Something Feels Off About Making Serin Fall for Me (2)
There's something off about the way I'm making Serin fall for me. I'm cosplaying as my virtual avatar, Snow. It might seem like an absurd idea at first glance, but I've been thinking about this ever since I first conceptualized the avatar. The character drawn by our designer, Pipikko, just happened to resemble my real appearance. All it would take is a white wig and blue lenses, and I'd look just like Snow. That thought came to me while I was pondering the most effective way to rattle Serin's composure. Of course, VTuber characters have stylized, deformed features by default, so I had to sharpen my eye makeup and apply even paler foundation. Thanks to those efforts, my current synchronization rate has reached the point where I look like I've stepped right out of the monitor.
Heh… Serin, you should see your face right now. You got hit hard.
With my arms crossed to emphasize my chest, I looked at Serin with a confident smile. Her eyes shook violently, as if this was completely outside her expectations. She must have come prepared with all sorts of anti-Ryu Seolhwa strategies, but she clearly never imagined I'd show up as Snow before the stream even started. Realizing I'd seized the initiative, I decided to push even further. I casually lifted the hem of the sheer fabric covering my thighs.
"Look at this. Isn't my default outfit a little revealing? Honestly, if I walked around outside wearing this, people would think I'm some kind of pervert. It's too much."
"Ugh… Where's the outer layer?"
"Ah, I left it behind because it was cumbersome. It's just us here, so what's the problem?"
What I was wearing now was Snow's default outfit—mostly white with blue accents. Since the concept was a snow woman, it was originally a plain white robe, but without the outer layer, my shoulders and cleavage were boldly exposed. The fabric I was holding up was even sheer, see-through material. I had to thank So-hui for getting such high-quality cosplay ready in just a day.
Ah, she's embarrassed. Serin really has zero resistance to this stuff… What special training, my foot.
When I deliberately leaned forward so she could see better, Serin whipped her gaze to the side. No matter how you looked at it, she was clearly conscious of me and flustered. Even her ears were red. Just like So-hui said, Serin's weakness was definitely anything lewd. If I had to describe it, she was like a young girl who had only just begun to understand those kinds of feelings. Maybe her lack of hesitation with skinship was also a result of that awareness being so faint.
I'm not exactly immune to lewd things either, but when she reacts like that, it makes me the calm one instead.
Regardless, the fact that she was reacting at all was good news. It meant there was a clear weakness I could exploit. I approached Serin on light feet, making no sound. When I got close enough that we could embrace if I reached out, Serin—who still hadn't risen from her cushion—looked up at me and muttered in confusion.
"S-Seolhwa…"
Her voice was pleading, as if begging me to explain what on earth was happening. She seemed completely overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events. But I simply shook my head, as if to say that wasn't right. Then, smiling like I was training a puppy, I replied.
"You should call me Snow, right?"
"No, even if you say that…"
"Snow."
"Eep, Snow…"
"Hehe, good girl. Since you were cute, I'll give you a reward."
I pulled out something I'd hidden behind my back and placed it on Serin's head. She reached up in surprise, touching the soft tips with her fingers, and asked in bewilderment.
"These are… wolf ears?"
"They suit you. It was worth preparing them. Priya."
"Priya…? That's…"
That's right. It wasn't just me becoming Snow—you were going to become Priya too. With our faces close enough that our breaths mingled, I stared straight into Serin's eyes. The ordinary high school student Ryu Seolhwa couldn't seduce Lee Se-rin. But the VTuber Snow could more than seduce Priya. That small difference had become the decisive force pushing her this far. The thrill of having the usually superior Serin beneath me was exhilarating. My mind was so jumbled I didn't even know what was happening to me anymore. I whispered into Serin's ear, my voice filled with a plaintive breath.
"Priya, shall we go do the stream?"
"Ugh… Y-Yeah…"
What came next would be just the two of us in the soundproof booth…♡
…No, no, calm down. I've gotten way too into character. My heart suddenly went cold, and I turned my head to the side. Getting immersed in Snow was fine, but I'd almost crossed a line I couldn't come back from. Feeling my heart pounding like it was about to burst, I quietly calmed my emotions. Mom was outside, after all. I shouldn't cross too many lines. Reminding myself of my original goal, I turned back with a composed smile.
"Ugh…"
"Ugh…!"
There stood a timid Serin, her face flushed red, wearing black wolf ears. Her usual composure was nowhere to be found. It was a sight that made my heart race against my will.
Wait a second. Starting now, I had to go into that narrow soundproof booth with this girl. I hadn't planned on being conscious of it, but… I unconsciously swallowed hard.
Ah, it's still fine. The initiative is still mine.
The silver lining was that there were no signs of a counterattack from Serin. She followed me hesitantly, behaving like a docile lamb. But if this girl finished adapting… From that point on, it probably wouldn't be an easy fight. Yeah, today I absolutely couldn't give Serin any breathing room. I had to push her hard. I steeled my resolve.
Fortunately, the soundproof booth was quite large, so even with Serin inside, there was enough room for us to sit side by side comfortably. It felt a bit like entering a two-person coin karaoke room. Even if it was slightly cramped, moving around wasn't particularly inconvenient. Serin sat on the spare chair I'd prepared earlier and looked around before speaking to me with a curious expression.
"Somehow… this really feels like Snow."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Overall… yeah, I'd call it minimalist."
"You mean it's empty because there's nothing decorated?"
I interpreted her underlying meaning and smiled. Serin averted her gaze, as if that hadn't been her intention. Honestly, it didn't matter if she thought that way. It was the truth, after all. I'd never been particularly interested in decorating things since I was young. My smartphone still had the clear case it came with and the default wallpaper. I had no real interest in accessories, perfume, or even nail art. So naturally, the inside of the soundproof booth was just as plain—only the essentials. A computer with a monochrome keyboard and mouse, a smartphone stand, and multiple monitors. Serin's assessment made perfect sense. It was too much trouble to add anything else.
"Shall we start the stream right away, then?"
"Uh, yeah."
After wrapping up the conversation, I got straight to the point. There was no need to give her time to get used to my appearance. I asked for Serin's consent and immediately activated the stream without hesitation. Maybe it was because we'd announced the real-life collab in advance, but even though it was a weekend afternoon, viewers flooded in at more than double the usual rate. Real-life collabs were rare, after all, so their scarcity value was high. Just as I thought we'd gathered enough viewers, I adjusted the settings to display both my and Serin's avatars on screen simultaneously.
"Eyeha! Hello everyone, this is Snow from Unimori's 3rd generation, Baekgwi Yahang!"
"Today, I'll be intruding right next to Snow. I'm Priya, also from Baekgwi Yahang."
As expected from Unimori viewers, the chat poured in filled with genuine enthusiasm for enjoying this special real-life collab event. Just like me, these people really loved watching members flirt with each other. After finishing the greetings, I quickly gauged the flow while checking the chat reactions. Then, in a rather calm voice, as if conveying today's stream purpose to the viewers, I spoke.
"That's right! Today, just like we announced beforehand, Priya has really come to my room! We can even touch each other directly like this~ Aren't you jealous? Night residents~"
"Th-That's embarrassing, so you can't touch there… Only when we're alone…"
"Hey! I only touched your shoulder just now! If you say it like that, the viewers will misunderstand!"
The essence of streaming wasn't us playing around together, but entertaining the viewers. At this point, it seemed like she knew exactly how to throw material my way so I could respond. Priya shamelessly acted as if she'd been touched somewhere inappropriate. Of course, I flusteredly denied it while banging on the desk, and the viewers laughed watching us. That was basically the vibe of Snow and Priya's streams.
This part feels familiar.
Between Snow and Priya, there was a set dynamic of offense and defense. I, with my friendly and airheaded image to viewers, took the initiative in pushing forward. Priya, who handled everything skillfully but had a screw loose when it came to romance, took the receiving position. It was like an attacker with low offensive power striking first, while the high-offense attacker Serin focused on countering. Naturally, neither side could deal proper damage this way. It was a delicate yuri business, keeping things at the level of cute flirting while suppressing over-immersion. In the VTuber industry, yuri was only permitted up to the point of implying a relationship beyond friendship. If they actually started mixing tongues or groping… that became difficult to respond to.
…But today, we're going to cross that line. Sorry, boss. I'll apologize later!
Thirty minutes into the stream, Serin and I chatted about things only possible in a real-life collab. From the side, her hands looked smaller than expected, or how looking up at her all the time made my neck hurt. Maybe because the VTuber profiles' physiques were almost identical to reality, even talking about real-life topics didn't feel out of place at all.
"Actually, I dressed up a bit today. How is it? Does it suit me?"
"It suits you… but aren't you a little cold?"
"It's fine since we're staying indoors anyway. It's pretty and nice."
Though I didn't mention it to the viewers, right now I was cosplaying as Snow, and Serin was wearing wolf ears. The more we talked, the faster the intervals between our glances at each other became. Even though I'd only put on wolf ears, Serin was starting to look more and more like Priya. And with me properly cosplaying, I probably looked like the perfect Snow in her eyes. Yeah, this much warm-up was enough. Sensing the atmosphere, I decided it was time to bring up the main topic.
"Then, shall we try the content I prepared for today?"
"The content you prepared today… huh."
Since I hadn't told Serin exactly what the content was yet, she wore a tense expression, wondering what would appear. But it wasn't time to bring out the items just yet. After clearing my throat lightly, I spoke in a clear, calm voice so the viewers could hear me well.
"You might feel it's sudden, but… actually, Riya and I had a fight."
"S-Snow?!"
"I can't go into details about the reason, but… there was something we strongly disagreed on. Neither of us is willing to back down, so we had no choice but to fight."
"Still, we can't stay like this forever. So today, as a way to reconcile, we're going to spend time getting to know each other's true feelings. And what I prepared for that is this!"
I pulled out a device from under the desk that was designed to rest on hands. It had various buttons and lamps on top, and straps on the bottom to secure to wrists. Since it was something whose purpose wasn't immediately obvious to first-time viewers, Serin—who seemed to have never seen it before—tilted her head and asked.
"Snow, what is this?"
"You've never seen one? It's a lie detector."
"A l-lie detector?!"
Well, technically it was a toy that checked for sweaty palms, but since it had a heart rate monitor attached to the wrist, it wasn't entirely meaningless.
"From now on, we'll take turns asking each other one question at a time. And if a lie comes out, we'll draw one of the penalty cards I prepared in advance and carry it out. Simple rules, right?"
"Ah, just so you know, this is a couple's card game sold commercially. I don't know the details, but either way, it'll probably have embarrassing things written on it. If you don't want that, then you shouldn't lie, right?"
I smiled at Serin as if to say she should listen carefully. Maybe because I was in Snow's form, I felt unusually composed compared to usual. In contrast, Serin—whatever she was thinking—stared at the lie detector with trembling eyes. We hadn't even started yet, but it was already obvious who had the upper hand.
With this, I'll completely break Serin down.
I won't let her have any reckless thoughts like quitting being a VTuber! I placed my hand on the lie detector with a confident expression, as if daring her to try.
"Alright, then I'll be the first to answer questions. Ask me anything."
But I had been careless. Even though I'd seized the initiative with the surprise cosplay, my opponent was a genius princess who adapted to anything in an instant and became good at it. Moreover, she hated losing and was a fierce competitor who delved deeply into competitive games!
With lingering heat still on her face, Serin gazed at me with moist eyes and delivered a rather shocking statement.
"…Have you ever thought, while looking at me, that you wanted to kiss me?"
"Eek."
Wh-Why would you ask something like that right from the start?! All the composure I'd built up inside me began to crumble away.
