༺ Just A Little Bit More ༻
Taemin oppa was irrefutably a handsome guy.
Like, when he returned to school, the girls in my grade made such a big fuss.
Pity that he wasn’t an idol.
With those looks, I wouldn’t be surprised if he said that he was an actor.
I think his face was smaller than mine.1T/N: In Korean beauty standards, having a smaller face defines you as more attractive.
Of course, I didn’t join the crowd that was swooning over him, but I had to admit that he stood out from the rest.
Even when he just standing on the street a while ago.
From far away, he looked like a model.
Taemin oppa, who was so overwhelmingly handsome…
“No! Why are you shaking the controller like that?!”
It was really hard not to backseat him.
Yeah, I couldn’t watch this anymore.
He was THAT bad.
I admit that I had a rather high standard because I could play the game decently, but he was bad even for a beginner.
Maybe this was what my chat felt when they watched me playing those games.
I swear, I felt like I was going to explode if I kept my mouth shut.
“…Huh?”
“Oppa, there’s a sign to swing to the left, but you keep swinging to the right.”
“Oh, did I do that…?”
“And you have to try to move to the beat! It’s a rhythm game!”
I wasn’t trying to chide him harshly, but after seeing him play, I was practically losing it at this point…
Seriously, spare me…
I let out a sigh as the feeling of shame seized me.
He was seriously so bad at this… I had to be a backseat gamer…
What do I do with this…?
“Doah?”
Having a complexion that changed quickly based on how I was feeling was really distressing.
I could tell without looking at the mirror.
The fact that my face was flushed red.
“…Let me show you how to do it.”
Realizing that I needed time to cool down, I walked to where he was with my head down, not even bothering to listen to his response.
“I’ll teach you~”
After listening to the tutorial I was familiar with, pretending to be clueless, I put on the VR headset.
Then, a familiar background greeted me.
Followed by a familiar intro.
Holding the controller, I scanned the song list from top to bottom.
Since this was supposed to be my first time, maybe I should take it easy… Probably…
But, those who had played rhythm games would know.
How boring and free it was to purposely lower the difficulty level.
But that wasn’t important.
As long as I could cool my head.
Yeah, this was for my own peace of mind.
[Healing Spring]
When I first got into this game, I used to play this song a lot.
I set the difficulty to easy before closing my eyes to match my body to the rhythm.
Up. Down. Up. Up. Down.
I had to move my hands around in hard mode, but I didn’t need to in easy mode.
It was all about shaking it lightly as if you clapped to the beat.
I cleared this song with my eyes closed in the past, so I could hit the notes easily.
Before long, the song was already reaching its climax.
With full concentration, I managed to hit the hardest part of the beatmap in the end and catch my breath.
[FULL COMBO!]
Yeah, well, a real human should at least FC this… Phew…
With that in mind, I took off my headset…
-Clapclapclapclapclap
The employee who helped us and Taemin oppa were clapping.
“Whoa~ your girlfriend is so good~”
And they referred to me as his girlfriend out of the blue.
“Eh… Yeah… She’s good, I guess?”
Meanwhile, he reacted with an awkward smile.
Oh no… I was so focused on the game that I forgot that I was supposed to act like a newbie.
Idiot! Kim Doah, you’re so stupid!
Before I could worry about what he would think of me, Oppa already gave me his impression.
“Uh, Doah. You’re really… good…”
Oppa’s genuine compliment made the blood rush back to my face.
“I mean, it’s in easy mode…”
“Even if it’s easy, it’s amazing that you didn’t miss even once.”
Stupid Kim Doah.
So what if it was in easy mode?
Of course, anyone could see I was good at it after getting an FC.
You know what, let’s just get out of here. I looked around and pointed at another simulator hall.
“Oppa, should we try that one, too?”
I pointed it out at random though.
“Should we? I was actually curious about that…”
“Then should we try right away? Hehe…”
But, when I found what exactly was I pointing at, my face immediately turned ghostly white.
[Not for the faint-hearted]
“Kyaaaaaa!”
I felt a cold shiver run down my spine hearing the scream from inside the booth.
…Should I go back…? Before it was too late…?
The place where I mindlessly suggested Oppa to go was VR Horror Simulator.
For someone who hated scary stuff, this was literally the bane of my existence.
“O-Oppa… I…”
“Doah, look at this. It said there’s wind blowing from the side.”
Oppa looked just like an excited child looking at the explanation board in front of him.
Ah… What should I do…?
“Would you like to come in?”
Oppa nodded when the employee approached us.
“Sure. Let’s go, Doah.”
Ha… What’s wrong with me today?
Closing my eyes tightly, I went into the booth.
I knew that Vtubers and their real-life personalities weren’t the same, but I was honestly quite surprised that Doah asked me to try a horror.
In my mind, the Vtuber ‘Luka’ was someone who’d tremble at the word horror itself.
Luka once ended up playing a horror game after randomly landing on it while spinning a wheel, and she managed to complete it while spending half the time screaming so much that she almost passed out.
Back then, her screams sounded so genuine that I wouldn’t believe it if someone were to tell me that she was acting.
Even her viewers would all agree that she was a scaredy cat…
I glanced to the side and asked her for the last time.
“Doah.”
“…Yes?”
Her voice sounded somewhat stiff.
“Are you okay with scary stuff?”
“Ah, of course… I’m the one who brought you here… but…”
At that moment.
Our views were enveloped by darkness.
Devices set up for a more realistic experience began working.
The spooky background music echoed in my ears, and I felt the chill brush past my cheeks at the same time.
Whoa… I could really feel the chill…
“I… I… Oppa…”
“Yeah?”
Doah seemed to be trying to tell me something, but our conversation was cut short.
Something that sounded like metal scratching against the floor echoed in our ears, before a ghost, its neck twisted 180 degrees, appeared before us.
“Kyaaaaaa!”
Doah’s scream was actually twice as scary as the ghost.
Seriously, what the hell?! Didn’t you say you were okay with this?
I tried to calm her down, but it was no use.
What was written in the notice [Get ready for a horror experience like no other] wasn’t a lie, after all.
I was pretty good with grotesque and scary stuff, and there were quite a few scenes that made me jump. It was easy to tell what would happen to someone who wasn’t used to this kind of stuff…
“Kyaaaaaaa!”
“Aghhhhh!”
“Oppa! Oppaaaaaa!”
This girl wasn’t just holding on to my arm.
It seemed like she was completely losing her mind due to fear. She was so scared that she just buried her face on my chest.
This… Wasn’t Doah, but Luka?
Apparently, she wasn’t acting when she got scared of horror stuff.
No, wait, why didn’t she tell me about this beforehand…?
In any case, I figured I shouldn’t pay more attention to the horror anymore and instead try to calm Doah down.
“It’s okay, Doah.”
“Oppa is here.”
“Doah, close your eyes.”
But… Why was it so long…? Fucking hell.
This was twice as long as the rhythm game we played before this.
She wasn’t even looking at the screen anymore, but she could still hear the sound from her ears, and there was also the overall atmosphere, so she held me with a strong enough grip to make her hand sweaty.
I could feel the t-shirt inside my denim jacket getting wet with tears.
-Boom!
The simulation ended with the scene where the door closed loudly.
Then, bright yellow light illuminated the booth again.
“Doah…?”
Doah didn’t move even after the video was over.
I could only look blankly at Doah in my arms, not knowing what to do.
“Alright~ you can leave the booth now~”
It wasn’t until we heard the employee’s voice that Doah barely pulled herself together.
Of course, she was still holding my hand tightly.
I took Doah, who seemed to have her soul sucked out, to the bench and sat her down.
“…Are you okay?”
From her red eyes, it seemed like she was actually crying back then.
Maybe because she couldn’t form any words at the moment, she nodded slightly after hearing my question.
It was embarrassing to keep holding hands like this, so I thought it should be okay to let go now…
“…Wait.”
Then, a lifeless voice spilled out of Doah’s lips.
“…Can’t we stay like this just a little bit more?”
There was no way I could refuse my oshi’s tearful plea.
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