My Favorite Has Started A Live Broadcast!

“……..”

“……..Pfft..”

The first reaction of my long-time friends to my buzz cut was a mix of shock and laughter, stiffened by surprise. I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of my friends’ faces. To be precise, it was closer to a sneer. Holding tightly to the hat I had taken off, I burst out laughing.

“Pffft…. Hahaha!”

“……”

At my sudden laughter, my friends stayed silent while I, trying hard to stifle my laughter, held my stomach and quickly wiped away the tears forming at the corners of my eyes. Through my blurred vision, I realized my friends were no longer in front of me. Sensing something off, I straightened my back to see them flanking me on either side.

“Haha…. Huh..? Hey..?”

As the atmosphere grew tense, I politely put my hat back on and gently placed it on my friends’ heads.

“….You bastard!! Acting like you’re not going to the army!!”

Sooyoung and Minho tousled my hair at the same time. Unlike a gentle pat, their hands messed up my carefully styled hair just enough to sting a bit. Trying to protect my hair, I covered my head with my hands and ran around to escape, but they stuck to me like glue. Eventually, they finished completely messing up my hair and returned to their seats, seemingly satisfied.

“…….That was too much…”

“Says you!”

Though I protested in anguish, I received only a big scolding in response.

“….Sir? What’s going on…?”

Aro asked worriedly from behind, but since this was a personal matter, I reassured him and hurried into the break room to change.

My hair was all over the place, making it painful to tie it back into a ponytail as the strands tangled together. I somehow managed to fix it up, glaring at my friends while greeting customers.

“So, what are you doing here?”

Only after serving hundreds of customers and staying well past closing time did I finally have some free time. I changed into my casual clothes, let my hair down, and sat at my friends’ table. It was rare for these two, who usually never even stepped into a café, to sit here for over three hours. Not that they had much to say; they mostly filled the time by calling me over and making mischief whenever I had a spare moment.

“To hang out one last time.”

Sooyoung’s words were simple enough, and it didn’t take long for me to grasp the meaning. A buzz cut, 21 years old, last time. There was only one answer.

“………I’m sorry…”

“Hey…?!”

I took turns hugging each of my friends, who had suffered greater emotional damage than I had. I patted their backs gently.

“So… you’re going now?”

“….Damn.”

With Sooyoung’s short curse and Minho’s nod, I had my answer.

“Sorry… we promised to go together, but…”

It was a long-standing promise. The army is inevitable, so we’d go together and come out together. Up until middle school, we’d held onto a faint hope that reunification might happen and we wouldn’t have to enlist, but by high school, we realized that every boy had been thinking that for decades, and we made our pact then.

“If I wait to enlist with you, I’d have to go in my mid-20s. Besides, you have people to take care of now, right?”

“Haa……”

Minho sighed, tapping his empty cup, while Sooyoung lightly drummed his half-full coffee cup.

“So… if it’s the last time, when exactly are you going?”

“This week… Not much time left… damn…”

“Hey! This is my turf! If you’re enlisting soon, sit still! You’re not going to be making money for a year and a half!”

I took out my card from the wallet Chocoa had given me, one she used herself, and paid for my friends’ drinks. At least for today, I felt I should cover everything. Though people often called me stingy, I’d recently come into more money, and for various other reasons, I felt it was my turn to pick up the tab.

“So! Where do you want to go first? It’s all on me!”

“Uh…I don’t know… PC bang?”

“……Sounds good.”

Even if I’d turned into a girl, my preferences hadn’t changed. I didn’t even know what girls usually did for fun or had much experience with it. In the past, since my computer couldn’t handle much other than basic internet, we’d often go to PC bangs together.

“Whoa…”

It had been a while since I’d been to a PC bang. Unlike those in basements, this one didn’t have the stale smell of smoke or cigarettes; it was just packed with people.

“Uhh… so many people here…? Are there any seats…?”

After wandering around, we found a few scattered seats left at the very end.

“Why are there so many people…?”

“There are a few spots over there—want to take those?”

“There’s an open seat over there.”

Minho reappeared from a lap around the PC bang, and hearing there were seats, Sooyoung and I followed him.

“…..Hmm hmm…..”

In the perfectly open seats, we quickly sat down and turned on our computers.

“How long are we playing?”

“Yeah…? Two or three hours, then maybe go for drinks?”

“Hmmm… trying to get me to drink, huh?”

“You can drink soda next to us.”

Though it was a bit annoying, I knew I had no choice. I relaxed back into the incredibly comfortable PC bang chair.

It was already 8 PM, and the two-to-three-hour plan had long gone out the window. We’d reached the last match, the true last match, and finally, the real last round of the real last match. The map was Consulate. Sooyoung was Silver 4, Minho was Gold 1, and I was Platinum 1, so ranked play was out of the question; we had to go unranked. With our mix of ranks, we faced cheaters and trolls, enduring various obstacles, but the last game was intense. Most of the opposing team was Gold, and they seemed to be well-coordinated, probably in a party.

The current score was 2-2 in the final round, so I dashed to the basement as soon as we started.

For this final match, I was playing Caveira.

“Two rappelling, the rest are breaching from the first floor. All the cameras are down.”

With Minho’s clean briefing, I carefully rose from my long crouching position. One teammate had already died while roaming, so if I didn’t turn the game around now, we’d lose. I could already foresee us queuing up again after declaring yet another ‘final’ game. Carefully activating my ability on the lobby staircase, I quietly broke the barricade leading outside. I’d already told my friends to create a diversion, so gunfire could be heard from the site on the second floor and outside.

“…..Ugh…”

Just as the barricade fell, three red laser lines stopped me from charging out. I tried to angle my gun outside the door to shoot the claymore, but it was positioned too cleverly to be visible.

Bang!

In that case, there was only one way. I tossed an impact grenade at the ground and dashed out. I took some damage from the explosion, but I didn’t die. What I gained was the reaction time of the enemy team.

Despite the screen shaking from the blast, I managed. I spotted the small silhouette of an enemy and fired. I quickly killed one enemy on the rappel, while the other, finally reacting, had a limited angle due to being on the rappel.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-

Ignoring the bullets whizzing above my head, I pulled the trigger and took down the other enemy.

Fortunately, there was no need for us to shout “last one!” again. The last game was intense right to the end, but not as intense as now.

“Fold if you’ve been confessed to more than five times in one day!”

“Fold if you’ve worn a skirt!”

“Why just me!”

I had only one finger left, and I lamented my fate as my friends forced me into a drinking game, even though I couldn’t drink.

“Fold if you’re under 170 cm.”

“You jerks…..!”

In the end, I folded my last finger and drank cider instead of alcohol. The sting in my throat was inevitable, but it was the forfeit.

“Gahhh….my throat…”

As always, the familiar and comfortable drinking scene, small and cozy in an empty tent bar, shared its non-alcoholic drinks as a last toast.

“Ahhh… am I never going to drink this again…?”

“What are you talking about? Come over during your leave, and I’ll cook something nice for you.”

“I’m heading straight to work.”

While munching on the snacks on the red table and sipping their drinks, my friends’ faces slowly turned red as they got tipsy.

“Are you okay with this?”

“With what?”

“I mean… this is the last time. Are you okay with that?”

“Of course. Oh, hey, look here.”

Sooyoung suddenly took out his phone and took a picture of me.

“Out of nowhere?”

“When I go to the army, I’ll show off, saying I have a friend like this. Isn’t it going to make the seniors treat me well??”

“….Possibly..”

Minho joined in on Sooyoung’s cryptic comment.

“Still… it’s a bit sad. Back then, you at least drank a bit… the last drink being cider feels wrong.”

“Hmm…..give it here.”

I grabbed a nearly empty bottle from the line of bottles. The small amount of alcohol, barely a sip, slid down my throat, stinging even more than the cider had.

“Ugh… I really can’t handle soju… Miss! One makgeolli over here, please!”

The middle-aged lady running the bar smiled and brought over a small metal pot filled with milky-white makgeolli. I stared at its pearly color for a few seconds, then downed it in one go.

“Ahhh…”

A tipsy Su-yeon had no brakes. She wobbled his legs, swayed her torso, and answered with a silly grin to questions about her monthly income, Strawberry, and, once again, Chocoa.

“So… is your love life going well?”

“Haha! We drink together! Uh…we give each other piggyback rides… and we… sleep…”

What started as a loud statement gradually dwindled to an almost inaudible whisper. Sooyoung and Minho, seeing Su-yeon’s blushing reaction, smiled warmly.

“Call her. What’s she doing now?”

Without hesitation, Su-yeon pulled out his phone and dialed.

“…Hello?”

“Heeey~ Chocoa~”

Even though it wasn’t on speaker, I could hear her surprised voice, but Su-yeon continued with his slurred speech.

“What’re you doing..?”

“I’m… streaming.”

That one-hour conversation ended up circulating across nearly every online community and broadcast.