Chapter Text
July 12th 2025, 15:54
A mass of students burst out through the school gates and onto the pavement of the main street, hyper kids sprinting towards the ice cream van parked on the curb nearby.
The scorching summer sun glared down relentlessly over the town, the green grass now brittle and yellow. The sky was a vivid blue, void of any sheltering clouds albeit for the wispy streaks of white floating high up in the atmosphere.
It was nearly the peak of summer and temperatures across the country had soared to undesirable heights, though not enough to keep kids from being dragged into school anyway..
"Come on, Bo. We gotta see the new movie! It's worth it I promise!"
You looked up from your phone to lock eyes with your friend. "Seriously? In this weather? I'm dying here." You groaned, running a hand down your sweat slicked face. A shudder of discomfort washed over you. Heat was your worst nemesis. The feeling of your white blouse clinging to your skin was unbearable, dark and see-through patches highlighting where the fabric was sticking.
.Your hair was sticking out all over the place, messy from sleeping in class next to the fan.
"Absolutely not." You replied again as you unbuttoned the top 2 buttons of your blouses to at least let the scarce wind hit your skin. Your friend shrugged, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Come on loosen up a little. Exams are done so we have all the time in the world."
She nudged your shoulder and an exasperated sigh escaped your lips. In all honesty, you had no energy to talk to anyone after today's exam. All your brain power was used up trying to answer all the questions on the paper and you barely finished, sneakily finish your final paragraph 5 minutes after the exam ended.
Right now, all you wanted to do was rot in bed and play games, watch tv, anything that didn't require much thought. But with the way your classmate was bugging you, your people pleasing instincts gave way.
"Fine." You grumbled, wincing as she wrapped an arm over your shoulders. A cheesy grin was plastered over her face. "Relax, Bo. Me and the others will pay. I'll spoil you today. Anything to get you off that stupid- what's it called? Love in space? Galactic lovers-"
You slapped a hand over her mouth as a blush crept up your neck. "Shut- you know what, let's go."
She snorted. "I don't get what's so interesting about that game. Seems gross to me. Why don't you actually try to date someone in real life?"
"Because men in real life are all stuck up bastards."
...
"Fair enough."
You forced yourself to trudge through the city in the boiling afternoon heat, just to get your friend to quit teasing you. Yes you played otome games, so what? You weren't like those crazy people who acted as if the characters were real (although you were just as freaked out as them).
The game had slightly complex themes and characters lore that most games didn't have. It stood out to you like a diamond in the rough. Enticing visuals and gameplay that sometimes made the game feel less like romance but more like action and strategy.
At first, you thought the cringey Chinese ads on social media were just another scam but oh honey, were you wrong. It became a sloppy addiction during the first few months, with you staying up all night to play through character stories, learning thr mechanics and overall just kicking your feet everytime one of the love interests popped up on the homepage.
It then became a daily ritual. Login, do the tasks for diamonds, interact with the characters- if you were preparing for a banner you would play for and hour or two to farm currency.
It was simple enough. You watched videos of guys playing the game for the first time, occasionally made edits of the Love interests and read fan fics at night.
The game filled a hole in your mind, giving you an actual interest. It was a bit embarrassing that no one at your school knew about the game, and even if they did (0.00001%) , they either deleted it out of boredom or were weirded out about the concept of dating 5 3d men.
It did hurt your ego a little bit but it didn't stop you from playing. Besides, it wasn't hurting anyone right?
...
July 12 2025, 16:30
After what felt like years of walking, you finally made it to-
"Karaoke? You said we were watching 'Trash Hero'."
Your brows knitted together as you glanced up at the neon sign reading 'Karaoke Pro'. A Karaoke pro you were not. Your friend simply shrugged. "The group chat changed their minds. Saud it was too expensive. This is better, no?"
Your eyes rolled in visible annoyance, making your friend back off slightly. "Bo, you've become so uptight recently. We just want you to have some fun." She rested a bejewelled hand on your shoulders, turning you around to face the building entrance.
"Its only for a little bit. Please? I'll walk you home when it gets dark." Her words sounded genuine—but there was something off. A slight distraction in her eyes, like her mind was already somewhere else, already with someone else.
You hesitated.
It was normal, you supposed. People changed. Especially now. One minute they were cramming for tests and whispering about homework, the next they were chasing noise, lights, attention—anything louder than their own thoughts. You weren’t sure when the shift had happened.
Maybe you’d missed the moment.
Your grip tightened slightly on your bag strap. “I don’t know…” you muttered, more to yourself than to her. She leaned in closer, voice softer now. “Come on. Just one song. If you hate it, we’ll leave. Promise.” You looked at her—really looked this time. The glitter on her nails, the practiced smile, the impatience hidden just beneath it.
A pause stretched between you.
"...fine."
Her slightly darkened expression shifted to a wide grin as she laced her fingers through yours. Dragging you through dizzying corridors, she led you to a room at the very back of the Karaoke place. She didn’t knock. Just slammed the door open. You winced, throwing a hand over your eyes as strobe lights flickered violently, slicing the room into fragments—faces, limbs, flashes of glitter and movement.. Inside, music pulsed violently—bass thudding like a heartbeat, laughter and chatter echoing off the walls. It sounded chaotic. Crowded.
Exhausting.
Before you could even protest, your friend had already sauntered over to a group of girls and guys sitting in the corner of the karaoke room, lounging on the leather seats in rather intimate positions. She had slipped away from your grasp so easily, not even glancing back to check if you were feeling even a little bit at ease. Of course this would happen. What did you even expect?
A mic was shoved into someone’s hand. The screen in the corner flashed lyrics you couldn’t focus on. Someone else was laughing too loudly at something that wasn’t that funny.
And you—
You just stood there.
On the edge of it all.
The noise pressed in from every side, thick and suffocating, like the room was shrinking. You were simply a bystander- a click-to-interact NPC. Yet no one was picking you. Did anyone even notice your presence?
You sometimes you wished to be as popular as your friend. To be as confident and attractive. Even when you played Love and Deepspace, you never saw yourself as the Main Character. You and her were 2 separate people. Whilst she had the brains, the strength, the beauty and a harem of ridiculously attractive men orbiting her like it was written into the universe, you were just...Bo. Average grades, decent looks if you tried and a plain upbringing that wasn't too eventful or exciting enough to recount at any social gathering. Your friends did say that you had pretty good humour, but some form of raging self consciousness made you feel like everyone around you had at least one shitty thing to say about you. First choice? Hah- as if. Your luck with guys was abysmal and practically a running joke at this point—if you didn’t laugh about it, you’d probably just feel worse. Conversations that went nowhere. Mixed signals. That one time you thought someone liked you and it turned out they were just being nice.
"Yo- Lola? This your friend you were on about?" A boyish voice called out from inside the room. It was only then that you realised that you had been standing in the doorway like an idiot for the past 5 minutes or so. A wave of heat slammed into you, blood rising to your ears and creeping up your cheeks. Your friend glanced over at you and you swore that her a flash of irritation had crossed over her. But whatever you saw was masked with that sweet smile again. "Oh yea- forgot about that. Bo? Why don't you come inside? We don't bite." She snorted before falling back into a steady conversation with another guy.
Seriously? We? You shook it off and reluctantly took the only free seat in-between 2 parties. The guy on your left was curled up with another girly, a lazy smile on his face. His legs were spread wide, taking up unnecessary space. On your right, your friend deep in conversation again, her voice overbearingly whiny and loud. She moved a lot when she talked—too much—and every now and then her long hair flicked across your face.
You flinched slightly, brushing it away for what felt like the hundredth time.
"Bo? That's your name right?" A girl had crouched down in front of you, eyes not even focused on you as she filed her nails. Nodding, you gathered the courage to start a conversation. "Yea that's me."
"Cool...cool.."
The girl stayed crouched, and you noticed how her gum snapped loudly between her teeth, the sound sharp and repetitive. For a second, it felt like she might say something else—anything else.
She didn’t.
Just stood up mid-silence and walked off, leaving just as quickly as she came, slinking back to your friend and the group surrounding her
"She's something. Kinda cute I guess. But lowkey dry as fuck. Why'd you bring her here Lola? She's just...you know- ruining the vibes?" You over heard her say.
Lola paused and avoided looking at you. "She's my best friend. Besides she always stuck at home playing with...fictional men. I'm doing her a favour. " A couple of snickers and mutters of confusion reached your ears. Shame washed over you—hotter than the room, heavier than the noise. It crept up your neck, settled in your chest, made your hands feel too visible, too there. Instead of coming to defend you, your friend had blatantly sided with them. Not even subtly. Not even in that half-joking, half-serious way people sometimes hide behind.
Sucking in a breathe, you simply shut your eyes.
Just a few more hours. Just a bit longer.