And the Date Begins
Eleven o'clock—the time I'd promised to pick up noona—had arrived.
The eleven o'clock Gachi had set was here.
Truth was, I'd already been waiting outside unit 105 for a full five minutes...
I stood ready at the front door, everything prepared to leave.
The moment I press this doorbell, Wasol noona will come out.
The second Gachi calls, I have to step outside right away.
Such a simple action, yet my heart was already racing.
Just standing here waiting was enough to set it pounding.
Still—it was Wasol noona.
After all—it was Gachi.
I wanted to see her so badly.
Ding-dong~
The doorbell chimed through the hallway, and at the exact same moment the door swung open.
"Noona."
"Gachi."
The day of our first date since we'd started going out. At last we could see each other.
The weather had warmed enough that the sky was clear and bright, and under it Wasol noona greeted me with a radiant smile.
She was wearing a cardigan, and for a second I worried it might be a little too warm for her.
"It's thinner than it looks, so I'm fine. Here, feel."
"Yeah... you're right, it doesn't feel that hot."
"Mm..."
"..."
Then something completely unintended happened.
The fabric I'd touched was right at the collar, so without realizing it I'd ended up holding her clothes as if I were gently pulling her closer.
She was wearing slightly heeled shoes, which made the distance between us closer than I'd expected, and the scent that brushed my nose made me lose just a little of my self-control.
In that state our eyes met and neither of us spoke. Quietly, noona closed her eyes.
Understanding what that meant, I softly laid my lips over hers.
And with that, our first date began.
We left the apartment building and walked toward the shopping district.
I matched my pace to noona's, who looked like she was having a little trouble walking in those heels, and my eyes drifted to the handbag she was carrying with both hands.
"Want me to carry that for you?"
"Hm? Oh, this bag? It's fine. It's not that heavy."
"But it's about to get heavier."
"Why?"
At her question I finally did the thing I'd been thinking about the whole way.
"Huh?"
"This way you'll only need one hand..."
I caught one of the hands holding the bag. A sudden wave of shyness hit me, but I kept my eyes on her as I spoke. Noona was quiet for a moment, then held the bag out to me.
"...Heh. You're right. Then... can I leave it to you?"
"Yeah."
And so I walked along with her handbag in one hand and her hand in the other.
Even just holding hands still felt so unnatural that I had to steer the conversation like this. Still, I needed to change a little.
I couldn't keep letting noona lead me forever.
"Honestly, I didn't think you'd be the one to take my hand first."
"I can do at least this much, you know."
Her surprise made me puff up a little without meaning to.
"Nah, I don't buy it~"
Of course she saw right through me.
"That line... now that I think about it, it's the catchphrase Kiri's been pushing, isn't it?"
"Mm, you caught that fast."
"I-I've only started watching Kiri's streams recently."
"Right~ To Gachi, Utopia is just the group Eve belongs to. You never cared about the other members~"
"Looking forward to today's stream, Kiri-nim."
"Mm! You'd better look forward to it! Hehe."
For any reason at all, if I skip Kiri's stream after this I'm dead. I have to watch it no matter what.
And seriously, past me—why did you have to gush about Eve nonstop in front of Wasol noona like that? Couldn't you have toned it down a little?!
I spent a useless moment getting mad at my past self, and then we finally reached the restaurant we'd been aiming for.
"This is it? The place you found?"
"Yeah. It opened last year, so I've never actually been, but it's the only place around here that serves a proper gyukatsu set."
Gyukatsu—fried cutlets made with beef instead of pork. Naturally more expensive than tonkatsu for the portion size.
For the record, noona had planned most of today's date course. I still didn't know the area well, so she took the lead this time, and I only got to choose the last stop.
"Before we go in... just a second, Gachi. Look over there."
I turned my head the way she pointed, only for her to point the opposite direction and tell me to look there instead. When I turned again she nodded, looking pleased.
"Yep. No earphones today."
"...I already said I won't do that again."
"Hehe. You never know."
This noona sure knows how to hold a grudge. Well, it was mostly my fault, so I couldn't really argue.
"Let's go in. Gachi, you can eat a lot, right?"
"Yeah, more than average."
"Makes sense, looking at your build."
"You're not calling me a pig, are you?"
"If I had to say, more like a gentle bear."
"That doesn't sound like a compliment either."
"Why? I like bears."
She's teasing me, right? Fine, I'll tease back.
"...Bears get fierce sometimes."
"Should I look forward to that too~?"
Wasol noona fielded my little jab with perfect ease.
Yeah... I still can't beat her.
Once we were seated and had ordered, we talked a little about Utopia. Then noona asked me something.
"By the way, what's your username?"
"Ah, I never told you... it's this."
I opened the Diy app, went to my account screen, and showed it to her. Noona studied the name "Eve's First" for a long moment before asking again.
"You... didn't change this midway, right?"
"No. It's been like this from the start."
Technically I didn't even have a name at first. But since I'd never changed it from this one, it wasn't a lie.
"Okay. But the name is pure Adami."
She said it while giving me a little side-eye.
"Th-that's... well..."
"Hehe. If your oshi ever switches to Kiri, will you change it to 'Kiri's First'?"
"I... don't know."
Sorry, noona, but I honestly couldn't imagine that ever happening. Me changing my oshi from Eve to some other VTuber?
I couldn't even picture it. It felt completely impossible.
I still couldn't forget what happened that day.
"Tch. Right now you're thinking there's absolutely no way, aren't you?"
"...Who knows."
"Ah, I knew it. Just you wait~"
She huffed and took a sip of the drink that had arrived first, straw between her lips. Watching her, I thought that at least in real life my oshi was definitely Wasol noona.
"What are you staring at?"
"The way you're drinking is cute. I looked without meaning to."
"...Pfft. Your face is all red, Gachi. Cute."
"...Yours is red too."
Why do we keep saying things that make us embarrassed the second they leave our mouths?
Still, this kind of shy feeling was a privilege only people who'd just started dating got to have, so I wanted to treasure it.
"Ahh~ How am I supposed to make Kiri your oshi?"
...Is she asking me?
Hmm. I think it's impossible. But if there was any chance at all...
"If she showed me a light stronger than the one that lit up my dark world. Maybe then."
"A dark world?"
"...Yeah. Old stuff."
We still hadn't told each other much about ourselves. It wasn't anything I needed to hide, but I didn't feel like bringing it up right now.
There was no need to drag a dark past into a moment this purely happy.
A little later the gyukatsu arrived. We set the pieces on the hot stone grill and cooked them to our own preferred doneness.
The gentle aroma already had my mouth watering.
"Mmm~ Smells amazing. You said you eat pretty much anything, but you've got a favorite food, right?"
"Yeah. I basically love Japanese food. Sushi and tendon are probably my top two."
"Ohh~ Good. Those are both things I like too."
"What about you, noona?"
"Me... tteokbokki and malatang. Whenever I can't decide what to eat, I just order one of those two."
Most girls seem to like those two.
"Lucky. I like tteokbokki too."
"Really? I always thought guys didn't eat much of it."
"My mom loves tteokbokki. I've been eating it since I was little, so I guess I got used to it."
"Hehe. Sounds like you and your mom would get along great. Maybe I should go say hello sometime... ah."
The moment the words left her mouth, both of us froze exactly as we were.
Did that mean... had she already thought that far...?
"Th-that was... just, if the chance ever comes up to greet them... that's all I meant..."
"Ah, right? Yeah... if the chance comes..."
"Yeah. Only if the chance comes..."
We went back to eating in an awkward atmosphere. Of course the words from a second ago kept circling in my head.
Luckily the awkwardness didn't last long.
Because the gyukatsu turned out to be ridiculously good.
"This is delicious..."
"Yeah. Glad we came..."
Both of us wore happy faces as we ate gyukatsu so good it practically melted on the tongue. I genuinely wanted more.
But considering my wallet, I decided to hold back for today.
Ding~
"Ah, one more serving over here, please."
I was just putting the last piece in my mouth with a slightly regretful feeling when noona pressed the call button beside her and ordered another plate of gyukatsu.
Is she going to eat more?
"You still hungry?"
"No. You just looked like you weren't full yet."
Ah, so it showed. I was grateful, but ordering another one would really stretch the budget...
I couldn't exactly say "I don't have money, cancel it," so I just drank some barley tea.
"Don't worry. I'm paying for everything. Eat as much as you want."
"Huh?"
Even after the tea, my throat felt strangely dry.
Of course it did.
I hadn't heard anything about noona treating.
"Why?"
"Because I want to. It's our first date."
"...I'm grateful, but I've got money saved from my part-time job too. So..."
This wasn't about male pride. Even if she was older and earned more, I just wanted this part to feel equal.
Looking at me, noona smiled gently, took my hand, and called my name.
"Gachi."
"Yeah."
"What am I to you?"
"Well... my girlfriend."
"Then just accept it. I want to treat you. I want to keep doing things like this for you from now on."
The way she said it, she was simply... looking at me. Smiling, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Watching her, I finally noticed one particular feeling inside myself.
Honestly, the moment she said she'd pay, I'd thought she didn't see me as an equal.
Even though noona had never once acted that way.
I'd been pretending otherwise, but deep down I'd been carrying a quiet inferiority complex toward Wasol noona—older than me, already earning money.
And to that version of me, she had simply said, "I want to keep doing this for you."
I roughly understood what she meant. If we kept dating, there would definitely be conflicts. Money would be one of them.
If the one who earns more only ever "takes care" of the other, the relationship stops being equal. So noona had made the first move.
Let's just do what we want for each other. Don't feel burdened by it.
And if the positions were ever reversed, she would accept it the same way.
Once I understood, I couldn't shake my head.
"Okay. But then I'll do whatever I want for you too."
Hearing that, noona gave me a smile that scored at least a ninety and guided my hand to her cheek.
I felt the soft warmth of her skin as her gentle voice reached me.
"Mm. I'll be looking forward to it."
"Don't look forward to it too much."
"Nope. I'm going to. We're going to keep being together anyway."
That last part felt connected to what she'd said earlier. Well, I had no intention of breaking up with her either.
Keep being together... together... ah.
In that moment I remembered the rest of something my dad used to say when I was little.
Become someone of value. If it's for the person precious to you.
The meaning Dad had intended was probably different from what I felt now. But thanks to those words, I was able to make a resolution.
I'll work hard to become someone of value soon. Because I won't be able to keep calling her "noona" forever...
Not behind the person precious to me, but beside her—so we can walk together.
