eyes, so I just whistled awkwardly.

...It was strange, thinking about it again.

Here I was, trading jokes with a guy and walking down the path like it was the most natural thing in the world.

It felt so good. Not uncomfortable at all.

Normally, being alone with a guy made me uneasy—I just wanted the time to pass as fast as possible.

With Gachi, it was the opposite. I wanted to stay like this longer.

Had a single sentence from him really pulled me in this hard?

No. It probably wasn't just that.

It wasn't the words themselves that drew me in. It was that Gachi was the one who said them.

I'd heard them while taking in his face, his voice, his whole presence—and that was what moved me.

Wanting a little more time with him, I asked about his remaining class schedule on the off chance something lined up.

Unfortunately, aside from the class we'd just left, nothing overlapped at all.

"...No more shared classes."

"Yeah. We're different years, so it makes sense."

Still, I had a promise with Gachi.

At seven o'clock tonight, I'd get to see him.

So it was fine.

I only had to hold out for nine hours.

...That was kind of long.

My last class of the day just happened to be with the strictest professor in our entire department.

So of course she went hard from day one.

I was genuinely grateful. Making my tuition feel completely worth it like this.

I sincerely hoped she'd live a long, healthy life free of illness.

"I swore I'd never take that professor's class again."

"What can you do? It's a required course. Oh, if you're not eating that, I will. Aahm."

Yun-a helped herself to my fries without even asking. Student council president of our department, and the closest friend I had among my classmates... honestly, the only real friend.

She was the only classmate I'd stayed in touch with after that day (I'd gotten messages from guys too, but their intentions were so obvious I ignored every single one). And among the girls, she was the only one who treated me warmly.

"So that VTuber streaming you mentioned before... you're still doing it, right?"

I'd already told Yun-a about my VTuber work. She'd been the one who pushed me to audition for Utopia in the first place.

"Yeah. Balancing it with school is hard, but I want to do it."

"Balancing it, huh... Not like you ever went all-in on school either. Thinking about your first-year first-semester grades..."

"Let's not talk about that. I'm already retaking classes to do a full academic rebirth."

"Aca-what? What's that?"

"One of those words you pick up from watching streams."

Yun-a didn't know much about otaku culture or streamers, so slang like that went over her head. Still, she never treated me differently for it, and she never spread my business around. She was a good friend.

"Hmm. But about that VTuber thing. You're basically an idol, right?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Then you're not supposed to date, are you?"

"...Huh?"

Why was dating suddenly coming up? I froze mid-sip of my cola, but Yun-a kept going like it was nothing.

"You were going out with that big guy last time, weren't you? I heard you even sat next to him on purpose in class today."

Eh? There were rumors about that?

The café owner last time, and now this—did we really look that good together?

Hehehe... Well, it did make me happy. The problem was that it wasn't actually true...

"That's a misunderstanding..."

"Oh, is it? You were chatting so happily with a guy and even went up to him first. Of course I thought you were dating. So you like him, then?"

Yun-a grinned like she was having fun.

Really...

Su-yeon was like this too—once people knew me well enough, they saw straight through my feelings.

"...Do you think we look good together?"

"If you ask me whether we look good together, I'd normally say I have no idea. But somehow, you two do."

"In what way?"

It was a deeply interesting topic, so I perked up my ears and pressed her. Yun-a smirked, unlocked her phone, searched for something, and held it out to me.

"Look at this and tell me you don't think so."

What she showed me was a photo from the after-party—me and Gachi talking, animated and close.

I hadn't realized. I'd been smiling like that.

And Gachi too... even though I'd been right there looking at him.

Seeing it again, we really did look like we were having a great time.

"Someone posted it in the freshmen group chat. One of the guys interested in you snuck the photo. I already chewed out the ones who uploaded it."

Yeah, I didn't really care about that part.

"Yun-a, can you send me this photo too?"

"...You actually like him for real, huh?"

"Th-that's not— okay, it's not not that."

"Huu. It's a photo of you, so I'll send it."

Yun-a forwarded it right away.

...I'd accidentally scored a two-shot with Gachi.

Strange. Getting a photo with him. Technically being photographed with him, but still.

"Do we look good together?"

"I just said we do... Well, yeah. Especially for you, I think he suits you even more."

"Why?"

"Because you can smile."

...She was right.

That was the biggest reason of all.

"Do you remember what I told you two years ago?"

"Yeah. I remember."

Meet a guy who can make you smile.

After everything that happened, when I wouldn't leave the dorm, that was the one thing Yun-a had said to me. I remembered it clearly.

"Wa Sol."

"Yeah?"

"I still don't think what happened that day was your fault."

"...That's not true. I was definitely at fault for some of it."

"The people who piled on were the bad ones. Especially that bastard..."

Even now, just thinking about that day made Yun-a angry on my behalf. Honestly. The biggest reason coming to this university meant anything was meeting her.

"Hehe. Thanks. But I'm okay now. I really am fine."

I twisted a strand of my short-cut hair around my finger as I said it. Yun-a looked at me like she wanted to say something, then closed her mouth.

...I knew what she'd stopped herself from saying.

It was probably because of that.

"Don't worry. It's not that. I just wanted short hair from the start. It doesn't look weird, does it?"

"...Not at all. It's perfect for your head."

"That phrasing is a little weird."

"Then it's a hairstyle made for you. It suits you incredibly well."

"Yeah. You're the second person to say that, so I feel better."

"?"

Yun-a tilted her head.

Hehe. Curious who the first one was, huh?

"Anyway, I've got plans now. I'm gonna head out."

"Ah, already? Who are you meeting?"

I gave her an answer that cleared up both of her questions at once.

"The first person who told me my hair suited me."

And the person who'd stopped me from looking back at the past.

I was going to meet him now.

It was bound to be a good time.

A good time... I'd been so sure it would be.

At first, it really was fun.

Seeing Gachi after nine hours made me so happy. The way he seemed a little nervous was weirdly cute. And the fact that he wouldn't even take off his hoodie—calling it fashion—looked strangely cool.

But then...

"By the way, sunbae. About that secret we talked about yesterday."

Gachi, for some reason, was rushing toward the main point.

"Haha. Being that close must be nice."

I hadn't even said anything particular, and he was answering something else entirely.

"Well, even in the military, the type who looks out for himself first was pretty common."

Gachi, talking about something completely different.

"So yeah... that's crazy."

A sudden, out-of-nowhere reaction.

How to put it. Right now, Gachi felt a little... off.

No—more precisely, he felt strange. Not like himself.

The smile he'd been showing me this whole time... it had a hint of something forced in it.

And that felt weird... a little unpleasant... and incredibly disappointing.

"You seem like you just want to get to the point, Gachi. That's kind of hurtful."

I'd said what I actually felt.

Because I really was hurt.

There were so many other things I'd wanted to talk about more than this.

I'd been anxious about whether the vibe the underclassmen had shown him at the after-party was still going on. I'd been curious if he'd made any new close friends.

And if he hadn't, I'd wanted to ask if there was anything I could do to help.

And through all of that, I'd wanted an excuse to see him again.

So why are you trying so hard to end this conversation?

That question of mine got answered surprisingly fast.

"Sunbae... the truth is."

As he said it, Gachi pulled off the hoodie he'd been so determined not to remove.

...He actually looked better without the hoodie.

No—wait!

What was stuck in his ear was clearly... a wireless earbud?

Why?

As I stared in confusion, Gachi held out the other earbud. I put it in my ear.

A voice so familiar and so dear. Eve's voice.

Come to think of it, she'd said Octopus Game 2 was dropping today and she was doing a watch-along.

...Ah. So that was it.

That was what this was.

"Ha."

A snort of laughter slipped out. I was allowed that much, right?

I'd spent the entire day waiting for this time with Gachi—and this guy had been two-timing me right to my face, listening to Eve's stream the whole time!?

I was allowed to be angry about this!!!

I wanted to get mad. I really did.

...Don't make that face. I can't get angry when you look at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me like that. What is with those drowned-kitten eyes.

More than anything, if I blew up here... I had a feeling I'd never get to meet him like this again.

Because I was certain that the Gachi in front of me would choose Eve over me, no question.

So what I needed to do wasn't vent my frustration by getting angry. I needed to... use this situation.

Keep that guilty feeling sitting inside him. Make him more aware of me.

And then, a Gachi in that state... I was going to take him.

"Huu. One thing just became clear."

"Go Gachi."

"Keep doing exactly what you're doing."

"Because I'm going to change it."

"The opponent I need to take down right now. That's become certain."

The moment I said it, Eve's voice came through again.

Yeah, Eve. Let's start our game.

Sorry, but one of your fans—

I'm taking him with me.