"What's this? Are you two dating or something? Why are you sticking so close together?"
"Yeah, we're dating."
"We decided to start dating yesterday."
The "We Got Married" content might be over, but Gabi and I had settled ourselves in Jaemin's living room. Friends can visit each other's places, right?
Especially when someone lives alone, their place tends to become a hangout spot for friends. I'm not sure how it'll be after some time passes, but that's how it was when I first started college.
No matter how much of a straight-laced guy I was, when friends wanted to have dinner together at someone's place, I'd join them at least for that. Then I'd excuse myself and head home right after, saying it would be impolite to stay longer. I've heard stories about other friends drinking heavily and passing out at their friend's place, though.
Anyway, that's beside the point. We were just visiting Jaemin's place. If we'd visit friends' apartments several bus or subway stops away, there was absolutely no reason not to visit Jaemin who lived right downstairs.
So when it was time to eat, I claimed a spot on the living room sofa. I had Gabi sit down first, then I sat between her legs, leaning back against her.
I could have just sat beside her, but I wanted to tease Jaemin a bit. I was curious how she would react when we told her we were dating.
Of course, enjoying Gabi's warm, soft embrace was an excellent bonus. But strangely, Jaemin didn't seem particularly surprised by our closeness or by our immediate confirmation that we were dating.
"I figured as much. Since when?"
"What? Why aren't you surprised?"
"You two have been showing such obvious signs of liking each other—did you think I wouldn't notice? Anyway, come pick out some pizza. Will three be enough?"
Signs? I don't think I showed any. If anything, I tried really hard to hide my feelings so Gabi wouldn't feel burdened.
True, Gabi had been extremely nice to me, but I thought that was just what childhood friends do for each other.
But whether we were dating or not, Jaemin didn't seem to care much. Friends dating—and not even a guy and a girl, but two girls—could be considered unusual, yet she was completely unfazed. I wasn't sure if Jaemin was just insensitive or incredibly considerate.
Either way, it was a relief for us. It would have been exhausting if she had made a big fuss asking when we started dating or what made us decide to date each other.
I mean, girls can talk about those things, but just thinking about it made me feel drained.
And it doesn't end there—this kind of relationship isn't that common, after all. It could attract unwanted attention. We might have even faced some concerned discouragement.
But to Jaemin, us dating was just something that could naturally happen. Today, I really appreciated her nonchalance. It almost made me wonder if Jaemin might have originally been a guy.
"With four people, isn't three pizzas a bit much? How many slices can each of you eat? I can manage two slices."
So I didn't bother discussing our relationship further and quickly moved on to the topic Jaemin had introduced. We needed to gauge how much everyone would eat to decide how many pizzas to order and what kinds.
"It depends on the pizza, honestly. Those thin-crust ones they sell near campus, like Pizza Scholar or What The Duck Pizza—they're small with thin crusts, so I can eat a whole one. For something like Dice Pizza, maybe four or five slices?"
"I can eat up to five slices of Dice Pizza too. Overeating isn't good for you, though, so four is enough. Let's get two pizzas. But Noel, two slices? You're joking, right? You should eat at least three."
While Jaemin was one thing, it seemed Gabi had decided to drop any pretense as well, boldly declaring she could eat the same amount as Jaemin.
By that logic, even with the thinnest pizza, she was saying she could eat a whole franchise pizza from near campus. I thought, wow, Gabi really is a big eater.
...Or maybe she never really pretended otherwise? Perhaps I just never had the opportunity to see it.
Come to think of it, Gabi always ate three meals a day and still loved snacking, so maybe her large appetite wasn't that strange after all.
And looking at her now, she's still so slim. I guess all that food went to her height and chest.
"Two slices is already a big improvement for me. I used to eat just one slice. With one pizza, I could stretch it out for eight days—a very fuel-efficient body."
I felt proud of my progress, but seeing their reactions, I had to explain my situation with a bit of humor.
"What? Not one slice per meal, but one slice per day?"
"Ah... that's right. Noel used to be dangerously thin, like malnourished thin. She survived on just one slice back then."
Somehow they were taking my joke as a documentary. The important thing wasn't how I was before, but how much better I am now—that's what I wished they'd focus on.
"True. I was so broke then that I was shocked when Jaemin ate what was supposed to be my food for several days."
"Ugh... that pizza was all dried out from sitting there. Though it was still tasty when reheated..."
"What? So Jaemin was shortening Noel's lifespan?"
"I-I didn't know that's what I was doing!"
"I'm just kidding. Jaemin cleaned my place and fixed my computer, so I reheated it for her as thanks. And Jaemin even gave me a pizza gift card before she left. Technically, my food supply increased. Don't you remember, Jaemin?"
"I did that?"
How strange that she remembers what I was like but not her own good deed. Nice people are all like that, I guess.
"So Jaemin and I can eat one pizza. I'm not sure how much Senior Hyunseo will eat, but with Noel, that's another pizza. Hmm, I still think we might eat a few more slices each as we go. Won't that be too little?"
Maybe Gabi realized our personal matters could be discussed lightly now, or perhaps she didn't want to dwell on stories only we understood. Either way, she returned to the original topic.
Pizza for the four of us, since Senior Hyunseo was coming back. Yes, that's important. She was already eliminated with zero wins, so she must be feeling down.
The only consolation was that she lost to the SKY team, who would probably win the whole thing anyway. People seemed to understand that and weren't blaming Hyunseo much.
But it was her first competition since becoming a woman, her first match since her comeback. No matter how strong the opponent was, as a player, she must feel terrible about the poor results.
"Should we order a side dish? Like spaghetti or wedge fries?"
"Oh, there's a review event. Let's ask for wedge fries through that."
"That's not enough. We should order a side dish."
"Speaking of sides, let's get something spicy too. So Senior Hyunseo can feel better."
"Yeah, we should. Should we add pineapple? Anyone like Hawaiian pizza?"
So the menu selection with Hyunseo in mind was going well, but then Jaemin suddenly brought up pineapple pizza. I looked at the other two cautiously. Pineapple on pizza is a source of age-old conflict.
Some say once pineapple is added, it can no longer be called pizza. Others insist that properly baked pizza with pineapple is delicious.
"The pictures of Hawaiian pizza here look terrible. We shouldn't order pineapple pizza from this place."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Look, they just put canned pineapple on top of an already baked pizza. Even their 'added topping' is just sliced pineapple thrown on the finished product. That's no different from eating sweet and sour pineapple with pizza. I mean, it wouldn't taste bad—you get sweet, salty, and tangy flavors. But real Hawaiian pizza needs to be baked with the pineapple. When you cook off some of the moisture and acidity, you get a truly sweet and savory pizza."
"Oh, I see... Then let's skip the pineapple pizza."
I'm not sure if this was fortunate or not, but Gabi apparently had strong convictions about Hawaiian pizza.
The good news was that we wouldn't have to eat a poorly made Hawaiian pizza. The challenge for me would be that someday, I'd probably end up trying Hawaiian pizza with her.
...Well, if it's with Gabi, I can handle trying something new. It can't be so bad that I'd have to spit it out.
While I couldn't contribute to their pizza debate and was just browsing through the menu options, my phone screen suddenly changed to an incoming call.
It was Hyunseo.
[Coach, I'm here. I'll be home in about 10 minutes.]
"Okay, sis. Good job today. Just come home quickly. We're ordering pizza."
Even though her performance wasn't great, we still needed to feed her. That's why we were ordering hearty pizza that everyone would enjoy.
After feeding her well, I could give her some stern feedback. I've already provided feedback from Iron to Challenger tier, and now it's time for the professional gamer.