I Unknowingly Rejected My Favorite

༺ Good Intentions, Wrong Target ༻

[Hello, CLOSERs!]

[Finally! The official release date for our first CLOSER MV is out!]

That was what Manager unnie sent me. My heart already thumped with excitement just by reading her words.

Honestly, I didn’t do much for the actual MV filming.

For the dance, they motion captured some professional dancers they hired, so I only needed to record a few parts of the video.

They also told me that the company was the one who’d handle the more difficult sections.

[Woah, really? When will it be?]

Though she didn’t usually talk much, as expected, Leah was the first one to reply.

Among all of us, she was the most passionate about music, so it was understandable that she would be this hyped up about this news.

[For the full version, it’ll be released on December 1st, while the teaser will be released in the last week of November!]

[kyaaah! i srsly cant wait!!!]

Fumurin, the loudest one among us, in both on and off stream, fully expressed her joy through her chat.

[is there anything we need to do in the meantime?]

When I asked Manager unnie that, she only said that we shouldn’t leak the news to anyone.

[Ahem… Mm!]

It seemed Clover unnie felt like she had been personally attacked as she sent a crying emoji.

I knew we shouldn’t do it, but since Clover unnie had a tendency to leak stuff… I kind of understood.

Either way, we probably sang the same parts together over a hundred times a day.

So, just one moment of carelessness.

And that would likely be the moment we’d accidentally spoil the news somehow.

[In any case, please refrain from leaking the news, everyone! I’ll give you an update as soon as something else comes up!]

After Manager unnie finished her announcement, the members bid her goodbye, as if on cue.

[Thank you!]

[thank uuu~]

[Good work everyone!]

I closed the Voicecord window, leaning my back against my chair, using the force to push it away from where it was.

Then, I placed a hand on my forehead.

Our song would be released, huh…?

I had no idea how well it would do, but the fact that we had a song coming in the first place already made me feel excited.

Because, I always thought of myself as an ordinary person.

Like, my life was completely normal, like everyone else’s; In the morning, I’d drag my bag to go to school, during midterms, I’d pop some energy drinks to force myself to study and so on…

That was why, when I heard that I had an album coming out, it didn’t feel real to me.

Regardless, it was still happy news.

So, I picked up my phone and looked at my recent call list.

[Hae Taemin Oppa]

…Now that I looked at it, didn’t his name on my contact list look a little too plain?

I mean, he was my boyfriend and all…

Shouldn’t I give him a more affectionate nickname or a pet name…?

Recently, I realized that I started wanting more things than before.

Like today, for instance.

Alcohol…

I heard that Oppa would act cute when he drank alcohol, so it left me wanting to have a drink with him so I could see his drunk aegyo.

Heavy Drinker Kim Doah.

Barely anyone knew that name, but yeah, I was quite confident in my alcohol tolerance.

Like, I could gulp down at least two bottles of soju without getting tipsy.

I’ve tested my limit by drinking by myself at home, and based on the results, there was no way a light drinker like him would be a match for me.

Ugh, now I’ve become curious.

What kind aegyo he did exactly to the point that even Yoonje oppa desperately tried to keep it a secret?

Like, if the aegyo was cute cute, then I’d have to tell him to never drink in front of other girls ever again.

Never! Ever!

Imagine if he went around acting cute with that kind of face. Tons of girls would instantly flock to him!

I nodded to myself, thinking that my secret plan was a genius one. Though, it was a little ironic.

Because I did those aegyo in front of thousands of people every day.

And I even got paid for most of those acts.

Thinking so, I felt a sense of guilt in my heart. It felt like I had been stabbed by a knife, even though I had never been stabbed before.

Then again, streaming was streaming!

Real life was real life!

And that wicked boyfriend of mine, Lucario-ssi, had infiltrated both aspects of my life, so he’d have to pay the price for that!

I pressed down on my phone screen with my thumb to make a call.

「Hello.」

Just like everyone else, his voice changed a little whenever we talked over the phone.

If I had to describe it, his tone was a note lower.

「Hi.」

「Yeah, what’s up?」

…Oh, I hated that reaction.

We were literally dating right now, why did he act as if he had no idea why I called him?!

It made me feel like I was the only one who wanted to talk with him!

「…I just wanted to call you.」

「Oh, is that so?」

「So, what were you doing?」

After I went home from school, I had to deal with CLOSER stuff, so I wasn’t able to spend some time with him.

「Me? Uh…um…」

He trailed off.

And that triggered my inner instinct.

「Did you see something strange?」

「No, nothing like that.」

「Then, why aren’t you answering me right away?」

「Um…because…」

「Seriously, what is it? It’ll make you more suspicious if you don’t say it.」

He went silent for a moment.

「…Ka.」

「Huh?」

「I was watching Luka…」

Uh… I didn’t know what to say after that.

Should I be happy because he was thinking of me in a way…?

「Oh… What were you watching?」

「You know, just those clips compilations and stuff.」 

「Yes.」

「The one I was watching was an older one.」

「…Instead of watching those, you should just call me.」

He could just call me! I’d accept his calls every time!

I thought I was his oshi! Why didn’t he call me first before anything?!

「I thought you might be busy, you know…」

He tried to brush it off casually, so I emphasized my point again.

「From now on, if you want to watch a Luka clip, just text me.」

「But, your phone battery won’t last—」

「I don’t care.」

Like, if he texted me, I’d call him right away.

Now that I knew how much he liked Luka, a bit of greed awoke within me.

「…Oppa.」

「Yeah?」

「Do you want to know a secret?」

「What is it?」

If he was interested in CLOSER, I could tell him a lot of stories that would pique his curiosity.

「Promise me you absolutely won’t tell anyone.」

「Okay, I promise.」

He obediently repeated my words like a tamed puppy. It seemed like he was quite eager to hear my story.

「So, CLOSER…」

I deliberately stretched out the silence.

Delaying my words to keep my viewers waiting was a basic skill that a Vtuber should have.

A little while after I did that, he lost his patience, unable to endure, as he let out an exasperated voice.

「Ah, seriously, what is it? Just tell me already!」

Alright, alright, time to stop teasing him.

「We’ll be releasing a song in December!」

「Woah, that’s crazy! No way! Did they announce this? I haven’t seen anyone talking about it, though.」

「Of course not! I wouldn’t be calling this a secret if they announced it already!」

「…Oh, good point.」

Hearing his dumbfounded voice, I couldn’t help but let out a giggle.

「Keep this a secret, okay?」

「Of course, but… Jeez, I can’t believe that it’s finally coming!」

He heaved a deep sigh, seemingly overcome with emotion.

From his reaction, he seemed to be happier than me.

「I was starting to think that the song wouldn’t come until next year.」

「Noo~ of course not~!」

My prediction was they’d release it around the end of the year, and it was correct.

「Uh…so, Doah…」

His voice sounded unusually sly.

That meant he was about to ask for something.

「Yes?」

「Could you sing a verse for me?」

His request instantly made me feel conflicted.

…Since I’ve spoiled it for him already, should I just do it for him?

But, what if he became disappointed after hearing it?

I should lay some groundwork first just in case.

「My throat’s a little sore now, so I might not be able to sing that well…」

「That’s fine with me.」

「Also, it’s been a while since I last practiced it…」

「Don’t worry, whatever it is that you’re singing, I’ll definitely like it.」

…Did this guy even realize what he was saying?

Well, maybe he was speaking to Luka, the vtuber, but his words were enough to make my heart flutter.

「Fine… I’ll…do it…」

Now that I think about it, I’ve sung for others thousands of times, no?

But, for some reason, I felt more nervous singing for him compared to when I sang for my thousands of viewers.

「Those faint, warm memories,」

「My emotions spreading like paint,」

So far so good.

「On that street when we were together,」

Please, my voice! Don’t crack!

「I wait for you even today~」

Ahhh… I did it…!

As I managed to get past the part I was worried about, I let out a sigh internally.

Now, what did he think about that?

Before anything, I should tell him that this was just a preview.

「So, uh… How was it? I’m not good at singing, but it was better during the recordings, trust me!」

「No way!」

My long pathetic excuses got cut off by his voice.

「It was so good!」

He showered me with praises in an excited tone.

「Just from that, I can already tell that it’ll be good! No, actually, good doesn’t cut it!」

「It’s amazing! Definitely will make it to the top chart once the song drops!」

「Haaa… Luka-tan… How can you be this amazing?」

Of course I was deeply moved by his words, because it was the first time I’ve sung a song for my boyfriend, but the more we talked, the more a certain pink-haired emoji popped up in my mind.

「Thank you for complimenting me so much, Oppa. I’m so happy, hehe~」

Nevertheless, I did feel happy about it, so it was whatever.

「Ah. I seriously love you so much, Luka-tan.」

…Huh? What?

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