Chapter 136

“…Ah, is that you, Jae-Yu?”

“Yes! You are Trixie, right?”

Despite the claim of being close, Jae-Ah’s first meeting with her friends was somewhat awkward. Even if they were close online, the first in-person encounter felt strange, which was understandable given it was ultimately just an internet interaction.

“Hello! I’m Trixie, and this is my friend, Trolley.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Trolley.”

“I’m Jae-Yu!”

Jae-Yu must be Jae-Ah’s nickname. The girl with the nickname Trixie was cosplaying as a character I didn’t recognize. Though revealing in some parts, it wasn’t too strange considering we were at an event.

The person introducing himself as Trolley was a man, and I was momentarily taken aback upon seeing him. Anyone would be surprised to see a muscular guy in a dress filled with pink. There was no way I could mistake him for a woman. This was more clown-like than cross-dressing.

“But what about this kid…?”

“Don’t tell me, is she your girlfriend?”

And so the questions about me followed naturally. It seemed they hadn’t heard anything about me beforehand, so this was a suitable question to arise.

In a situation where we were close enough to see each other’s faces, hiding my hair color was impossible. I could say it was cosplay, but I didn’t want to go down that route. For now, I had come here to ensure Jae-Ah didn’t get involved in anything dangerous.

I was relieved that we met in a secluded area with no one around. I took off my hat and slightly bowed to greet them.

“Hello. I’m Seol-guk, Jae-Ah’s tutor.”

The reactions from the two were quite remarkable. They showed expressions of surprise and confusion, alternating their gazes between Jae-Ah and me. It was a bit comical seeing their identical reactions.

“Uh, I’m sorry. I came alone, but Jae-Ah was worried about you.”

“Ah, that… were you the one mentioned in the news?”

“That would probably be me.”

Having revealed my identity, I put my hat back on.

“I’ll just be accompanying you. I have no intention to be a burden.”

“N-no, it’s not a burden. It’s perfectly fine.”

That being said, it was evident they were already uncomfortable.

“Where are the others? What about Kidney Bean and Elephant?”

Is it common to use nicknames in a place like this? I had accidentally revealed Jae-Ah’s real name earlier, and I hoped it wouldn’t cause any issues.

“Kidney Bean is in the restroom. Elephant went off to meet someone else. They should be back soon. Oh, there’s Kidney Bean coming now.”

I looked towards where she pointed and saw a cosplaying guy approaching us. Again, it was a type of cosplay I didn’t recognize. He looked older than Jae-Ah, probably a college student.

“Jae-Yu, you’re here! Hello! I’m Kidney Bean!”

As soon as Kidney Bean spotted Jae-Ah, he recognized her immediately and greeted her. Before he could even finish listening to her answer, his gaze turned towards me.

“Uh… who is this?”

And then the same scene from earlier played out again. Seeing one more person, would it lead to the same situation?

Elephant, the person mentioned, seemed to be joining us a bit later, and we all started wandering around the event. I was curious about what we were doing here in cosplay, and it turned out to be mainly taking photos.

We walked around, asking people to take pictures with us and posing, as well as showing off some acting. We also approached other cosplayers with similar requests, taking pictures together.

“We initially planned to cosplay five characters from the same game. We’re coordinating our outfits. Those are all game characters.”

“What game?”

“Crescent Online.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of it.”

Despite finally joining them, Jae-Ah wasn’t able to fit in with them. Since she wasn’t cosplaying, she had taken on the role of the camerawoman. While she did take photos with them, she was on the asking side rather than the receiving side.

Even if she pretended otherwise, her face clearly showed some disappointment. I didn’t point it out, though.

“Oh! You all are here!”

While Trixie briefly went off to buy drinks, a woman with purple wig approached us.

“Oh, is this Jae-Yu? I’m Huge Elephant!”

“Ah, hello.”

Jae-Ah greeted her with a slightly more flustered expression than before. And just like before, questions about me came up naturally.

“Uh, who is this cute lady?”

However, unlike earlier, there were quite a few people around. I was a bit worried about revealing my identity here… Wait a minute,

This person is a man.

“I’m Jae-Ah’s tutor. I’m here as her guardian.”

“A tutor? Is that your role?”

It’s only natural that he would have questions. After all, I was shorter than Jae-Ah and definitely didn’t look like an adult.

Fortunately, this guy, Huge Elephant, didn’t seem completely oblivious to the situation and didn’t press any further.

When I first saw him, I thought he was a woman, but it was clear up close. His Adam’s apple was noticeable, and his build was larger than expected. He was tall and had an attractive face, so the signs were less pronounced, but he was definitely male.

“Anyway, Jae-Yu, did you end up not getting a costume?”

“I was kicked out of my house. It’s just not a good time for that.”

The way Jae-Ah brought up this rather sensitive topic was definitely different from before. Perhaps it was something they had all talked about previously.

“It’s okay; it’s okay. I was once caught too, and I almost died from the embarrassment.”

It seemed he had a similar experience to Jae-Ah. No, in fact, perhaps many people here had similar experiences, as Kidney Bean and Trolley chimed in with similar stories, starting to have their own conversations.

As I took a step back to observe their interaction, a drink was handed to me.

“Wanna drink?”

“I’ll gladly accept it.”

It was Trixy, who had gone off to buy drinks earlier. Now that I think about it, she was the only woman in our group. I wondered how we ended up sticking together like this.

“Are you doing okay, Jae-Yu?”

“Yes?”

“I mean, I feel like I’m butting in here, but I was really worried when you suddenly couldn’t come. It’s pretty common on our side to have schedules messed up because of parents, but you’re still young.”

“It seems a bit awkward to go into details, but it’s still okay for now.”

“That’s a relief. So, you’re staying at your tutor’s place now, right?”

“For now, yes.”

Even though two of them were in cross-dress, all four of us, the guys, were having a good time chatting while Trixie and I sat and rested. We took some photos together and kept mingling with the people around us.

“This is a bit unexpected.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not familiar with these types of events, but I thought people who liked this kind of thing would be more introverted. Everyone seems to get along better than I expected.”

“I suppose if they came to an event like this, they would be more active than others. Of course, Trolley is somewhat forced to tag along with me, but it seems he’s adapting well now.”

“Really?”

“Oh, you don’t know? He’s my boyfriend. We met while gaming and started dating.”

It wasn’t anything particularly special, but seeing the way Trolley was dressed was a bit… shocking. It made me realize that even a guy like that could have a girlfriend. The visual shock from that pink dress was pretty strong, but upon closer inspection, he certainly had an appealing face.

“Ah, I chose Trolley’s outfit.”

…Even this woman could have a boyfriend.

Once all six of us gathered, we continued wandering around the event. Time flew by faster than expected, and they announced that soon the cosplay contest would begin.

“Are you going to participate too?”

“Oh, we’re not. We may find it fun, but everyone feels shy about going on stage.”

It wouldn’t be easy to show such a side to strangers on stage.

As we kept walking, I started to sweat a little since we were indoors. I had already taken off my outerwear, but the layering I had on underneath was unavoidable. Since this was a cosplay event, they must have cranked the heating up, making it uncomfortable for me as I was dressed warmly for the cold weather.

Maybe I should take a break. Even though I couldn’t be too sure, the internet friends that Jae-Ah met in real life didn’t seem particularly strange. The reactions towards me were within the bounds of common sense. For a moment, I felt it would be okay to leave it to them.

“Excuse me, I’ll step away for a bit.”

“Where are you going?”

“I just need to rest for a bit. You can stay together.”

“Is it okay? We can take a break together if you want.”

I shook my head at Trixie’s words.

“It’s nothing serious, so don’t worry about it. I’ll just go to the restroom for a moment.”

“Then we’ll circle back here; if you want to join us again, feel free to contact us.”

Fortunately, they didn’t insist too much. It would have been more burdensome if I made them take a break because of me.

“Can you handle being alone? Want to stay together?”

“Am I a kid? You worry about yourselves and have fun.”

“Well….”

Jae-Ah seemed to have an unhappy expression, but she probably didn’t want to turn back. In the end, the five of them left without me, and I found an empty chair in a corner to sit down.

I was sweating a bit. I took off my hat for a moment and wiped my sweat with my sleeve. There shouldn’t be anyone in a place this secluded. And there really wasn’t.