"Wae? You don't remember me, Keroro?"

Seohyun's face warms up. She feels her heart beating a tad bit faster and her tongue knotting up. No words pass her lips as she contemplates what to respond. Nothing passes her mind except for the emotion of joy and relief.

"Cat got your tongue?" The melodic voice asks teasingly.

She tries to think up a snarky comeback but her brain is blank. All she manage is a slight hum, which she hopes come off as cool and uncaring instead of a failed attempt of faked confidence. 

"Well, if you're not speaking in a count of '3', I'll cut the line." 'Deer' threatens her playfully and she panics. She has waited so long for his call and there's no telling when he'll call in again! She must say something, even if it meant losing her dignity.

"Don't!" is all she manages to shout out. She can just imagine the boy squinting across the line from her sudden loud voice. "Sorry!" She apologizes, this time, in a whispering tone.

"Gosh! I swear I've lost my hearing." He jokes with a light chuckle. "Seems like you miss me more than I imagined."

Seohyun could not belive the man on the line was the same boy who had been so shy and reserved the first time they chat. It is the same hypnotic and beautiful voice but it seems as if the original person has been transformed 180 degrees into someone playful and childish. She is most certainly pleasantly surprised. Even with the change, she still feels oddly comfortable with his audio 'presence'.

"No, I'm not." She tries to speak cooly but can detect the slight quivering in her tone. She prays he does not detect it. 

"Your shaky voice has betrayed you!!" He teases her.

"You believe what you want to believe then." She decided to end the argument here. After all, she is in the inferior side of the discusison. "So, what you wanna talk about?" She tries to switch the topic.

"Fine, I guess. Just a busy week, that's all. Sorry I called in a bit later than I promised." 

"Me too! Had mid-terms to deal with. And it's ok, it's not like I was waiting for your call anyway." Seohyun agrees enthusiastically but calms her voice for the last sentence.

"Really? But your last squeal of 'don't' suggests otherwise..."

She curses herself for leading him back to the hateful topic. 

"What kept you busy?" She pretends not to notice his comment and diverts the topic. 

He laughs a little, as if jeering at her poor attempt, making her blush a little. 

"Same as you, actually. Had a really difficult test which I'm sure has drained me of all my strength and brain juices." He says with vivid description.

She takes note of how much she likes him being so dynamic and imaginative, even for such a petty thing as a test.

"I can relate to that."

"Can you? I bet you're super smart and the kind of student who does not study at all."

"You're kidding, right? I study like crazy! If you must know, Albert Einstein is one of my life mentors and I truly believe that 'Success is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration'. So I don't believe in the genius talk. At least, it does not apply to me." She lets out a puff of air as she ends her sentence with one big breath. Seohyun always get frustrated when people assume she does not work hard at all to get good grades.

"Aren't you deep?" 'Deer' replies with his signature chuckle. "I like that about you."

Her cheeks turn a few shades of pink. "Gomawo. And I like how you sound more open and happier than last time." She tries to be equally polite.

"I know right?! I just felt giddy knowing I'll be talking to you and I just can't help myself from babbling on." He answers frankly, not sounding the least bit deceiving or fake.

Seohyun swears her face is about to explode from the extreme warmth it's experiencing. "I'm glad to talk to you too." She admits shyly.

"And here I thought all along that phone operators do not blush at anything." He comments with a laugh as if he could somehow see her tomato-red cheeks.

She feels the blood drain from her lips as looks frantically from left to right. "How did you know?" She asks.

"Well, I caught you." He laughs hysterically. In between those loud laughters, he manages to say, "I... I took a guess... and you admitted it... it all on your own."

"Yah!" She whines, embarassed. He was right even if he had been mean to trick her. She did not know that after all those y and explicit conversations she has had with all those "diversely-unique" erted men, which required so thick a skin, that she could still blush from a slight tease. She can't explain how he makes her feel like this. It's as if she's out of breath even though she has yet to see him in person and has only heard his voice so far.

"I'll stop poking fun at you." He says when he finally stops his hysterics. “You have a boyfriend, Keroro?” He asks suddenly.

Seohyun chokes on her own saliva, causing her to cough continuously. "Wha...what?" She stutters uncontrollably.

"Nah, don't mind me. I was just being silly. Just ignore that question. I should just mind my own business." He mumbles on.

"It's ok." She manages to say when she has recovered from the shock. "I have never dated before." The girl admits honestly. "Why you asked?"

"Nor have I. But aren't you curious to try? To meet someone who is so alike but yet so different from you and to share everything, your secrets, thoughts and other things with that one person?" He says thoughtfully.

"You sound as if you have a lot of experience." She jokes. "But to be honest, I think relationships are a hazard. You have to try so hard to maintain them and if you fail, it means nothing but painful heartbreak. So, no, I prefer being single."

"That's a new perspective." He comments after a short silence. "I know it's much to ask, but do you wanna try something out?"

There is a light pause from her side as she wonders what his request will be. "He couldn't be a secret ert, could he?" She thinks worriedly. She prays silently that this is not what his sudden wierd change of mood's about.

"Will you be my girlfriend? I mean a virtual one? Like it's not real and we just pretend..." 

"Deer?"

"And you know, you could reject it but I would really...."

"DEER?" She says louder this time and finally managed to get his attention, stopping him from his seemingly endless babbling. "I know what virtual means."

An awkard silence filled the room, not even a slight hiss of breathing could be heard.

"Yes." She finally manages to utter.

"What?"

"YES." She repeats a bit louder.

"Yes?" He does not believe his ears and asks again.

"Yes, Deer. Yes." Seohyun replies, slightly annoyed and regreting her answer the moment it slipped out of her tongue. 

Everything later on was a blur to her. She vaguely remembers a deafening cey of cheer from the other side of the line and then something about calling her later and scheduling a virtual date the next day.

All the while, the single thought that echoes in her brain was this: What in the world have I signed up for?

I'm super sorry for not having updated for more than a month >< But I had writer's block and to add onto that, I was kept busy by studies these days and would keep on being so for the next few weeks! I promise to update as soon as I get more available, probably during my Christmas vacation! I plan to keep this story short so one or two more updates would end this story! I actually have a Seokai one shot half typed up so I will try to complete it and post it as well! :D

Please kindly comment, suscribe and upvote if you like the story XD I would be in your debt if you do :P