Chapter 20
Chapter 20
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: The Outsider Burdened by a Friend
-----------------------------------------------------------------
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The day before the Seoul Character World event. I was already arguing with my parents before heading to school.
"Ah! I'm just leaving early today, just this once! Honestly, perfect attendance awards don't help one bit, you know that! It's not even been long since midterms, so classes aren't progressing much anyway..."
"No way!! When you said you wouldn't go to cram school, I thought, 'Maybe we've been pushing her too hard with academies since middle school, making her a bit rebellious,' so I let it slide. But now you're trying to skip school?"
"I still got second place in the whole school without cram school, didn't I?"
"Hmm... True. But it's not right to leave early from school when you're not even sick, is it? And helping a friend...? You don't have friends. Do you think I wouldn't know that after raising you all these years?"
"No!! Mom!!!! I have friends now!!!"
But neither of my parents believed me.
I get it. If a son who never had a single friend through elementary and middle school suddenly claims to have friends in high school, who'd believe him?
My parents probably think I'm some social misfit who's subtly trying to avoid school because I hate being a loner there.
So in the end, I had to call Yoo So-mi and ask her to help convince my parents.
And a little while later...
"Grrraaah...!! That's my boy! Dad believed in you!!! I was popular in school, so I wondered why my son was so quiet and withdrawn, but this kid's a real player, huh? Uhahahaha!!!"
"Yi-an, if you ever want to skip school, just say the word. But no sleepovers until you're an adult, got it? Sigh... Maybe I pushed you too hard with cram school in middle school... Now that you have some free time, you snag a pretty girl right away..."
They barely cared when I got second in the school, but hearing Yoo So-mi's voice over the phone has them drinking kimchi soup like this.
I swear, I've never seen my parents laugh like this before.
.
.
.
Yoo So-mi and I submitted the early dismissal form signed by our parents and left school at lunchtime.
We had to pick up the merchandise ourselves and take it to the event venue in Seoul.
If we waited until after classes, the character goods broker we ordered from might close up shop, and we'd miss our sandwich shop shifts too.
If that idiot Kim Ji-su had just written the delivery address right from the start, we wouldn't be going through all this trouble. One troll makes so much extra work.
I explained our situation to the taxi driver ahead of time.
We were heading to the publishing industrial complex in Paju to pick up the goods, load them into the taxi, drop them off at the Seoul event hall, and then head home—a real odyssey.
The fare would be hefty, but luckily So-mi's parents offered to cover it, so I was relieved.
The product boxes from the publisher were so big we had to strap them into the front passenger seat with the seatbelt.
That left me and Yoo So-mi sitting side by side in the back. Sitting silently felt awkward, so I decided to ask something I'd been curious about.
"So-mi. I saw it on the promo account last time... All the products at our booth are little sister-type characters. Is there a reason you picked those?"
As soon as I brought up an otaku topic, Yoo So-mi's eyes sparkled, and she jumped right in.
"Oh... Yi-an really has a sharp eye! Yeah. For our booth, I decided to focus on the little sister characters from shows that got popular in the second half of last year. Little sisters are trending strong these days anyway, but unlike other hits where the popularity splits across tons of female characters, the ones I picked have all the fame and hype concentrated on one key character. Since I'm working solo and it's my first time doing doujin at an event, the number I can draw is limited. So I narrowed it to works where I could focus on that one main character—and that's how I ended up with all little sisters! Oh, did you know? 'Yogano Sora' and 'Wolf and Spice' have the same director! That's why their vibes feel subtly similar..."
Otaku trait: They talk a ton when their niche knowledge comes up.
But it was a bit surprising. I'd assumed from our booth's lineup that Yoo So-mi just loved little sister characters.
She chose strategically, considering her workload, the works' traits, and the characters' popularity. You can tell she's dead serious about this.
"Oh... But isn't 'Yogano Sora' an 19+ work? Where'd you even see it?"
"Huh? Uh... Well... Haha! Isn't the character super cute, though?"
...Uh, yeah. Let's do better next time. If it's embarrassing for her to answer, no need to pry.
Still, an 19+ with such a young-looking character makes me—a 35-year-old uncle—hear police sirens in my head. Kinda scary.
I skipped mentioning my age and told her that, and she gave a surprising response.
"Huh? She's a first-year high schooler, same age as us. The anime aired last year, so technically she's our senior..."
...What.
Before regressing, not just student characters my age, but even parents in stories felt younger than me.
I'd usually feel a lonely pang at getting old alone, but now those characters are my age again. Hits different.
After that, we shifted from otaku talk to event logistics and venting about Kim Ji-su.
Stuff like trusting her with tasks but nothing done right, blaming me instead of apologizing, but putting up with it since she's a friend.
I've thought this before, but Yoo So-mi's standards for 'friends' seem off.
The bar to become one is just 'otaku,' yet she acts like all the responsibility falls solely on her.
As a 35-year-old outsider uncle, even normal insider socializing like 'We ate once, so friends~ But real friends are others~' feels weird to me. But her view of friendship seems just as off-kilter.
"So-mi. To me, that 'Ji-su unnie' seems like a weird person—too incompetent and irresponsible to call an adult. Just being an otaku doesn't make someone automatically a friend, in my book."
Yeah. If that Kim Ji-su counts as a friend like me, it feels gross to be on her level.
So I held back my boomer tendencies and spoke gently.
"I don't think of you as a friend just because you're an otaku. I think of you as one because you thought of me that way first.
But honestly, that 'Ji-su unnie' doesn't seem to see you as a friend. Your relationships are your choice, so I won't push, but I hope you'll think it over sometime."
She seemed to mull it over, nodding to herself a few times.
Then she scooted a bit closer and said,
"Yeah. I'll think about it. You can't be friends with non-otaku, but even among otaku, some just aren't friend material, huh?"
Closer.
"I'm really glad I met you in high school. They say friends you make before graduating high school are in a special 'bestie' category, different from college friends, right?"
Even closer. Now I can make out the patterns in her irises.
"I'd pretty much given up on making a 'bestie' in high school. But running into an otaku guy I can actually be friends with like this? It feels like I'm the protagonist in an anime..."
Closer still. Plastered right against me. What what what—the driver's eyeing us anxiously in the rearview.
"Our meeting was clearly fate! We'll be besties through high school graduation, college, jobs, marriage—even till death! Aaah!! I'm so happy!!!"
Ughhh, too close. Everything's touching. Her face is so near I feel her breath. Stop, friend— the cabbie's watching with shaky eyes. Plus, as a 35-year-old with a high school girl this glued to me, guilt and panic are overwhelming.
While I was inwardly burdened by her over-clinginess, her face suddenly fell, and she pulled away.
"Sorry, Yi-an... So us being close was just my delusion? Sorry. You're already skipping school because of me, bothering you, and here I am without shame..."
"No, no no, we are close. You're the only one I'm close to at school—no, in the whole world—along with Han Si-a..."
Hearing that, color returned to her face. And she gloms on again. Not full contact this time, just hips touching as she sits right next to me.
The driver seems less tense now; his expression softened a bit.
"Phew~ Relieved. You're just shy, huh, Yi-an? My little sister does that—friends stick tight or hug sometimes! It was a bit much when she did it to me, but I wouldn't mind at all if you stuck to me or hugged. If you ever get comfy, come to me anytime!"
Yoo So-mi declared this boldly, thumping her chest with her palm.
No... From my view, your sister's a bit weird too.
But I don't like meddling in family matters, so I kept quiet.
We dropped the stuff off at tomorrow's Seoul Character World venue and headed home separately.
It was time to clock in at the sandwich shop after school anyway.
Yoo So-mi and I promised to meet early at the event for booth setup prep before parting ways.