123 - I Unknowingly Rejected My Favorite

EP.123 #123. Three Idiots "Do you love our Taemin a lot?" "What? Hey! What are you doing!" I hurried to stop him, but unexpectedly, it was my girlfriend, Doa, who intercepted me. "...Oppa. Just a moment." When her fingers touched my shoulder, I couldn't resist any longer and had to let Hyunsu go. But it felt like things were already going downhill from the first line. I was sweating nervously, unsure of where the ensuing conversation was headed. "Of course, I like Taemin oppa." "Then, if Taemin happened to be a bit... lacking... could you still love him?" My friends giggled behind us. Doa looked at me with a puzzled expression. Even though she seemed unsure, Doa nodded with a slightly uneasy face. "Oppa, I don’t think Taemin is lacking in any way, but even if there were some shortcomings, I think I could understand." No, Doa. Don't take those idiots seriously! Hyunsu was the only one looking extremely serious, making Doa seem to perceive sincerity in his words. "Then, Doa." Hyunsu adjusted his glasses with his signature pose. "Please prepare yourself to hear this." "...Alright." Unable to bear it any longer, I tried to cover Hyunsu's mouth, but Doa blocked my hand. "He wants to say something. Why do you keep interrupting him?" "I mean, you really don't need to listen to that guy." "If it's really nothing, then it should be fine to hear him out, right?" Her sharp eyes armed with logic pointed out my weak spot, and I ultimately raised a white flag. "Doa, Taemin has..." Hyunsu closed his eyes tightly. "He actually has someone he has liked for a long time." "Hey! You idiot!" A curse slipped out, but there was something more important than beating Hyunsu to a pulp. "...What?" Doa looked confounded. "W-What do you mean?" Truly flustered, she stammered her words. "I don't think Taemin would ever deceive you, but as his friend, I can't let him walk down the wrong path..." Cutting it off like that would make Doa misunderstand! "Taemin! Apologize now!" Hyunsu accused me with a 'You’ve been exposed!’ sort of gesture, while I was sitting across from him, feeling a murderous urge. As our voices rose, people turned their gazes toward us, and the staff hovered uncertainly, unsure whether to intervene. "Let's talk outside." Hyunsu, still maintaining a serious demeanor, nodded his head firmly. Kyuho snickered as if he would die laughing at the situation, and Sungjin looked back and forth between Doa and me with curious eyes. A bright winter noon. After lunch, as we walked out, a multitude of people wandered the streets aimlessly. We headed to an ice cream shop. The boys each ordered what they usually ate, and I told them to go ahead upstairs, offering to pay for us all. "...Doa." Since leaving the restaurant, Doa had been silent. She seemed to be certainly bothered by Hyunsu's nonsense. "...Is it true?" "No! Not at all! How could that be true?" "Then why do they say such things? Are they really such mean-spirited people that they would play such a nasty prank on someone they just met?" ...Ugh. My blood pressure is rising. Calling all my friends idiots wouldn't help, since my pride was also on the line for having brought them here. As I pondered where to start explaining, I leaned down to clarify the facts as plainly as possible. "Lean in a bit?" Though she gazed hesitantly, Doa offered her ear to me. "Regarding that person they said I liked..." "...Yes." "They were talking about Luca. They mistakenly think I met someone in real life who looks like Luca, so that’s why they said that." Doa blinked with a somewhat dumbfounded expression, as if she was processing what I said with a bit of buffering. "Uh... Wha...?" She pointed to her own face with a finger. I nodded enthusiastically to signify affirmation. "Yeah, that’s right. You. They think you’re like that person!" "Um... customers, do you need anything else?" The server approached, seeming to have prepared all the ice cream for my friends. "Ah, then we'll have..." After placing five ice creams on a tray and heading up to the second floor, the boys greeted us with solemn expressions, suggesting they had cooked up another strange plot. "Doa." This time, Hyunsu sat in the middle like some sort of villain. "Yes." Perhaps due to my explanation, her voice was much calmer as she answered him. "You know Taemin likes anime and comics, right?" "Of course, I like those things too." Startled by her unexpected response, the boys hesitated, but Hyunsu continued, looking pleased with the answer. "Taemin has always mentioned liking a Vtuber. Oh, maybe you don't know about Vtubers? They're streamers who use character avatars online." "I know what a Vtuber is." As if they had planned it, Kyuho picked up where Hyunsu left off, seemingly in a pre-arranged order like our earlier transaction conversations. "Taemin likes someone named Luca, and Doa, you look so much like them. In the way you speak, among other things." "So?" Her voice was serene, like a calm lake. Having regained her composure, Doa's tone was distinctly different from Luca's, calmer and more assured. "Just in case this might cause issues in your relationship later, and given Taemin's awkwardness, we thought it would be better if you knew..." It was both touching and made me want to flick them on the forehead. If what they imagined were true, I would indeed have been doing something terrible to Doa. If I had been secretly meeting someone while hiding it, I'd indeed be a piece of garbage. Had one of them claimed to meet a streamer lookalike, I would have rolled my eyes and told them to stop immediately. However, the fact here is different, so... Rather than engage in pointless arguments about the truth of their words, I hoped to leave matters to Doa to handle. "...So, this Luca person is someone oppa has liked for a really long time?" "...Yes, that's right." "Is that person popular?" The three idiots exchanged glances, gauging each other's reactions. "Yes, they're doing incredibly well these days." "In the Vtuber realm, they're almost top-tier!" "Oh. But personally, I don't think they're more charming than Doa." Sungjin, seemingly wanting to defend me, added a last remark. Whether it was positive or negative, I couldn't quite tell. "Hmmm..." Doa nodded as if intrigued. "I see." Even though they caused the trouble, my friends seemed anxious to mend the situation, hurriedly pitching in. "Oh! But Taemin really said he likes Doa, even if he has his quirks." "Right. And I'm sure Doa has her own unique charm... Haha..." "As for me." Doa gently closed her eyes. "Even if Taemin oppa continues to like that Vtuber thing, it doesn't matter to me." She glanced my way, as if ensuring I heard her. "I'm confident." A playful smile danced on her lips. "I'm confident he'll like me more than that Luca person." While I understood what her words implied, the reactions across from us... Yes. The phrase 'shock and awe' seemed to fit perfectly. Hyunsu dropped the pink spoon he was holding, and Sungjin stared at me with an expression of disbelief. "So it's all okay! Thank you for your concern." After that remark, they didn't nitpick that subject any further. * * * [Hey, Han Taemin. I take back what I said about you being too good.] [Why lololololololol] [Ah, damn. Weren’t you hit hard by reality at noon?] [For real, Doa is an absolute angel. Like the kindest person ever, covering for that lunatic Hyunsu like that.] [Hey, who's a lunatic? And by that logic, this place is just a mental asylum.] [Is this what they call the difference looks make? It feels like a wall;;] [lololololol But if someone can understand that much, just marry her. I doubt there’s anyone else who would.] [Argh... honestly, Han Taemin is too good for that idiot. The next time I meet Doa, I should tell her to run away immediately and break up.] [Shut up. I'm not kidding, I was drenched in cold sweat cleaning up your mess today.] [Damn. So annoying I won’t send money. You have a girlfriend, so you pay. Peace out.] Setting my phone aside, I gently kissed the forehead of the sleeping Doa next to me.