Chapter 31:

A Confession

The VTuber Next Door is Pregnant

The photos were everywhere.

Not just whispered in some forum. They’d spread fast. Screenshots of screenshots, cropped versions, arrows and circles and speculation layered on top of them.

People were already speculating that the pregnant girl in the photos is LunaZero. I mean, who else would it be? After all, she had told her fans that we were together...

Yuna sat on the couch, knees pulled close, staring into nothingness.

She hadn’t cried.

That honestly scared me more than if she had.

Our phones kept buzzing. The same hollow vibration, crawling across the table… across the room. Social media is doing what it always does when it smells blood.

I didn’t need to check the screen to know what they were saying. I could already hear it in my head. Half-formed opinions, certainty without context, strangers convinced they understood everything…

Eventually, I reached for my phone. It felt heavier than normal. I switched it to silent. That was when she moved. Slowly, like the effort only just became manageable. She stood, crossed the room, and turned hers off completely.

The buzzing died with it.

“Yeah…” I said. “You don’t have to read any of that tonight. None of it matters right now.”

She exhaled, slow and shaky.

“...Can you… maybe…stay again?” she said, sitting down on the couch again.

I didn’t say anything. I just shifted closer, careful not to startle her. I thought that would say everything, but I guess she didn’t get it.

“It’s… okay if you don’t. You really don’t need to!”

“Don’t start taking it back now. You’re the one who asked.”

Her cheeks tinted faint pink. “I only said… maybe… if you don’t mind. Because I won’t be able to sleep like that. If I stay up alone I’ll probably spiral and imagine 100 ways tomorrow could go wrong, and then–”

“I get it, I get it.” I cut in. “Panic speedrun, no need to show me the world record.” I laughed.

“B-but that means you’d have to sleep on the couch again… And I don’t want you to sleep in such places.”

“Couch is fine. I’ve slept in worse places. Though last time it was actually quite comfortable.”

“Like? What places?”

“On my gaming chair… actually not too long ago.” I laughed.

She stared at me with genuine horror. “That’s inhumane.”

“Exactly, so this is an upgrade, so don’t worry, I’ll stay here.”

She didn’t say thank you. She just leaned back into the couch, like the tension had been holding her upright until now.

—---------------------

We didn’t do much. We made tea, out of habit. The kettle filled the silence for a bit, which helped.

Later, she sat curled up on one end of the couch, wrapped in a blanket, staring at the steam rising from her mug.

“I keep thinking I should be panicking more.” she said eventually. “Or screaming, or…just something else than this.”

“Shock is a weird thing… It catches up when it feels like it.”

She gave a small huff of a laugh. “Great, something else to look forward to.”

“Ren…” she said quietly. “Are you…okay?”

“Why are you worried about me now?”

“Because…” she said, fidgeting with the edge of the blanket. “Those photos don’t just affect me. They affect you too.”

I shrugged. “I’ve been misunderstood online before. I survived it.”

“That’s not the same. Like, at all.”

“No.” I admitted. “But I still don’t regret any of this.”

She looked at me for a second, but when our eyes met, she turned away almost instantly.

“So… are you really not scared?” she asked.

“Of what? Tomorrow?” I shrugged. “Honestly… a little. Maybe even a lot… it’s hard to say. But it’s not because I don’t believe in you. I guess it’s just human nature.”

Her eyes lifted to mine. “You don’t look scared.”

“That’s because I’ve spent years of my life pretending not to be anything. It’s kind of my only real talent.”

“That’s not true.” she said.

“Then what is my talent? Raging in games?”

“Being kind.” she said, without hesitation.

The words caught me off guard.

“...You really think so?”

“Yes.” she looked at me like it was obvious. “You didn’t even know me and you still took me to the hospital. You bring me food, you help me with things that aren’t your problem. You even risk your own career to help me fix mine…” She squeezed the mug a little tighter. “To me, that’s… pretty amazing.”

I looked away, heat creeping up my ears.

If she keeps saying stuff like that, I’m going to confess by accident…

“Honestly…” she continued. “...I feel guilty.”

“Guilty? For what?”

“For dragging you into this mess.” She tried to smile. “If it was just my own life collapsing… I’d accept it. It’d be my fault for being stupid enough to sign that contract. But now it’s not just me. It’s you… and your family, if things go crazy. I’m scared I’ll ruin everything for everyone.”

I wanted to argue immediately. But instead, I took a slow breath.

“I get that you feel that way…” I said. “But you’re wrong. I told you already, didn’t I?”

She blinked. “What?”

“You didn’t drag me anywhere. I chose this. Every step. Nobody forced me to get up when I heard you knocking against my wall.”

She stared at me.

I leaned back a little, looking out of the window.

“...You’re weird.” she whispered.

I looked over at her. She was smiling… and it was just… way too cute.

“Ren… I have a dumb question.”

“Hm?”

“If… tomorrow goes badly. If people hate me, or don’t believe me, or if the agency has something up their sleeve that we don’t know about… will you… still stay?”

“That really is a dumb question…”

“I know… I know you already told me multiple times… I just… I need to hear it one more time before going to bed.”

“I’m not going anywhere. Even if all our plans fail… I’ll still be here, making sure you eat enough.”

Her lips trembled. “That’s… unfair.”

“Huh?”

“You keep saying these things that make me feel like my heart is going to explode… and then you act like it’s normal.”

My heartbeat stuttered.

Huh? But she made me say it, didn't she?

But...

This was it.

If I’m not able to say it now…if I stayed quiet like I had during our walk that night… I’d spend the rest of my life wondering what would’ve happened if I’d just been honest with my feelings for once.

And if I hid behind excuses like bad timing or not wanting to make things worse… then I already knew exactly what that made me. A coward.

“Well… it’s because… I care about you. Not because you need help, not because of the baby, and not because of your situation…”

Her eyes were wide now, glassy in the light.

“...I care about you…” I said. “I keep asking myself why I’m willing to risk my career for you. Why I don’t care if people misunderstand… why I don’t care if they think I’m the father… And why every time you smile, I feel like I can breathe again, even though I didn’t even notice I was suffocating before…”

“...Ren.” she whispered.

“But I think I’ve known for some time now… why that is. I just… I didn’t want to say anything cause the timing is awful… and your life is already on fire… and the last thing you need right now is another complication. So… I’m sorry, but…”

I took a breath.

“But right now… not saying it feels worse…”

“Yuna…” I continued. “I love you.”

…Silence…

The words were out now. My face burned, and I focused on keeping my breathing steady.

Now I waited… hoping I hadn’t just ruined everything.

Then–

“...Ren.” she said. “...again… that’s just… not fair. You don’t get to say something like that and then act like it’s a burden you dropped on me.”

She let out a shaky laugh, wiping away tears.

“I– I’ve been… trying so hard not to fall for you.” she cried. “...Telling myself it was just gratitude. Or safety. Because wanting more felt selfish.”

I didn't say anything.

She looked up at me, eyes red.

“I love you.”

No dramatic music… no fireworks…

Just 3 soft syllables heavy enough to change my entire world.

She stared at me now, tears running down her cheeks and soaking into her sleeves.

“R-Ren… are you really okay with all of this? With the baby. With this... mess?”

“I’m not okay with the mess. I hate what they did to you. I hate how scared you are… But you? You and the baby? That’s the first thing in a long time that feels like… something I want to protect.”

It felt embarrassing to say it out loud.

“Ren…if you won’t stop talking like that… I really will fall for you even more.”

“Then I guess I shouldn’t stop.” I said, before my filter could catch up.

Her face went bright red. “Idiot.” she mumbled.

“Yeah… Pretty much.”

We both laughed. Shaky, nervous and a little flustered.

I don’t know who moved first. Maybe we both did.

All I know is that one moment, there was air between us, and the next her forehead was pressed lightly against my chest, her fingers tangled in my hoodie. My arms were half-raised, unsure where to put them, afraid of holding her too tight.

“Um…” I said brilliantly. “Hug incoming. Brace for impact.”

She let out a soft hiccup of a laugh.

I wrapped my arms around her carefully.

“I love you.” she whispered into my chest.

“I heard you. You don’t have to keep saying it.” I said quietly.

“I just… wanted to make sure it was real.”

“It is. I love you too.”

She went quiet for a few seconds. Then:

“This is weird…” she murmured.

I huffed a weak laugh. “Yeah… extremely.”

“But not bad.” she added quickly. “Just… unfamiliar.”

“Same.” I admitted. “I’m kind of improvising here.”