I stood in front of a booth in the convention center, taking in all of the geeks and gamers running around trying to buy as many expensive souvenirs as they could. You could hear the excited chatter of people staring at all the cool displays the staff had set up the day before and all of the screeches from excited cosplayers as they saw others that were dressed up as a character from the same franchise.

It was nice, but it smelled of sweat and plastic everywhere you went. I'd already been there for an hour and I had no luck getting used to the scent.

“Mina, how long are we going to be here? It smells like someone got their hands on, like, concentrated loser scent and sprayed it everywhere.”

My best friend Mina laughed and grabbed my hand. “I hope you remember that these are my people, Chaeyoung. We all share weird passions that are looked down upon by society. Don’t insult them.” She pretended to be offended, but her mock serious face cracked when she caught a glimpse of my expression. “Don’t make that face! Someone has to stand up for the losers! Speaking of, do you think I smell like a loser?” She pretended to sniff herself. “I swear I showered this morning…”

I was accompanying Mina on her quest to find a certain game that had caught her eye at another dorky showcase last year, and though I told myself I was only here to please her, I had to admit that it was cool to see all these people have a place to gather and freely geek about their passions.

It still reeked though, and for that reason I wanted to get out of that place ASAP.

“Of course not, Mina. You always smell like your cinnamon-scented shampoo. It just stinks here. Let's go and find the booth with your game. We have to go to work tomorrow to pay the rest of the bills, remember? We gotta leave early or else we’ll be home late and be much too exhausted to go work the next day.”

“Of course, Chaeyoung. I promise I'll check the game out and then we can leave immediately!” She gripped my hand tighter and started leading me to where the booth was supposed to be. It wouldn't be too hard to find, since there were many signs pointing to it. It was a big deal, apparently.

“Oh, I never told you about the game, did I? According to the early reviews, it takes advantage of the latest virtual reality technology to make you feel as though you're really in the fantasy world, Chaengie! Of course, that's just if you’re really immersed. You have to control the game with a controller, so I’m sure there will be people that will know they’re not really in the game. I’m sure I’ll feel like I’m actually there, though. I do that already with games that aren’t even VR, so imagine what it’ll be like when I turn my head and see a whole world behind me!’

I rolled my eyes. “What if you're fighting a giant troll or something and it catches you? You’re gonna see its ugly face in 1080p HD, and when it kills you, you'll probably think your actual head is gonna be busted open.” Mina frowned at the thought of her skull being crushed.

I continued my train of thought. “I'd rather videogames stay the way they are because I like my pants nice and dry, thank you very much.” I grimaced and thought about getting arrows shot at you in the middle of a boss fight and consequently soiling yourself. None of that sounded pleasant at all.

Mina rolled her eyes and seemed like she was going to say something witty but we finally got to the area where the game was being showcased, so instead she turned to me and poked my arm.

“Oh, hey. Do you wanna play too, Chaeng? It's free to check it out! It's a online multiplayer game, so you and I can play together and see if it's as cool as the early reviews have been saying!” Mina gave me a charming smile, making my heart grow two sizes. “I want you to see for yourself how cool virtual reality can be, babe!”

Her calling me babe made my knees buckle, so I had to catch myself on her shoulder. “S-sorry, Mina. You know I don't like videogames. P-plus I'll look like a newbie in front of all these gamers. That's too embarrassing for me, so I'll just wait around for you, yeah?” I stammered the entire time, still reeling at the thought that she called me such an intimate nickname.

Mina didn’t notice. She just pouted cutely. “C’monnnn. Maybe this game can change your mind and finally convince you to play with me!” She got really close to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. Her face got closer and closer to mine until I could feel her breath on my lips. My breath hitched. She was close. So close, in fact, that I could kiss her if I leaned in just a little.

But I was confused. Why was she so close to me? There was no way there was a heteroual explanation for this. She was either gay or she was just ing with me.

“Please Chaeng?” she whispered.

“Hey hey, I already said no,” I whispered back, not moving. I wasn't sure what Mina was doing, since this was completely out of character for her, but I was enjoying it. I was so desperate for some skinship, I didn't even give a if she was messing around with my feelings.

People were beginning to stare, though, so tentatively, I unwrapped her arms from my neck. “I really don't want to... babe.” I hoped to sound calm and cool and not as cringey as I felt as I said that. “Go on ahead. I'll watch the screen and see what you're looking at in the game. I'll silently cheer you on, okay? Mina, fighting!”

She smirked at my reply and nodded before turning away. From behind her back she said “You're a cutie, Chaengie.” It made me smile like such a dork.

“I'll be back in about two hours or so.”

That smile went away the second she told me how long she'd be playing. Two hours? Why would she need that long for a little test run? I walked after her, planning to demand a shorter time. When I got there, she had already sat down on one of the chairs and placed the headset on. I tapped her shoulder, trying to get her attention.

“Mina? Mina please don't take too long. What will I do by myself for two whole hou--”

“Whoa, hey! Don't do that! That’s dangerous, kid!”

I jumped three feet into the air at the unfamiliar voice and quickly turned to see an older man standing over me. I stood up straight and stuttered out an apology, not completely sure what I had been doing wrong, and not completely sure he understood any of the apology as well.

“Whoops! Looks like I almost gave you a heart attack! I really didn't mean to scare you, kid. I just wanted to warn you about disturbing players while they're in Paracosmos.”

“Paracosmos? What's that?” I was still stunned by the man’s booming voice, so I didn’t understand what he was referring to.

“The game that your friend is playing right now! It’s called Paracosmos,” he said proudly, “and I’m overlooking the development for the game.” He shook my hand and introduced himself.

“The name is Park Jin-young. JYP for short. I’m the head of JYP Entertainment, or JYPE, the world’s leading mobile and home video game publisher. What might your name be, miss?”

“Park Jin-young?” I repeated without thinking, pleasantly surprised to see a fellow Korean in an unexpected place. Most of the people I saw in the convention were white.

“So we have the same name, huh? I like it’” He laughed at his own joke and patted my back really hard. “Sorry, sorry, I had to make that joke. What is actually your name, kid?”

“Son Chaeyoung, Mr. JYP. Pleased to get to know that a fellow Korean is so successful in the video game industry!”

JYP grinned gleefully. “Do you like video games, Chaeyoung?”

“No,” I replied, feeling bad when I saw his smile fade a bit, “I don't. I'm just here with my friend over there. She begged me to accompany her here to see how this game was. She seems to be a fan of your work.”

“Oh, this is your friend? I’m glad she likes what my company is working so hard on! My goal with Paracosmos is to create a virtual experience like no other, and I'm sure I won't be disappointing her at all! Paracosmos is the game that is going to change everything. Most people play RPGs already knowing what class they're going to play as, what fighting style they like, what weapons they will be using, but in my game, things are switched up in fun and exciting ways! It's totally new and will be the standard for generations to come."

I hardly took any of that in, since I felt like I was being pitched a game instead of having a natural conversation. I nodded anyway, hoping I didn't look too uninterested.

"By the way," he continued, not noticing, "I'm sorry I interrupted you earlier. My intention was absolutely not to scare you. It's just that...right now the stage of development Paracosmos is in makes it quite dangerous for a person to interact with a player within it.” He tapped a nearby sign that warned me of the same thing.

CAUTION: DO NOT DISTURB. MAY CAUSE INTERNAL PROBLEMS, MILD TO SERIOUS BRAIN DAMAGE TO PLAYERS, AND SERVER ISSUES.

“I've been working on that problem for a while now, but for some reason I can't ever seem to find the right solution.” He must have seen the worried look on my face because he added “But, ah, no worries! This game is in no way finished. This is basically just a demo showing how much progress we’ve made since the last time it was on showcase. By the time the official launch date is announced, we will have figured it out. My team and I will make it so that it will be safe to touch the player and remove the helmet at any time.” You could see the sweat form on his forehead. Was he admitting too much for his own comfort?

“That sounds like a really huge, uh, bug. What kind of problems will interrupting players cause? Will there really be serious damage to the brain if we touch the players? And what else will removing the helmet do to the one wearing it?” I was probably asking too many questions, but I wanted to know what was wrong with the game. If it wasn't a good idea to let Mina get it, I'd have to have facts back me up, or else her stubborn self would ignore me and play anyways. I had to convince her that living was more important than permanent brain damage.

JYP scratched his chin, obviously uncomfortable with telling me details of the defects of his creation. After a couple seconds, though, he decided to share them with me.

“Well, we've had testers say that the sensation of someone touching them in real life caused the game to lag and get buggy for some reason. A lot of them got extremely nauseous. Some got a little aggressive in-game, which is what we suspect might be mild brain damage, or something like it. Obviously those things are not what my company wants for our players, so we've been working on it. Uh… and about the removal of the helme-”

JYP interrupted himself when he noticed a very young child trying on a headset. “H-hey, kid stop! The game demo is rated T for Teen! Where are your parents?” JYP sprinted towards the kid at full speed, not bothering to dismiss himself.

“See ya…” I said to the spot he was at only moments ago.

I sat down in the chair closest to Mina and tried to relax, but I couldn't. I was too stressed out about what I had just learned. I didn't want my best friend to play a buggy game that could do all of that simply because someone touched her, but if JYP promised that his game would be near flawless by the release date, then surely there'd be no problem. She wouldn't be very happy if I told her that I thought it was a bad idea to get it.

Yeah. I definitely had to get her the game. I could imagine Mina’s adorable smile as she started up the game with her headset on. She had a precious smile that I'd take a thousand bullets for…

My mind began to wander. I reminisced about our high school days, where we became the best of friends, practically inseparable, after we were assigned as partners for our Biology class. As the only two Asian girls in our 9th grade year, we had to stick together and help each other fight the racist, ist and dumb bullies.

When we entered 11th grade, I finally accepted myself as a lesbian, and that I had a hardcore crush on Mina. She never dated anyone while in school, so there was no way to know if she was sapphic as well. I was too afraid that if she happened to like me back and we dated, we’d eventually break up and become distant. I didn't want that to happen at all. I want to be friends with Mina for as long as I live, so I kept silent.

Even though three years had passed since our high school graduation, those feelings never faded away in the slightest. When we started living together as roommates immediately after graduation, we grew even closer in our small apartment.

Before I knew it, two hours passed by. Mina was crouched in front of me, trying to wake me from my daydreams.

“Hey! You there? Come back from Chaengland…” She shook me until I responded.

“Oh, hey? Sorry. How long have you been crouched there?” I shook my head, forcing my brain to wake up completely. “Never mind. Uh, how'd it go? Did you have fun?”

“It was so cool, Chaengie!” She jumped to her feet and pulled me up, excited to share her experience within the game. I wasn't sure what half what she told me meant, but she was excited about the game and that was all that was important to me.

“I'm glad you're happy, Mina.” I quickly kissed her forehead, unable to resist doing so after seeing her act so adorably.

“I guess that forehead kiss means you missed me? What a cutie… I love you, Chaeyoung!” She did a lil happy dance while wearing a dorky grin.

“Oh hey, we can leave now, Chae. I got to play the game, so we’re done here! Let’s go!” She grabbed my hand once more and led me out of the smelly convention center.

Approximately five months later, Paracosmos was finally released at midnight.

It was raining that night, the wind gently rattling my window. It was relaxing to hear a repetitive sound like that, so I fell into a deep sleep. Unfortunately I didn't get to sleep for as long as I wanted.

“Chaengie!” I heard a voice at 4 am. I shook myself awake. I cracked an eye open and rubbed it, wondering why Mina would interrupt my beauty sleep.

“Mina? What's wrong..? Why did you wake me up so early? It's 4 am. Get to sleep!” I laid back down and pulled the covers over my head.

“Today is the day that VR game comes out! I can't sleep! I'm too excited!” She shook me, but when she saw that she was getting no reaction from me, she climbed my bed and straddled me, hovering above my head. She pulled the covers away from my face, her long dark hair tickling my nose.

“I’m sorry. I just wanna go out and buy the game now…”

“It's 4 am, Mina.” I was gonna end the conversation there and pretend to go back to sleep, but I couldn't get her straddling me out of my mind. My heart started thumping so hard.

I gave in. “Hhhh, okay, okay. H-how much does it cost? We have bills to pay tomorrow, so it can't be too much. Games usually cost $60, right? I think we can manage.” It all came out of my mouth in a rush, afraid I'd lose my train of thought. I really couldn't stop thinking about how close she was to me...

Mina’s face looked guilty. “Well…”

“Well what? It shouldn't c-cost more than that. Unless it being VR makes it cost a -ton more.”

“No, no. It does cost about $60. But, see, Paracosmos is a PS4 exclusive. I only have my gaming PC. So to play it I'd have to buy a PS4 VR. And then I'd have to get Paracosmos separately, since it's not included in any bundles. That's like $550 in total, I think.”

My jaw dropped. “Did you know all of this previously? Mina, y-you took a lot of unpaid sick days this month, so we won't be able to buy your bundle and pay the rent. Imagine how ugly we'd look if we asked the manager at the office to give us an extension!”

Mina nodded, clearly upset. “I assumed I had more sick days so we wouldn't lose money…” She nodded to herself and continued. “Either way, it's not like it's gonna be out for one day only or have a very limited amount of copies. I can wait a little longer to buy it, I guess.”

I felt really, really bad that she'd have to wait even longer, but we had to put ourselves first.

I patted the empty spot next to me on my bed, certain that she was sleepy despite her claims. She'd gotten incredibly sick that month, causing her to miss most work days and lock herself in while I went to work.

When her illness by itself didn't make her sleepy, she was drowsy due to her medicine anyway. I thought it would be a good idea to spend some time together, even if it was just sleeping some more. We’d be next to each other for two hours, which was definitely more than we’d seen each other recently. She laid down next to me and made a pouty face.

“Sorry we can't get the game, Mina.” I pulled her closer. “Let's hope I can go to work everyday and gather some cash! That way we can get it some other time. Okay?”

I waited a bit, expecting Mina to celebrate. I got nothing but a soft snore. I turned to see a sleeping Mina.

Wow, loser. Just fall asleep all of a sudden, why don't you? I pulled the covers up over us and sighed. Everything was gonna work out. Yeah, yeah! Maybe not like we wanted, but still in a way that was manageable!

The second before I succumbed to sleep, I remembered something: JYP never came back to tell me what happens to the player when the helmet was removed.