120. Soup
I sit quietly and stare at my phone screen.
“Hmm…”
No. Even when I was in contact with Doa, I never worried about this.
When I started talking to the kids I always talked to, I started to feel nervous.
Over 300 alarms have already accumulated.
Like most really close friends, we didn’t pay attention to what each other had to say.
Because it is common for people to focus on what they want to say, I also tend to watch it in moderation unless there is something special going on.
When I touched the screen with my thumb, the first phrase that came up was…
[Hey. Don’t you know that Haruka-chan is the top these days?]
Perhaps it was different, as usual today, the kids were engrossed in a talk that only they knew.
[What does it mean?;; Until last week, you were thinking about what a rabbit princess is, but then you changed it?]
[ㄴㄴㄴㄴ Oh really, I’ll send you Haruka-chan’s clip. You really need to see it.]
What is Haruka-chan? f*ck you.
People who aren’t nerds just conveniently group us together if they like cartoons or animations, but I thought this word was actually a very comprehensive word.
If you are someone who likes animation, you should watch all the animations of each quarter.
People who like vertubers are people like me who watch clips and spend all day glued to the broadcast window.
There were people who liked games and only devoted themselves to games as if it was a waste of time to talk like this.
[Guys.]
I’m attracted to aggro because it’s been a while since I chatted.
[Oh. What. Han Taemin? Long time no see?]
[Taemin Kun, why doesn’t this guy even ask to see you even though it’s winter vacation?]
[I’m actually glad I didn’t watch it.]
I didn’t even tell them what the purpose was, but seeing them giggling among themselves made me already hate to get to the point.
From noble mtl dot com
Ah. f*ck. Is it really right to show them this?
It could have been like lying down and spitting, but Doa’s face came to mind again and I shook my head.
Yes. I heard you’re curious. Doaga.
Even if I were to sell my face and become famous, it could have been a worse experience.
[Let’s see your face. I also had a vacation.]
It was rare for someone to ask to see me first, so I had to suffer from an awkward feeling while talking.
[…Did I eat something wrong? Why then?]
Hey. Can’t you see I’m forcing myself too?
I was getting really annoyed with the boys who showed no signs of affection, but now is the time for me to calm down.
[My girlfriend said she misses you.]
Yes. Shiba. I decided that it would be better to just go in headfirst rather than try to act like a girl, so I came up with my conclusion openly.
A flood of question marks and emoticons in bizarre shapes.
[Are you dating?]
[Well. You can do it.]
[No. Why don’t you tell us?]
I knew your reaction would be like this, so I didn’t say anything!
They show hostility like natives with bamboo spears, but I will tell you that I like it.
[…Is this a kid we know?]
[No. I am a junior in college.]
[But that idiot Han Tae-min said that his girlfriend was only in Luca land and that she was marrying Luca land, so why did he suddenly act like that?]
Ah. Luca-tan is my girlfriend. You bastard.
My fingertips were itching to tell the truth, but I couldn’t.
[Ah… I feel sorry for Luca-tan… It’s okay. Is it okay if I make you pretty?]
At Kyu-ho’s words, I felt goosebumps rising on my back.
[It’s enough if you just leave that traitor Taemin Han and be happy with Luca-tan and me. Diarrhea]
Be patient. You have to be patient.
After trying hard to get my mind together, I clicked on the chat.
[So I’m not going to watch it.]
If I didn’t watch it, there was no reason to put up with this sh*t.
[What should I do? Everyone? I looked at the date.]
[Me too.]
[To be honest, I’m just curious about Taemin Han’s girlfriend, so I guess I’ll just go?]
Still, most of the kids reviewed it positively.
[Hey… But is it okay to tell my girlfriend that I told Taemin to turn off 3D?]
[Don’t do it.]
Another reason why I am afraid to introduce my friends.
It was because they knew my dark side all too well.
Most people thought that was what really close friends were like.
I thought we were just giggling and saying whatever we wanted to say without hiding anything from each other.
Before I met Doa, I also poured out a lot of words in the chat room that I couldn’t bear to say out loud.
[It would be fun if you showed me a picture of Luca-tan.]
Don’t do that. Kid commit suicide.
[Ah. But Luca is really fun these days.]
[I don’t watch Clojure these days. Domestic f*cking fun.]
It came out.
When you practice virtue, you always appear.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Really, isn’t it a mainland dish anyway? Oh, I’ll show you some clips too. Are you sure you will like it too?]
I suddenly felt as if the atmosphere was turning on Luca, and I became very irritated.
[What do you say? The mainland kids’ popular closer isn’t even worth half of. Look at the average viewer and video views.]
[Deceiver Taemin Han, go and mind your girlfriend~ What kind of vertuber are you~]
No! So my girlfriend is a vertuber?
After leaving behind what I wanted to say, I thought it would be less painful if I just grabbed the blade.
[Hey. Well, in front of subway exit 9 this weekend. Ok?]
[ㄱㄱㄱㄱㄱㄱㄱㄱㄱㄱㄱ]
I thought it would be okay if I just spoke nicely to Doa…
[Hey. Taemin.]
[?]
[But is your girlfriend pretty?]
That’s right. This question hasn’t come up yet.
This is a soup rule question that comes up in any men’s group chat room, but it’s actually a good thing that it hasn’t been asked until now.
[ㅇㅇ Pretty]
If something is pretty in my eyes, then it is pretty. What.
[Oh. Photo point.]
Should I show it or not?
Actually, I didn’t think there was a need to show it if I was just going to deliver news online, but I’m watching it on the weekend anyway…
I uploaded the photo I took with Doah to the chat room for a while and tried to delete it, but everyone succeeded in checking at once to see if the kids were waiting.
[Write… Ah. I think it’s a waste of you.]
[ㅇㅈ. Looks like you won by a landslide.]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I thought you had high standards because you looked at Vertuber like that.]
[You idiots who have never had a girlfriend.]
Ah.
The next message was not posted in the frozen group chat room.
* * *
“Ah! “Why did you show me that picture!”
I was happy to introduce her to her friends, but it was difficult to forgive her brother’s atrocities.
“No. “I thought you liked this photo.”
“The reason I like this is… Ah… I just liked it because it came out naturally, and when I showed it to other people, I should have shown what came out well!”
What do your friends think of me?
“This was taken without makeup.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Now that it was like this, I had no choice but to make it look completely pretty in order to resolve any misunderstandings.
I wanted to look like an unashamed person worthy of my older brother, so my motivation flared up.
“Oppa. “From now on, I’ll show you my clothes, so tell me what you want to wear.”
I opened the closet and took out the clothes I was thinking about one by one.
“How about this?”
“It’s pretty.”
“Then what about this?”
I tried holding it out to see the reaction, but my brother just said that everything was pretty, like a parrot.
It was nice to hear, but it didn’t help at all.
“Ah… Please answer sincerely. “I’m serious.”
“But it’s really Taoya.”
My brother looks into my eyes with a very serious voice.
“Yes?”
“I don’t think you need to decorate like this. I am.”
“Why?”
Of course, it’s your first time meeting, and shouldn’t you be as careful as if you were meeting for the first time?
It is not for nothing that they say that first impressions are important.
“Those bastards aren’t the kind of kids who come out wearing proper clothes anyway.”
“…Eh?”
When I tilted my head to see what it meant to come out without proper clothes, my brother continued to explain further with an embarrassed look on his face.
“So… Um… The kids… Aren’t interested in things like clothes.”
You’re not interested in things like clothes?
Well. Just looking at my brother, I thought it was possible since he wasn’t really interested in fashion.
“Still, first impressions are important…”
“No. “They don’t really care about first impressions of themselves, so you don’t have to try too hard.”
It was quite rare to see my brother speaking decisively, so I nodded slowly.
“Uh… Then what are your friends interested in?”
I thought it would be important to find out about interests in advance to create a non-awkward atmosphere.
I wasn’t that good at speaking either.
If necessary, it didn’t seem a bad idea to do some preliminary study before going.
The story I wanted to hear most was about my brother’s school days, but if there were any other topics, I thought it would be good to talk about them together.
“…Vertuber.”
Did I hear wrong?
Vertubers are your interest…?
When I frowned as if to ask him to say it again, my brother brushed his head upward and repeated the answer to me clearly.
“They are the broth that really likes vertubers.”
I never thought the term ‘Yuyusangjong’ could be so threatening.
A ray of cold sweat ran down my back.
