I Unknowingly Rejected My Favorite

༺ I’ll Do It For You ༻

「…Did I agree to do something?」    

Huh, did she not remember?

Well, she was half-asleep back then, I guess. I’ll just explain it to her.

「Ah, yeah, we agreed to go karaoke together.」      

Hopefully she didn’t have anything planned earlier in the day.    

I knew she had a collab with other streamers in the evening, but we should be back home by then…

「Ah! Right! Yes, that sounds good to me!」     

The rising and falling tones of her disconnected train of thought was similar to when she was streaming.    

「Do you need to be back by a certain time?」    

I already knew what her reply would be, but I asked for her schedule anyway, just in case. 

「Yeah, I should be back by…seven? Mhm, that sounds about right.」    

「That means we should have time to grab some dinner. Sounds good to you?」    

「Yes, we won’t go too far from our homes anyway, it should be fine.」     

「Alright. Then…I’ll see you at three?」    

That should be enough time for us to have fun at karaoke and get some dinner.

「Okie.」    

「Alright. See you later.」    

After hanging up the call, I turned my gaze toward the monitor.

“Hmm.”    

My currently opened tab was a certain music streaming site.  

Honestly, I’ve never really gone to a karaoke with anyone else. I really only agreed to go because she asked me to.

Well, actually, I did go with a bunch of people once. 

But I only sang once.  

And that was only because everyone in that group had to sing at least once.

After everyone had their turn, those who liked singing continued to sing. As for me, I just sat down while shaking a tambourine until it was time to go home…  

But this time would be different from back then.

How much singing would I need to do…? 

Honestly, I would rather make Doah sing for the entire session after paying her 20,000 won.

But I knew that wasn’t the right thing to do.

Because this wasn’t a fan meeting with Luka-tan, this was a proper date between her and me.  

That meant I would need to sing too…   

But, when I scanned the top hundred songs, I couldn’t find anything that I was familiar with. 

Well, I might recognize some of them if I were to play them, but that wouldn’t be enough for me to sing those songs.

And there was also the fact that I was kind of tone deaf.

I had no musical talent whatsoever.

I gave up on learning the currently popular songs and scanned through the songs that were released around five to ten years ago instead. 

There should be songs that I listened to a lot before I became an otaku.

Like those songs that my parents played in their car or something like that.

As I hummed along to the lyrics, I recalled vivid memories of the past.     

Music really was beautiful.     

Just by listening, memories of the past would come rushing back.   

As I listened to the song that I had once sung along with my classmates, suddenly it felt like I became a grade school student again. 

“This is a really old one, though…”    

Despite that, at least I could make do with the song, so I saved the lyrics on my phone.

Since I was only two years older than Doah, she should recognize the song.  

I would cry if she didn’t…

After saving roughly 10 songs, I thought that it should be enough and wait patiently until the clock hit three.  

* * *

Kim Doah. Age 21.     

An expert on solo karaoke.

Usually, I had an endless roster of songs to sing, but today was different.

Because today was the day I would go with my first boyfriend.     

As I scrolled through the playlist, my headache intensified. 

What kind of songs did Oppa like?    

Calm ballads?

Those idol pop songs?

From his chat logs he seemed like a hardcore otaku, so should I just sing some anime openings?

Since we agreed to meet in front of my house, when the clock hit five minutes before the appointed time, I put on my sneakers.

I dressed as comfortably as possible.     

Because I recalled what had happened at the DVD bang.     

Dressing up as nicely as possible only backfired on me because I ended up catching a cold instead. 

So, I decided to only put in the effort to dress up when I really had to.

Since we’d only go do some coin karaoke today, I shouldn’t need to doll myself up.

After tidying my hair in front of the mirror, I opened the front door.    

As I walked down the stairs, I found Taemin oppa leaning against the wall, his head slightly bowed.    

Even when I opened the glass door, he didn’t even take a glance at me, seemingly so focused on whatever it was on his phone screen.

“What are you looking at?”    

I tried to sneak a glance at his phone out of curiosity, but…    

“Oh shit! Hey!”    

As if seriously surprised, Oppa frantically took a few steps back before placing his phone back in his pocket.     

“When did you get here?”    

“Just now?”    

“You should’ve said something when you came out.”    

“But, I did? I literally called you out just now.”    

Why was he so surprised?    

“So, what were you looking at?”    

“Nothing important.”    

“If it isn’t important, then you can just tell me!”    

Various possibilities flashed through my mind.    

But, the most likely of them all was definitely…    

“…Were you looking at Luka?”    

“Ah. Yeah, I was.”    

For some reason, I felt a bit mischievous today.      

Even though I was Luka.    

“Today, you should record my singing.”    

Yeah. This felt right.     

I grabbed his hand, staring deeply into his obsidian-colored eyes.     

“Not Luka.”    

Not the other me.    

“Record Doah singing instead.”    

Capture the real me instead.    

My ears heated up.    

Ah. Maybe speaking in the third person was too much.    

If he were someone who hated excessive displays of cuteness, he probably would’ve given a cold reaction. However, this guy was subbed to me for over a year.

There was no way he’d give me a cold reaction!  

Embarrassed, I waited for his reply.    

“Then….”    

The tip of Oppa’s finger began to shake slightly.     

“Do you think you could sing that anime OST you sang last week?”    

…Last week?    

As I recalled what I had sung last week, I questioned him.    

“…Don’t tell me you’re talking about that Idol OST?    

“…Yeah. I really want to listen to the full version…”    

Even though he said it himself, Oppa seemed extremely embarrassed, gazing at the floor.    

Geez. Sure, I told him I would sing for him, but why did he have to pick that one?    

Ah…Seriously…    

It was a song filled with hearts, love spells, and all the cringy Japanese terms.    

Even when I was streaming using my virtual avatar, it was a struggle just to hum that song.     

It felt like I would lose something precious as a human being if I were to sing that song all the way through the end…

“Ah. Is that too much…? Sorry.”    

“…I’ll do it for you.”    

But, that was the meaning behind falling in love!  

To let yourself be blinded by it for the sake of someone who was dear to you!

“…In exchange.”    

Well, I understood the logic, but I still hated it.  

“Change your messenger app’s profile picture to mine.”     

“My messenger app?”    

“Yes.”    

That should be a reasonable condition, no?  

“I mean I can do that, but do you really want me to do that?”    

Honestly, when our relationship first started, I wouldn’t really care about something like this.

But ever since Jihee sunbae appeared…     

I felt the need to mark him.    

To prove that Taemin-oppa was my, Kim Doah’s girlfriend.   

News about our relationship had probably already spread.     

Since that was the case, I wanted everyone to know that Oppa was mine.

Especially because he was rather popular.    

If other girls tried to contact him….    

“…So, do you not want to?”    

This time, I found myself being cautious instead.     

Because he might think that I was being too obsessive.

“Hmm…”    

He gently stroked his chin with his thumb and index finger as he nodded.  

“Sure, but only if you let me add another song to my request.”    

I couldn’t help but think that Oppa’s way of thinking was quite peculiar.      

* * *

The coin karaoke place was hidden away from the main road. You could only access it from the opposite side of the bus stop.

Normally, having infrastructure concentrated in one location was natural, so why was this location so isolated?

“Have you been here before, Oppa?”    

Doah, who had exchanged some money at the vending machine, handed me a fistful of 1,000 won bills.    

“No.”    

“I guess you don’t do coin karaoke often?”   

“Yeah, well, I don’t really sing, you see…”    

“Ah…. Really…?”    

Doah glanced at me apologetically.    

I shook my head in an attempt to reassure her.    

“No, no, I’m here to watch you sing anyway.”    

“But it’ll be weird if I’m the only one singing.”    

“Don’t worry, I’ll sing a couple.”    

I even made a list of songs I could sing.    

“Really? You’re not forcing yourself, are you?”    

“Yeah. So don’t worry and let’s have some fun.”    

Both of us entered the furthest room.     

Doah, who was already seated, grabbed me as I tried to sit opposite her and tapped the seat beside her.     

“Sit here.”    

“Won’t it be cramped?”    

“But I’ll like it!”    

There was just enough space for our shoulders to touch.     

The scent of Doah’s shampoo tickled my nose.    

“…Shall I go first?”    

Doah stared at me with the remote control in hand.    

“If you want to. I can go first if you want me to, though.    

“Ah. Then can you sing while I change Oppa’s profile picture?”    

“Alright, then.”    

Having received the remote control, I selected a song and began singing.    

“Hmm…hmm…!”    

The noise echoed throughout the room.    

Seriously. Why was I nervous?    

Still, I managed to finish the first song smoothly and turned to face Doah.      

For some reason, she kept scrolling between two seemingly identical photos.    

“…Aren’t you going to sing?”    

“Can you sing one more song for me?”    

“Oh. Sure.”    

With an extremely serious tone, I attempted another song.     

I practiced while I was at home. Surely I’m doing alright?     

Curious at what Doah’s reaction would be, I snuck glances at her in between the verses. However, her gaze remained firmly on my cell phone.    

She wasn’t showing any signs of moving.     

Just like that, the second song came to an end.    

“Do you want to sing now?”    

“No. I…. This…”    

With a frown, Doah calmed herself before showing me my cell phone screen.   

“Which one do you think is cuter?”    

They both look the same, so could you just take the mic already?   

“…The first one?”    

I was quickly becoming the PArmyAngry emote.

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