Expected Meetings and Unexpected Meetings (2)
These days, it isn't exactly rare for people to watch anime or read manga. So there's no real need to hide that you enjoy that sort of thing.
Or so the bullshit goes.
Absolutely not.
Even if anime and manga have carved out a place in the mainstream, there's still a massive difference between the people who talk about them openly and the ones who don't.
Think about it. Someone watching a drama in a café versus someone watching anime. Whose way are people going to look at with that weird, judgmental stare?
"Obviously the latter."
And if the person saying it is someone you just met for the first time? They'll definitely put on the tinted glasses and start judging.
I knew that much. Even so… knowing it didn't mean I wanted to hide that Eve was my oshi.
The second I hid it, the feelings of that day might start to feel like a lie.
"Hey, that guy over there's muttering to himself."
"Just ignore him. He's probably watching anime or something."
At some point the girls at my table had all found reasons to leave. Even Hae-an, who'd stuck around the longest, started glancing around uncomfortably, so I told him it was fine if he got up too.
In the end I had this huge table all to myself, and every last dish was mine to monopolize.
Jackpot.
"…There's still a lot of booze left, though. Gulp."
But what now? I didn't have anything left to report to Su-yeon hyung tomorrow.
Guess I'll just say I ate until I was stuffed. Which was true enough—I was full.
"Haa… time to head back."
I didn't feel particularly sad about the atmosphere. We'd only just met today; we could grow closer or drift apart. Even friends who'd spent three years at the same school could end up distant. That was just reality.
I just felt bad that my presence made the others start watching themselves. And Hye-jin in particular had looked a little put out.
"…Still, I should at least say goodbye."
I looked around for the senior who'd brought us all here (turns out she was the science student council president) so I could tell her I was leaving first.
That was when it happened.
"Whoa! Who's that?"
"Huh? …Wow. Is she a celebrity?"
Every freshman's gaze in the restaurant swung in one direction—mostly the guys'.
"…Wa Sol?"
"What? Wa Sol's here?"
The upperclassmen's stares followed with a slightly different flavor. I turned my head along with them and found, unexpectedly, someone I already knew.
"Yeah, I decided to come back this year."
"Right… welcome back."
The council president who'd led us here gave the woman called Wa Sol a quiet smile. The other returning students looked a little awkward, but the overall mood was welcoming.
"So seats are… all taken. Where's free?"
"That one's empty. I'll go there."
The woman called Wa Sol walked lightly toward the only open table—mine.
"Hello."
She looked at my face and smiled brightly.
"Room 201, right?"
"Yes. We meet again, Room 105 sunbae."
The person called Wa Sol was the woman from 105 I'd helped move in yesterday. Apparently she was an upperclassman in the same department.
I didn't know her age, but she was a senior, so polite speech was safer for now.
Problem was, I'd been about to leave.
"Wow, I can't stop looking."
"Hey, drink your booze before I yank your eyeballs out."
The moment attention swung back our way, standing up suddenly felt a lot harder. And if I left, she'd be stuck alone at this table.
Leaving someone alone and regretting it—I'd already done that enough in the past.
"I'm Go Gachi. Should I call you Wa Sol… sunbaenim?"
"Ah, yes. You must've just heard it. Um, if you don't mind me asking about age…"
"I'm twenty-two. Like I mentioned yesterday, I just got out of the military."
"Right, you did. Still makes me the noona, though. I'm twenty-three. Hehe."
Room 105 sunbae—no, Wa Sol sunbae—was a year older than me. She'd just returned from leave, so she was probably a junior.
And when she smiled… she got even prettier.
"So why was Gachi hoobae eating all alone over here?"
"Haha, just like you predicted yesterday—turns out I wasn't exactly popular."
"Is that so? Doesn't seem that way to me~"
Wa Sol sunbae tilted her head and gave a playful smile. With practiced ease she cracked open a beer bottle and filled my empty glass. I received it with both hands, then took the bottle from her in turn.
"Must be the military. Your drinking manners are solid. Ah, that sounded so old-man of me."
"Old men never realize they're old men."
"Nice line. See, I still think you'd be popular."
"The fact that the two of us are monopolizing this giant table is pretty solid counter-evidence."
"Hmm…"
Wa Sol sunbae clearly had no comeback for that. She glanced around once, then let out a short laugh.
"Well then, let's just cheers and drink. You don't have to force it, though. It won't affect campus life at all."
"Just checking—how much benefit do we actually get from the senior-junior relationship in our department?"
"About the difference between grades you earn through hard work and grades you can get while slacking off a little?"
"I'll down it in one."
"Hahaha."
It was strange. Same as yesterday.
Talking with Wa Sol sunbae felt easy. Part of it was that her audio never cut out, but mostly it was just that her voice was nice to listen to.
"I've been feeling eyes on us for a while now. Are they looking at me, or at you, hoobae?"
"Definitely you, sunbae."
I'd felt it since yesterday—Wa Sol sunbae was a beauty.
Not the common cute type or the simply pretty type that was everywhere these days. She was a cool beauty.
Hair deliberately cut short, earrings dangling from her ears. Long legs, a balanced figure, and that mature air she carried. All of it made her cool and, at the same time, even more beautiful.
"Doesn't seem that way to me~"
Same line as before. Sunbae had just arrived so she wouldn't know, but I'd already watched the last few people leave. All I could manage was a bitter little smile.
"Excuse me, mind if we sit here?"
Two male freshmen approached our table. Their purpose was crystal clear—they didn't spare me so much as a glance, just grinned emptily at Wa Sol sunbae alone.
These two had stood out at orientation. Stylish clothes, confident attitudes, sharp features. The type people would call handsome without hesitation.
"I'm not the only one sitting here, you know."
Wa Sol sunbae answered their polite request with an easy smile. The meaning was probably that she was asking for my opinion.
"Ah… I'm fine with it."
"Hyung says it's okay too. Then, if you'll excuse us."
"I'll join as well. Mind if I top up your glass, sunbaenim?"
Naturally there was no greeting directed at me. Freshmen being overly formal with each other would have been weird anyway, but these two had eyes only for Wa Sol sunbae.
"Ah, hyung, you take one first too."
Did he really need to add that "first"?
"So what were you two talking about?"
"Nothing much. Just trading a few jokes with Gachi hoobae."
"Is that so? Ah, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Han Cheon-woo."
"I'm Kim Seo-hyeon."
Whether the earlier question had just been for show or not, they barely reacted to the answer before launching into their own introductions.
There was nothing particularly wrong with the attitude or the look. It just didn't mesh with me.
This seat just got a little uncomfortable.
"Nice to meet you. Not sure if I'll remember the names, but looking forward to getting along."
Huh?
Something just now.
"Please try to remember us if you can. We'll definitely greet you every time we see you from now on, sunbaenim."
"You can forget this guy, but I'd love it if you remembered me. I poured your drink, after all."
"Hehe."
The smile Wa Sol sunbae wore—looking like she found it amusing—was clearly different from the one she'd shown me earlier.
If the previous smile had been an eighty out of a hundred, this one was… about minus ten.
Because that wasn't a real smile.
"Your smile is really nice to look at. Would it be okay if I called you noona?"
"Without even knowing my age?"
"If you're my senior, you're a noona. I got in without even retaking the exam."
"Ah, I see."
"Hey, hey, don't say that in front of hyung. Come on!"
"Hehehe."
Yeah, that dropped it to about minus thirty. As the conversation kept chipping away at the smile score, Wa Sol sunbae finally asked them something.
"I'm curious about something. Why was Gachi hoobae eating alone?"
"Ah… man, Wa Sol noona's got a mean streak."
"Sunbae."
"Yes?"
"I never said you could call me noona yet."
"…Ah, yes."
The sudden firmness in Wa Sol sunbae's tone made the one who'd introduced himself as Cheon-woo flinch. He smoothed his expression right away and continued.
"Well… hyung's right here, so it's a little awkward to say out loud."
Cheon-woo glanced at me and leaned in like he was about to whisper to Wa Sol sunbae.
"I think I'll still hear you fine from there."
He couldn't close the distance any further. In the end he stayed put and spoke quietly… or pretended to.
I heard every word clearly.
"This hyung just outed himself as a hardcore fan a minute ago. Right in front of a girl who looked interested in him."
"Ah, an otaku?"
"Well, I don't look down on people just for watching anime or anything."
The tone of someone who wanted to sound completely free of prejudice. Anyone could see it was dripping with pretense.
"VTubers, huh."
Wait—but yesterday Wa Sol sunbae had definitely…
"I like them too. VTubers."
"Pardon?"
"Is that the reason Gachi hoobae ended up eating alone?"
"Ah… well. For now, yeah."
"Then would you mind leaving the two of us to eat? I like VTubers as well. Especially a group called Utopia. Ah, Gachi hoobae mentioned it too, right? I think he said Eve was his oshi."
Wa Sol sunbae had said yesterday that she knew about Eve.
I'd wondered, but I never expected she was a VTuber fan herself.
"Ah, that… well. Um."
"Sorry. I really want to talk about VTubers, and it's a little awkward doing it with people who don't know anything."
That was a clear rejection.
She'd phrased it nicely, but it wasn't any different from "just get lost."
"…"/ "…"
The two looked at each other, forced awkward smiles, said goodbye to Wa Sol sunbae, and went back to their original seats. They glanced at me on the way, but didn't bother greeting me.
After they left, silence settled between Wa Sol sunbae and me.
She was the one who broke it, speaking quietly.
"…I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"No, for talking like I knew everything. And it seemed like I made you angry too."
"…I wasn't angry at all, though?"
"Huh?"
True. Up until now I'd been silently analyzing the conversation in front of me, but I hadn't gotten angry. There had been some discomfort, sure, but that was only because people I couldn't really talk with had shown up.
"I've never once felt embarrassed about liking Eve. If someone can't accept that, I just keep my distance."
The reason I could even be here right now was Eve. This life had already been saved by her once. I didn't want to live it while denying her.
"More than that… is there any real need for me to get mad at those guys?"
"…Well, they were laughing at you, Gachi hoobae."
Laughing at me, huh. That level was still cute.
Compared to how people at my high school used to mock the bottom of the academic rankings, those two had been downright kind. Back there they hadn't even treated you like a person.
"They're young. I figure that kind of thing can happen."
"Pardon?"
"I saw plenty of people in the military who still hadn't shaken off their high-school habits and acted like that. I've dealt with plenty of seniors and juniors like them, so I'm used to it. More than anything."
Of course their attitude just now hadn't felt good. That didn't mean I needed to get angry at them.
After all, unlike me, those two hadn't even been to the military yet, and for all my looks I was a full-ride scholarship student. By college standards, there wasn't much I was falling short on compared to them.
And above all.
"They never even said anything that was wrong, did they?"
"…Pfft."
The moment I finished, Wa Sol sunbae finally showed a smile that landed in the positive numbers.
Yeah—that smile suited her best.
"Haha, sorry. I think I underestimated you, Gachi hoobae. I thought you were just a little timid, but it turns out you're just really good at being objective about yourself."
Wa Sol sunbae was looking at me with a more relaxed expression than before. The fact that the distance between us felt smaller was proof enough.
"Honestly… to someone like you who's built like that and already acts like an adult, those guys must look pretty pathetic. They're not mature, they obviously haven't done military service, and… they're sticks."
"Well, I wouldn't go that far."
Calling them sticks felt a little harsh.
Then again, compared to the nicknames at my high school, it was still adorable. At least "stick" was still a living creature.
"For the record, the timid part isn't wrong."
"No, thinking about it, you're not timid at all. A timid person wouldn't offer to help a complete stranger."
"That was just a whim."
"Still, I was grateful. And I'm sorry. The way that day ended felt so ambiguous, and it kept bothering me. Actually… something unexpected happened, so please don't worry about it too much."
Probably because of the way she'd acted then. It had definitely stuck with me, but grilling her about it would have been rude, so I just nodded.
"Yeah. Everyone's got their own circumstances."
"…Gachi hoobae."
"Yes."
"Would it be okay if I spoke more casually with you?"
Was this her way of saying she wanted us to get closer?
Well, I didn't mind…
"Yes, of course."
"Thanks. You too… no. Just tell me when you feel like speaking casually."
Ah, she was being considerate.
If it had been a same-age classmate I might have managed, but I wasn't socially smooth enough to drop formal speech with a senior I'd basically just met. Forcing casual speech wouldn't actually be casual.
"Thank you. It's not that talking to you formally feels uncomfortable, sunbae. It's just… my personality."
"No, I like seeing that side of you."
And so, until the after-party ended, I talked only with Wa Sol sunbae.
Of course, the topic was VTubers.
"Eve really is the best. Honestly, most of Utopia's fanbase is probably Adami."
I hadn't had a friend who shared the same hobby lately, so I hadn't been able to have conversations like this. Thanks to Wa Sol sunbae I finally could again, and I rediscovered something.
Talking about a shared hobby really is… incredibly fun.
"Hmm~ I see~"
But why?
"The other members are fun when they're fun, but the only one who always makes you laugh is Eve."
"That much, huh~"
At some point an unexplainable killing intent started pouring off her. Probably right around the time my Eve praise really hit the accelerator…
"Gachi really only likes Eve, huh?"
"Of course!"
Why didn't I hit the brakes that day?
I would come to regret it for a long, long time afterward.