༺ First Time Seeing An Idol? ༻
[Notice : Announcement of the Finalized Successful Candidates for Project CLOSER.]
I was mindlessly fiddling with my phone when I saw that notice and immediately jumped out of bed.
…It’s here! The big reveal is finally here!!
Then I noticed that there hadn’t been any announcement on Luka’s personal channel yet. My heart started to race.
The 21st century Pandora’s box was right in front of my eyes.
I didn’t know how I should put this, but…
Maybe this was how my parents felt when I got my CSAT report?
While I was curious, I was also too scared to open the notice.
Like, what if the reason why Luka didn’t post any updates was because she got eliminated?
…Which meant she hadn’t been streaming because of mental issues…
W-Wait, no way that was the case, right?
Slap.
As the negative thoughts tried to gobble me up, I gave myself a good slap.
“What are you even thinking about, Han Taemin?”
Rather than worry, I should be hyped.
Yes, what I needed was faith.
Faith in Luka’s success. As a Pink Army, I should have that.
I moved my thumb to access the YM Entertainment app.
They must have poured a lot of work into this project.
Just look at the site’s layout, it was amazing.
The hangul under the word CLOSER was written in elegant cursive.
[The streamers on this list were chosen as the final members after internal screening.]
[Jennifer, Leah, Fumurin, Luka, Clover.]
[Thank you to all streamers who participated and the viewers who showed us interest.]
[Please show lots of love and support!]
“Aaaahhhh!”
My neighbors might complain, but who cares? I just wanted to shout!
I knew it! I trusted you, Luka-tan!
There was no way you didn’t make it!
Kim Doah, You. Seriously, I… ahhhh…
Then, before my excitement died down, another notification popped out.
[Luka-nim starting a livestream!]
[Only people who want to see a real idol can join~]
That stream title was killing me.
As a Pink Army, I was ready to greet my idol with fervor.
With my back straight, I sat down in front of the monitor and saw Luka’s avatar smiling brightly on the screen.
[Idol! Idol! Idol! Idol! Idol! Idol! Idol! Idol! Idol! Idol! Idol! Idol! Idol! Idol! Idol!]
[good job, luka! i cried when i saw it just now.]
[Luka-nim! Congratulations!]
[Philosopherdol is back! Philosopherdol is back!]
「Ahem.. ahem!」
She hadn’t said anything yet, but the chat was already flooded with one-liners and congratulatory messages.
「Ah… really… Is this your first time seeing an idol? What’s with all the reactions?」
One corner of her lips was tugged up.
Oooh… Here it is…
How long have we been waiting for this?
I’ve been looking forward to her acting all cocky and witty.
「But today is a happy day, so I’ll let you slide even if you’re messing with me.」
Right after she turned on the blush on her avatar, the chat blew up.
[Luka, I love you! Luka, I love you! Luka, I love you! Luka, I love you! Luka, I love you!]
[luka aiming for the top~]
[lmaooo this is how it should be]
[I mean, she did become an idol, but why is this pissing me off so much?]
「Just kidding, it’s been a while, guys~ Luhai everyone~」
Then, she let go of all her pretense and showed us a bright smile.
「Although some of you might have seen the result at YM Entertainment, I, Luka, am participating as an official member of Project Closer! Woaahh~」
Applause and firecracker emoticons came pouring along with her shout.
「Thank you sooo~ much, Pink Army. I’m grateful for your support, and thank you for waiting until today.」
「To be honest, I’ve been wanting to stream, but I couldn’t. I’ve been busy and didn’t know how to face you guys if I didn’t make it.」
「Anyway, it’ll be a long story if I were to tell you everything, chat… So, let’s take it slow and celebrate the occasion together today!」
Luka, who suddenly played a one-hour mix of club music, rocked her head energetically.
“Shake it, everyone.”
But, there was no way most of those chatters would be familiar with club culture.
Some of them typed ‘shake, shake’ on the chat, but most of them spammed the chat with question marks.
「Haa… these people… you wouldn’t know even if I played the song…」
After checking their reaction, Luka shook her head and turned off the music.
Luka didn’t seem to filter her words, so maybe she hadn’t been restricted by them yet.
It was such a Luka-like answer that it made me smile.
「Anyways, I’ll play music that you can all enjoy!」
What came out next was a collection of classic anime openings.
[LOL now this is a real club]
[re-lax]
[y’all who don’t wanna jam w/ us just leave~]
Luka rocked her head just like what she did to the club music.
「I’m running towards my dream~ huu!」
As she sang along, I had a huge grin on my face.
And of course, the response was twice as good as the club song she just played.
「Um… But I don’t think I can stream for too long today.」
Luka turned off the music to deliver the sad news in a calm voice.
「I just got a call from the company, I guess I have to listen to their briefing and stuff… Also, the contract is already out, so there’s a lot for me to review…」
[where you goingT.T]
[You’re leaving already? You’re leaving already? You’re leaving already? You’re leaving already? You’re leaving already? You’re leaving already?]
[ah… it’s too bad.]
「I’m sad too, but…」
Luka slurred her words, seemingly giving out a sad atmosphere…
「Idols are always busy!」
Suddenly, she screamed her words out.
「Huh? Does being an idol look easy to you? You darn otakus!」
The response was good though.
Most of her chat thought that it was cute. There were those who even thought of it as a blessing of some sort.
「My gosh… you guys… anyways, I’m going to work, so stay put, keep your eyes peeled, and wait quietly, okay?」
I didn’t know who made the saluting emoji, but I was glad it was made.
When everyone responded as if they were vowing their loyalty to Luka, she nodded happily.
「Thank you for understanding! Well… then I’ll be going for real now! I think there’ll be a YM tag on top next time, so please look forward to it! Bye~」
[Luka ended the stream.]
Ugh… I really couldn’t get enough of her…
Still, seeing Luka that happy, I had no regrets.
I had the urge to buy delicious food for Doah because she worked so hard…
Actually, maybe I should do that tomorrow?
I guess it was a good idea to join Junseok.
Minji had notified us that she couldn’t come because she had a private lesson.
Since Doah had already canceled once, Junseok couldn’t just tell Minji off and decided to cut her some slack.
I always had the feeling that getting four adults to gather was harder than it seemed.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been downtown.”
Anyway, I had to take a thirty minute ride by public transportation to get to the VR experience center.
Last time I took one was back when Yoonje took me to the club.
The thought of meeting Doah, who had become an actual idol, made me feel restless.
Just looking at her made me smile.
While it felt awkward, I also felt so happy that it drove me crazy.
-Buzz, buzz
Feeling the vibration coming from my phone, I picked it up.
People didn’t normally call me at this hour, so I was curious who did it.
「Uh, hello?」
「Yes, Taemin. It’s Junseok.」
「Hm? What’s the matter?」
「Ah… So…」
I couldn’t hear the end of his sentence well, so something had probably happened to him?
「What’s wrong?」
「Can you go with Doah tomorrow?」
…What?
「All of a sudden?」
「Yeah… My grandma is in a critical condition.」
His problem was actually more serious than I thought.
「Oh, if that’s the case…」
Since his family was sick, it couldn’t be helped then.
There was no way I’d tell him to play VR ping pong while his grandmother was in a critical state.
「Just take your time.」
That was all I could say.
「…Thanks for understanding.」
「No, no. You stay safe, okay?」
「I’ll tell Doah separately. I’m really sorry.」
「Why are you apologizing? Go to the hospital already.」
「I’ll work hard to make up for it.」
「Yeah, yeah. Think about that later, just go already.」
「Yeah, thank you.」
The call was cut off.
For a brief moment, I felt sorry for him.
Then, I realized that it wasn’t the time for me to worry about others.
“Oh…”
Because of this, I’d be stuck alone with Doah tomorrow.
We’d be trying out VR devices even…
“…I’m doomed.”
First the professor, and now you, Junseok.
I felt my face heat up.
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