My Girlfriend Appears on My Favorite's Stream

"..."

"Um... noona...?"

"..."

Wa Sol had said she was heading to Eve's place, but the moment she called a taxi she clung to my sleeve and wouldn't let go, looking almost forlorn. She was still sitting in the chair, head bowed, peeking up at me through her lashes — cute enough to make my chest tighten, though the angle also gave me a fleeting glimpse down the front of her top that was anything but innocent.

What was I even supposed to say in a situation like this?

Truth was, I didn't want to be apart from her either, not right after we'd started dating. But we both had things ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we needed to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠do.

So...

"Wa Sol."

"Yeah..."

"How long are you... going to be there?"

I'd meant to say "at Eve's place," but the words wouldn't come out cleanly, so I settled for a vague pronoun instead.

"I don't know... Probably until Eve's stream ends, and then we'll grab something to eat before I come back."

"Got it. Then..."

Anyone who watched them could tell how close Kiri and Eve were. You'd be hard-pressed to find a viewer who didn't know how much Eve leaned on her. And Kiri doted on Eve just as fiercely in return.

I didn't believe for a second that it was just a VTuber bit. Wa Sol genuinely cared about Eve. Which meant that even with a brand-new boyfriend in the picture, she wasn't about to casually break a promise to her. I didn't resent that at all.

I was the same way.

I didn't want to give up Eve's streams either.

"I'll wait. Late is fine. Just text me when you get back."

Tomorrow was Sunday anyway. Staying up late — even pulling an all-nighter — didn't matter in the slightest. More than anything... I wanted the end of the day we'd started dating to be spent with Wa Sol.

"...Okay. Got it."

At that, her face finally brightened a little. She smiled like someone had written the word happy right across her features, and the sight of it sent a sudden urge surging through me — the urge to pull her into my arms.

What do I do...

"Hey. Can I hug you right now?"

I wondered, distantly, how ridiculous I must look asking that out loud.

"Why are you even asking?"

"I just... don't want it to feel forced, so..."

"Hmm... Gachi."

"Yeah?"

"I'm your girlfriend."

"Yeah."

She said it while drifting closer, step by step — then opened her arms and threw herself into my chest.

Whump.

"You can do whatever you want. I like everything you do to me."

At the whisper of her voice, I wrapped my arms around her.

She was soft. Yesterday her body heat had been so feverish I hadn't really registered it, but was a girl's body always this soft? And then there was... something else.

Dangerous... My heart felt like it was about to explode...

Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.

I could hear both our heartbeats. Wa Sol was probably feeling the exact same thing.

I let her go and looked at her. She looked back at me.

Our eyes met, and the moment the angle lined up the way it had before, neither of us needed to take the lead — we simply leaned in until our lips found each other.

And then we pulled apart.

Another short kiss, same as the last one. Maybe it looked childish from the outside.

But I couldn't help it... Anything more and my heart really would give out.

That was when her phone rang.

"Ah — the taxi's here."

Fortunately, the timing was perfect. Unlike some 2010s light novel, the cab didn't interrupt our kiss so much as arrive right after it. Wa Sol stood up and started getting ready to leave, while I waited and let my eyes wander around the room. Looking properly, I realized it was overflowing with Utopia merch.

And of course, the pieces that caught my eye first were Eve's.

I already owned most of them myself. Still — seeing them in someone else's room, and my girlfriend's room at that, felt strangely fresh.

"What are you staring at so hard?"

I turned at Wa Sol's question and found her in a brown cardigan. I'd always thought black-and-white tones suited her best, but... honestly, every outfit looked good on her.

"Oh — just noticing how much Eve merch ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you have."

"Technically it's Utopia merch. Wow... so you don't even see the Kiri stuff, huh?"

Thud.

My heart was in danger again, for an entirely different reason. Her words had just driven a knife straight through it.

"N-no, that's not— it's just the first time I've seen Eve merch in someone else's room, so..."

"Are we 'someone else'?"

"That's a foul..."

I scratched my head, completely unable to answer, and Wa Sol huffed a quiet laugh, took my hand, and pulled me to my feet. (Not that she actually had the strength to haul me up — I stood on my own.)

"Come on... at least walk me to the taxi."

"Yeah. That was the plan."

I followed her out past the front door, still debating whether it was okay to keep holding her hand the whole way — then her earlier words gave me courage.

You can do whatever you want. I like everything you do to me.

Carefully, I laced my fingers through hers.

"...Heh."

Wa Sol laughed under her breath, soft and clearly pleased. I turned my face away out of sheer embarrassment, then glanced left at the sound of it — and saw that the tips of her ears had gone a little red too.

Our first relationship: hesitating and getting butterflies over something as simple as holding hands.

For two adults, it might have looked painfully young.

But at least for the two of us, the distance we were keeping felt exactly right.

After seeing her off, I swallowed the lingering regret and headed home.

Then I immediately pulled up Eve's stream.

Missing Wa Sol was one thing. Eve was Eve.

Hearing how drained Eve's voice sounded, I started to worry about Kiri too — wait. Kiri was Wa Sol. Still hadn't fully connected those dots yet.

How could even her attempts to sound tough come out this cute? I was almost jealous of Kiri for having a little sister figure like Eve...

Wait. I was that Kiri's boyfriend. Was I even allowed to say that?

Diy had recently rolled out an update introducing Platinum Coins, each worth the equivalent of ten Gold Coins. In other words, dropping one meant spending a million won.

...The mere phrase "first time" set the rest of the Adamis off like a powder keg.

The Adamis scrambled over each other to throw Platinum Coins. A million won apiece — and with fees, closer to 1.2 million out of pocket. Just how loaded were these people...?

Honestly, if I'd had the money I would've sent one myself — but the savings I'd scraped together before starting university weren't quite Platinum Coin levels.

...I was going to have to get a part-time job.

Eve fiddled with something on her end, and sure enough, the rule appeared in the notice. A wave of protest rolled in from the Adamis.

Pfft.

This. This was exactly why I loved Eve.

What other streamer on earth would yell at people to stop donating? And actually put it in the stream notice, no less.

I'd always felt it — Eve genuinely just liked hanging out with her Adamis. Part of it was probably that she wasn't great at games, but she'd also said herself that she preferred chatting with chat over playing most of the time.

Alright then. My turn.

Heh. The other Adamis were copying me, but none of them could match the impact of going first.

I won.

A satisfied little smile tugged at the corner of my mouth as victory settled in. I was still soothing the ache of parting from Wa Sol with Eve's stream when—

Someone had donated a message mentioning Kiri. Probably a non-subscriber whose earlier donation had only just gone through — it had a definite late-to-the-party feel.

But our Eve could salvage even a donation like that.

— And she did it in the most shocking way possible.

Naturally, the viewers watching Eve's stream went into near-seizure levels of reaction. And I — the only person who already knew the truth — was still more surprised than I'd expected.

She's already there?

It had only been about ten minutes since she left in that taxi...

Eve must live closer than I thought.

...

..

.

Wait. I just had a weird thought.

I banished the idle fantasy of maybe running into Eve by chance and refocused on the stream — and on my girlfriend, who had somehow already made a voice-only appearance.

Since this wasn't her own stream, Kiri — Wa Sol — sounded a little awkward. What was I even supposed to call her in a situation like this?

Maybe it was because Eve had been the first Utopia member to go live after everything that happened yesterday. Or maybe a bunch of Haras had piled in hoping for news about Kiri.

Either way, usernames that were obviously Haras flooded the chat in droves.

Kiri, for her part, looked a little flustered as she apologized for making everyone worry. Fair enough — she'd announced a break and then suddenly showed up on someone else's stream.

In the end, looking genuinely annoyed — Kirisol? Why did those mash together. Ahem — Wa Sol's words prompted Eve to change the stream title to Sick Kiri Has Arrived~.

But noona, please don't scold her too hard... Eve didn't mean any harm either.