Chapter II - Character Select

character select: A prominent feature in fighting games, but not exclusive. A term used for a choosing the player's avatar for a game that they wish to play.

Wait! Waitwaitwaitwaitwait!   

How long was she standing there?

Did she hear anything?

Gah!

What if she did?

Uh… quick! The silence is taking too long! Say something!

“Um… H-Hi- I mean,” I fumbled the words, switching to something more formal and giving a small bow. “He-Hello. How-How-How can I he-help you?”

Smooth, Mina. Real smooth.

Chaeyoung was standing about half a meter away from me, looking adorable as usual as she smiled at me.

“Your friends said this was your order? A medium Blak Choco Mocho~!”

“Eh?”

Behind her, Tzuyu continued giving me the thumbs up and a somewhat strained smile behind her drink. Jisoo on the other hand was dancing a small cheer. She was holding up the receipt and mouthing the words ‘I paid already!’ over and over again.

Thanks for the encouragement guys...

“I mean, yeah!” I lied, trying to make small talk. “Th-Thanks. It's my favorite.”

Why can't I speak normally to this woman!?

“Oh, yeah! I know!” Her expression brightened a bit as she placed the drink on the desk. She then hugged the tray at her chest, hiding her small frame. “You always order it when you come in here…”

Do I seriously come in here so much that even she would notice? Now I really sound crazy.

“Th-Thanks. No wait, I said that already! I mean, anything else?”

Anything else!? Why am I asking if she needed anything else? God, I sound so rude!

“Actually, yeah. Your friends mentioned that you all went to the university nearby.”  

She turned around to point at them, Tzuyu and Jisoo quickly stopped looking at our direction and started talking amongst themselves, nonchalantly.

“Y-Yeah, I do. I’m a dance major there...”

Her eyes widened at the news.

“AH! I knew it!”

Chaeyoung clapped her hands, dropping the tray she was holding in the process. Without thinking, I reached out for it and caught it in mid-air.

Nice! Made it in time!

As I handed it back to her, she wore a look of amazement.

“Th-Thanks~!” she nodded.

“Ye-yeah. No problem…” Years of gaming… Seriously. If it’s one thing I’ve developed over the years because of this hobby its motor skills and quick reaction times. “Um… You were saying?”

“Oh, right!” She grabbed her phone from her pocket and started fiddling with it. When she turned it around, I had to take a double take at what she was showing me. “This is you, right?”

The angle was awkward and video was shaking a bit. It might have been because of the people cheering and stuff but it was hard to tell because of the audio recording. Though, I did recognize the song… Periodically, it moves out of focus as more people kept getting into frame.

It depicted a thin girl with red hair in a ponytail and skin tight clothes. Her face stoic and entranced by the music. She gracefully moved from one intricate motion to the next, weaving the dance with the rhythm. The music ended with the sound of an applause and the girl looking fairly satisfied, but mildly disappointed.

I knew that look very well.

Because that girl was me… Center stage at last year's dance recital.

I remember the performance. Especially since it was my first time doing a solo performance like that.

Hmm, it wasn’t my best though…

“My ‘Drunk in Love’ performance…” I nodded my head, confirming her suspicions. “Hmm, I've never watched myself before besides through the studio mirror...”

“So it was you!” she said, nodding her head and putting her phone away. “Your face looked so familiar but I wasn't sure. I couldn’t really tell because your hair was red back then and a lot longer.”

“Oh, ehehe,” I giggled, scratching the back of my head. It was back to being my natural hair color and it rested just above my shoulders. “I cut it shortly after… Or, I cut it short after shortly… I mean…”

“You cut your hair shorter after the performance, you mean?” she smiled.

“Yeah! That’s what I meant!” I was starting to get more embarrassed by my jumbled words. “Um, so did you find that online or… something?”

As soon as I asked it, I immediately regretted it. Her face went all crooked and she all of a sudden looked guilty, nervously smiling.

“Oh! UH! I- I- I’m not a stalker or anything!”

“That's exactly what a stalker would say…” mumbled SinB behind me.

“Eh?”

“Umm...?”

Chaeyoung and I both turned to the girl sitting behind me. SinB was still at Tzuyu’s computer, still on her phone like when I left her. It took her a second or two to notice we were looking at her.

“Did I say that out loud…?” SinB asked.

I nodded my head.

“Whoops… Well… Hi?” she directed that at Chaeyoung. “Oh! You should know she gets really critical about her dancing so… she doesn’t like recordings of herself.”

“Oh!” Chaeyoung nodded. “I- I- didn’t know…”

“Uh-huh…” SinB hummed, continuing her texting.

I don’t know how she did it but SinB made the whole world freeze with that response. Chaeyoung and I couldn’t help but continue to stare at her.

“I'm SinB, if you were curious…” she continued, giving a small wave. “I'm here too. But that doesn’t matter. So, ignore me.”

“I’ll… remember that?” Chaeyoung nodded before turning her attention back to me. “But, I’m seriously not a stalker or anything!”

“No worries. I… believe you.” I tried to smile as I said it but my face felt stiff.

“Oh good!” She seemed to cheer right back up at that. “I was taking a tour of the campus last spring and it was recommended that I see the recital! You see, I’m studying music production and composition this school year.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

“What does?”

“Since I always see you typing out stuff on your phone everyday” would be a terrible thing to say right now, I quickly came up with a different excuse.

“The music production students always work closely with us so it makes sense that you happened to be there…”

+1 to critical thinking!!! That was the fastest my mind has ever thought!

“Yeah, exactly! So, I was wondering… Um… do you do your own choreo?”

“Uh, sometimes, sure. Though that performance wasn’t one of mine.” I gestured to her pocket where her phone was. “That was from a lesson I got from an alumni.”

“That’s okay! It’s still you who danced on stage! You were amazing by the way! You were so graceful. That’s why I recorded it. I thought to myself that I would go looking for you once school started.”

I felt my face heat up from the compliment.

L-Look for me? Why? I couldn't bring myself to ask that so I just showed her my gratitude.

“Thanks,” I bowed my head a bit. “I made 13 mistakes during the performance though but yeah…”

“Hahaha~! You actually remember how many mistake you make? That performance was like 2 months ago.”

My face went stiff, realizing how odd that sounded. I must seem incredibly retentive.

“That’s kinda cool though,” she continued. “So, you’re bit of a perfectionist? Yeah... I think this could actually work.”

“Oh… what could?”

As I asked that, the chimes at the entrance of the cafe run, signalling a customer.

“Wah! Welcome to ‘L@tte Love’! I'll be there in just a moment!” she shouted, getting the attention of the new patrons. She turned to me, grabbing a pen from her apron pocket and ripped a piece of paper. “Sorry! I have to get back to work. But you usually stay here till the evening right?”

“Uh-huh…”

“Cool! Can you chat for a bit after my shift ends?”

“YES!” I shouted a little too loudly. I was desperately trying to and failing at hiding my excitement. “I mean, yeah… yeah. I can hang around.”

“Sounds like a plan!” She was really pumped for this. Like me when I buy a new video game. “Here’s my number. Message me yours, okay?”

She handed me a piece of paper with neat handwriting.

“O- Okay!”

“Thanks, Mina unnie~! You’re the best!”

AND. I. DIED.

I mean, not literally. But I felt my soul escape my body as she smiled and gave me wave before heading off to the cafe counter.

“Is this a dream? Did I just get into a dating sim without realizing it yet? Tell me this is real.”

“Here, I could check for you.”

I didn’t have enough time to register the statement as a sharp stinging sensation bolted up my left arm.

“Ow!”

“Yup. See? You're awake.” SinB gave me a smirk.

“I was joking!”

I took a moment and looked at the small piece of paper in my hands. I could barely contain myself.

“Everything okay, unnie?” Tzuyu walked over to SinB and me. “How did it go?”

“Gimme them DEEE-TAILS!” sang Jisoo. “Details! Details! Details!”

“We-Well… We’re meeting later. After she gets off work.”

“Glad to hear it!” Tzuyu softly clapped her hands. “That sounds promising.”

“Wow, wow! You move so fast, Mina-bon!” Jisoo pretended to wipe a tear from her eyes before patting my shoulder. “You gotta show me your moves so that I can wow the ladies too.”

Jisoo proceeded to wiggle her eyebrows in a sort of seductive dance.

“Y-You have a girlfriend already, Jisoo unnie,” I pointed out, though a little surprised from her claim. “And for a very long time!”

“That's what I meant! Even couples like Jenduegi and I need to spice up our love lives every once in  awhile.”

“That sort of makes sense… But, still! Being the only one of us in a relationship kinda gives you an edge on this subject.”

“Wait,” SinB outstretched her hand, gaining all of our attention and wore a serious look on her face. “Didn't I tell you guys I was dating someone?”

Now there's a surprise.

“No!” Jisoo, Tzuyu, and I said in unison.

“Oh... My bad.”

And she continued typing away on her phone.

“...” Jisoo, Tzuyu, and I said in unison.

The three of us threw out a barrage of questions.

Me: What's her name? How old is she?

Jisoo: Is she dying from a terminal illness and that's why she's dating you?

Tzuyu: Is she real?

You know, basic questions.

“Her name’s Umji,” SinB stated matter of factly. She then flipped her phone around and show us a picture of a tan skinned girl with chubby cheeks and-!

“She waved!? You've been face-timing this whole time?” I exclaimed, only realizing now what she's been up to this whole time she got here.

“Yeah… Since this morning. Or something… I forgot.” SinB quickly typed into her phone and after a moment… “Yeah, since this morning.”

“Why don't you just talk to her instead of typing?” Tzuyu asked, her face confused.”

“Oh, I didn't want to be rude and interrupt you guys.”

The irony in that statement…

“Besides, Umji wanted to hear you guys talk. She thinks you and Chaeyoung make a cute couple by the way.”

SinB flipped the phone around and Umji gave me a thumbs up. Unsure how to respond, I gave her a similar action. As I did, SinB did the weirdest thing.

By weird, I mean weird for her.

SinB turned the phone to face her. As she did,  her cheeks puffed up, lips pursed, and head tilted to the side!

She- She- She- Even the voice inside my head sounded like a broken head.

“WHA!!!” yelled Jisoo. “A rare 5 second raid event! Quick! Get a photo!”

“Is SinB unnie doing aegyo?” Tzuyu asked, eyes wide with surprise.

“Huh?” SinB looked up from her phone. And as quickly as the smile showed itself, she reverted back to her normal resting face mode. “I don’t do aegyo. What are you talking about?”

“Right…” I shrugged to the other two. “So I guess that makes Tzuyu and I not in a relationship.”

“Well, look at the time!” Tzuyu clapped her hands and finished her drink. Not suspicious at all. “You guys have fun. Mina unnie, see you at the dorms?”

“Ooo!” wooed Jisoo, looking at the taller girl. “Scandal!”

“Tzuyu…”

“Gotta go!

“Tzuyu.”

“Have fun!”

“Tzuyu!”

And out the door she went.

Sigh.

I’ve never felt so alone while hanging out with my friends.

I looked over to the cafe counter to see the line starting to grow again. Chaeyoung was manning the register alone but she didn’t seem bothered by it. She looked calm taking in the orders and smiling to everyone.

And then me…

She noticed I was looking her direction and before I could turn away, she waved. At me. I waved back and that seemed to get a positive response from her. Her smile grew with a nod before turning to greet the next customer.

I could feel my cheeks heating up again and all I could do was smile.

We get to talk later... 

Mmm… Progress. I was making progress. This wont be like last time. 

As SinB and Jisoo settled into their PC stations and logged into FFXIV, I probably took another 20 or so glances at Chaeyoung… But who’s counting?

Author's Note:

Whew. I'm starting to get a handle on this stuff. Sorry this kind of turned into a weird info dump chapter but I needed to get things set up and moving or else we will be at this forever and the burn would be SO SLOW! THE SLOWEST OF BURNS! 

Anyway, I should also explain that a couple of things. Mina, Jisoo, and SinB spend time playing games together. Tzuyu sometimes watches and hangs out but doesn't actually play. She was never meant to be a gamer in this fic. She's Mina's dorm mate so of course she just hangs out with her. The game they are playing, FFXIV, is an MMORPG that usually requires 4 players to do big story mission quests so.... They will need a 4th... *Looks over at my other fic who features a gamer...* Welp, this was inevitable. 

Hope you guys enjoyed the MiChaeng interactions. HYPE FOR THE NEXT ONE! I usually tend to tease that out a bit more but I kinda like the speed I'm moving at now. And this fic isn't about stringing you guys along like I usually do. I don't want this to be fluffy but I do want this to be happy. Or, more innocent at least. That said, there are a lot of weird inconsistencies/anomolies in that whole interaction at I'm sure someone will notice. Or not. I'm, terrible at dropping hints, lets be fair. 

The response has been great so thank you guys so much! As such, I decided to include more Tzuyu, Jisoo, and SinB interactions since a lot of people loved them. SinB is so much fun to write! Which is weird because she doesn't feature much in the GFriend one much relative to this one. Jisoo is crazy fun! And Tzuyu is just savage. Gah! Love it. 

Thanks for the love and remember to comment! I do responed to those so let's have fun! 

And good memories and nightmares.