Episode Three

Seungwan is a hopeless moron in love, sadly.

It was something deeply rooted in her personality, hence why she never had relationships before. The most she had experienced, it came from manhwa books and silly dating simulation visual novels that keep her up all night.

Yes, Seungwan might be helpless about real-life girls, but her talent at dating simulation games is beyond infinite.

And that leads the four best friends in their latest predicament.

“So, are we supposed to pick one girl from the start…? Or can we like maybe switch it back and forth later?” Moonbyul asked as they started the newest visual novel game that Seungwan recently bought. They are hanging out at Seungwan’s room that Tuesday evening, with their homework finished, and they are ready for another night of playing games. The four settled in front of the smart TV with Seulgi holding the controller in the middle. On-screen are five distinct female characters who they have to choose as their ‘romance partner’.

“How could you say that?! If you’re the girlfriend, would you like to be exchanged with other girls?!” Seulgi countered as if it was a blasphemy. “You should keep your heart faithful for one person, Moon! Do you want Solar to switch between you and Eunji?!”

“Yeah, how can accuse me of that!” Moonbyul shook her head in defense. “I-I, since it was a game, and that—anyway, I won’t let Eunji steal Solar away from me too!”

Eunji, whose name got involved despite doing nothing, scoffed. Joining the argument would only waste her energy. Besides, she wasn’t interested in the games, anyhow. Instead, she has her headphones on as she started playing the songs for the winter musical. The other three noticed the constant ringtone coming from the latter’s phone, though. It looks like she’s texting with someone.

“Hey, Eunji…” Seungwan called, glancing at her friend who seems to be in her own world on the couch. “How are you and Chorong?”

At the mention of that name, the one in question froze. It took her a few seconds before giving an answer. “The usual.”

“The usual?”

Eunji shrugged. “I’m not sure as well… I am planning to confess to her soon, though.”

“REALLY~!?” The three girls screamed in admiration. “You’re finally doing it, EUNJIIIIII~!”

The girl nodded her head, grinning wider. “So you should all cheer for me.”

“YES SIR!” The rest saluted before they broke down into fits of laughter.

Seungwan took the controller and grinned. “Now, now, since we are in a great mood, we should start this game! And Eunji, you can treat this as a practice for your confession. I’m sure Moonbyul here would love to help~,”

“Eyy, are you low-key teasing me?”

“Wannie, I like the red-haired girl! She’s beautiful!”

“You should worry about that later! We haven’t even picked a name for our avatar! Wendy!”

“How about Voldemort? Jon Snow? Oh, I know, I know! Thanos! That name’s wicked!”

“We’re not naming our avatar after villains! Now, how about Ellie? I’ve watched this romance movie—“

“Eh, it’s not cute enough! How about Chuu? I think that’s cute!”

“Eunji.” Eunji cut them off. Her ears turning red in embarrassment. “Since this is technically my confession rehearsal…”

“Great!” Seungwan clapped her hands to grab their attention. “If you want to make a girl’s heart flutter in excitement and romance, follow my ways! Let me show you, my dear disciples, the wonder of visual novels!”

“Moon! How could you leave the other girl alone! You should have brought the two of them home together!”

“Seul, you can’t do that! Didn’t you say that we should stick to one?”

“B-but—Ariel is the prettier one! She has red hair, and she’s exquisite like—very beautiful!”

“Hey, Elsa is better!”

“Shut up! This is boring! Wannie, I want cake!”

“Stop with the sugar! You’re going to have a sugar rush!”

“Cake-y! Cake-y!”

“Moon, don’t pick that!”

“Great, now the girl is mad at us!”

“O-oh! Wait, she said she likes us!”

“The other lady likes us too!”

“Pick the red-hair! She’s really pretty, Moon!”

“No way! And you’re putting icing on my hair!”

“WENDY! YOU PICK THEN! WHO IS IT YOU LIKE?!”

“Irene.”

The night went on like that…

… and when the clock chimed the next morning, the four girls realized their doom.

“I’m so sleepy…” Seungwan muttered under her breath as she walked through the halls of Velvet Academy like a zombie. Her eyes are closing now and then, a product of the thirty-minute nap she got this dawn. Other students would’ve bumped into her, but upon seeing her face, the made way. It was probably the perks of being an infamous student at the school, not that Seungwan ever had a clue.

The brown short-haired girl sipped through her morning coffee, hoping that she’ll survive through the day without Teacher Kim killing her. That would be impossible, though. She’s Teacher Kim’s favorite student. The latter would make sure she’ll get into trouble at least once per week.

Seungwan sighed. “It’s totally a terrible idea to play games in the middle of the week… and it’s not like you can compare Irene with those girls on the game…”

She kept her head low as she reached the third floor. “Besides, what good is it to be excellent at dating simulations…? I can’t even muster up the courage to talk to Irene…”

Seungwan’s like that, a fool whose mind is filled with Irene, how to confess to Irene, and how cowardly she is to actually profess.

A hopeless person, totally. She even passed by her classroom door without notice.

“Good morning!”

!!!

Like a lightbulb that’s been switched on, Seungwan’s head shot up at the familiar voice. Turning around, the sight of Solar, Chorong, and Irene greeted her as they stepped inside the classroom with bright faces like the morning sun. Irene stood out the most, with the slight smile on her lips that makes every person’s heart ski