Chapter 3: Preparing a First Date

A few days later, I received a day off. Well, I say day off, but really that just meant a short day. Unlike some prodigies you see on television, I actually needed to train every day. They say that a single day without training puts you back several days or something, and I have to agree. I don’t know if every idol encountered the same issue, but that is how my life was.

With the day off, I quickly sent a text to Kara to ask her to call me if she was free to talk. I waited for a few minutes without a single ring before deciding to take a bath. As I entered the bath, I thought about the recent events. In order to keep our relationship a secret, we adopted a series of codes. A text about models meant to call, for example.

I still hadn’t quite adjusted to the thought that I really had a girlfriend now. Sure, I wanted a boyfriend, but maybe a girlfriend would be better. It wasn’t as if I didn’t have my qualms about how fast I made my decision, but overthinking it after the fact was pointless. Oh, my phone was ringing. I reached over to grab the phone and couldn’t stop my mouth from smiling when I saw the name on the screen.

“Hey, how are things going?”

“Not bad, but you don’t normally ask me to call at this time.”

To be fair, it was pretty late in the night, but if it were not for the extra work I put in, we wouldn’t even be having our current conversation. I totally understood the issues of a late-night call, but I really needed to ask her.

“—ei. Hello? Are you still lost in thought?”

“Oops, my bad. I wanted to ask if you happen to be free tomorrow, say after 1 pm?”

“I think I can make it.”

“Great, we’ll meet at the store I mentioned before. Remember, wait for me to leave the last stall.”

“Got it.”

“Okay, talk tomorrow then.”

“Sure.”

As I hung up the call, I checked the time and saw that it was under the four-minute mark, even if just barely. Still safe then. I don’t know how he did it, but my manager somehow always knew the length of every call I made. Scary, but that made him a spectacular manager. Every idol under his care ended up successful. So long as they ignored the excessive strictness, that is.

Either way, I needed to get some sleep once I finished my bath. At least I planned to sleep. After a few hours of staring at the back of my eyelids, I finally gave up and took a little nightcap. I think every idol has a bottle for before important dates, but perhaps that was just me.

Well, I woke up in time the next morning, so it worked. After my morning training, I arrived at the mall in a taxi. No sneaking out needed—this time. When I reached the clothing store, KyaRo Boutique, I saw Kara already browsing in the men’s section of the store while I walked over to Tsubasa, the store owner, and handed them a small gift. Just to be clear, this was a legitimate gift of sake. At least the sake was. I couldn’t say the same about the envelope inside the bag. With that done, I grabbed a new outfit on my way to the changing rooms with Tsubasa. I walked out to show Tsubasa the outfit and was met with approval, so I immediately bought it. A few minutes later, Kara emerged from the store with the clothes I picked out for her.

“Tsubasa does wonderful work with makeup, doesn’t she?”

“She did? Of course she did. So, I look okay then?”

“Does it need to be said? Don’t worry, your clothes will still be there when we are done.”

“How long have you planned this?”

I wondered just what Kara meant by that. I’ve been friends with Tsubasa for years, but she was my go-to girl for emergency costume changes. Although I suspected my manager knew about her, he never complained about it. I could always count on her to have things ready for me.

“Mei, I mean the door.”

“Oh, that. Been there for years now. The renovations were actually pretty expensive, you know? I use it all the time. Your secret is safe with the staff.”

“What would you even need—never mind, I think I figured it out.”

With our little change successful, no normal person would suspect a thing. This was just a girls’ day out. I suppressed my smirk as I considered the options for our date. I knew myself well enough to realize that planning out a meticulous schedule would only backfire on me. Even a moment’s distraction and goodbye plan.

Obviously, I knew several spots to go, but for now, I wanted to prioritize getting Kara used to being herself. I could tell that she still felt uncomfortable allowing herself to be seen by others—she lacked the confidence. For now, I wanted to take her to places where she might gain some confidence.

“Also, your voice is a little high. You shouldn’t try to force it. Think of it like singing. You need to project your voice.”

“You mean like this?”

Well, we’d work on it. Even if I couldn’t call her voice perfect, it passed for now. If Kara ended up being serious about this, I planned to take her to several friends who could make her a her. For now, we needed to visit a few stores to get her used to being in the public eye.

Now, where to go first?