Breaking the Fourth Wall

by Frost5ive

Summary:

Till needs a girlfriend, according to Sua. He is as romantic as a rock, according to Mizi. Their solution? Get Till to learn from the best. The best? Hot men in a dating simulator game.

But what happens when one of those hot men falls for Till and would do whatever it takes to break out?

Notes:

Hiiii welcome to another Alien Stage work! Had this random idea one day and decided it was worth a shot.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1

“You need a girlfriend,” Sua says. 

Till almost spits out his coffee in the middle of the university library. Mizi peers up in confusion, her brow raised. Till swallows his coffee—with a lot of effort, mind—and his Adam’s apple bobs with the forced gulp. Sua isn’t fazed in the slightest, continuing to stare at Till over the top of her laptop screen.

Thankfully, none of the other students sharing the long table with them pays them any mind. With exam season right around the corner, most people’s faces are buried in books, desperately trying to cram every morsel of information—facts and formulas, concepts and ideas—into their heads.

“Why?” Till asks flatly. It’s a fair question. Sua has just made a random statement concerning Till’s love life whilst the three of them are studying their socks off for their upcoming exams. No mention of the topic was made beforehand. Sua must have already been thinking about the problem.

“Yeah, why?” Mizi asks. “If Till gets a girlfriend, then he’ll have less time to spend with us.”

Sua shrugs. “That’s the point.” 

Till bristles. Is this Sua’s new ploy to get Till to stop crushing on Mizi? Having been childhood friends with Mizi, it’s hard not to develop feelings. At least, in Till’s opinion. They know each other inside and out—metaphorically, of course—even before Sua joined their little duo in middle school. 

“You’re right,” Mizi says, and Till snaps his head over to her, betrayal clear in his dropped jaw and wide, startled eyes. Like a deer in the headlights, or, well, a really spiky hedgehog. “Till needs to get out and see the world. He needs to leave the nest one day.” 

What nest? Are Mizi and Sua the parent birds and is Till the fledgling chick? “Mizi, don’t tell me you’re agreeing with her?” 

Mizi blinks. “What I mean to say is that while I enjoy your company, you can’t keep hanging out with us forever.”

Till resists the urge to hold a hand over his heart, because that cut deep . He wouldn’t be surprised if they cut open his chest and find a burst artery. “Ow. How could you say that?” 

“But I feel bad if you end up so lonely,” Mizi says, and she stabs her tablet’s stylus in Till’s direction. “So, let’s find you a girlfriend!”

“I don’t need a girlfriend,” Till mutters, more to himself than to the other two. How can he give his heart to someone else if he can’t even get over his hopeless crush? He knows it’s hopeless because Mizi once told him to stop liking her because she likes Sua. Point blank, to his face, when they were the only two on cleaning duty in middle school. 

“You do, full stop,” Sua says, and what Sua says is final. Till wilts at her tone. 

“So, Sua and I have come up with an idea,” Mizi says, and she rummages through her bag, pulling out what looks like a box for a Switch game cartridge. She slides it across the table, weaving it between their books and notes spread out on the surface, over to Till. “Here, take it.” 

Till stares at the three people on the cover: a black-haired man, a blond-haired man, and a brown-haired woman. They are dressed in suits, posed almost… provocatively. “Chu Chu Office,” the game proudly proclaims.

“What the fuck is this?” Till hisses, unable to stop the swear slipping out from his mouth.

“It’s an otome game,” Mizi explains. “In other words, a dating sim.” 

“And why would I need a dating sim? Besides, two of the dating options are men.” 

“Yeah, well, think of it as an educational game,” Sua says. “The problem with you, Till, is that you’re too rough around the edges. You’re not romantic enough.” 

“What? I’m plenty romantic, excuse you. And what does this have to do with educating me?” 

Sua huffs. “I would elaborate, if you would let me finish. Till, you must learn from these men about the ways of romance. Only then would you be able to woo the girl of your dreams.” 

“Please give it a try, Till,” Mizi says, peering up at Till with her oh-so-innocent smile. “For me? As your childhood best friend?”

Till sighs. Mizi knows he’s weak for her smile—weak for her anything, really—and she’s using it to her advantage. But she’s right—Till is weak for her, which is why he ends up shoving the video game into his bag. He’s not going to play it, because why the hell would he? He doesn’t need to learn from a dating sim to snag a girl. Especially not one named Chu Chu Office.

“Anyway, I think we’ve been here long enough,” Sua says, and she begins packing her books and laptop. “Mizi and I are heading out first.” 

“Oh, already?” Till glances at the time on his phone screen. “It’s only five.” 

“We’re getting dinner,” Mizi says. “At Piyo’s.” The fried chicken place at the student hub, next to Furry Feline Cafe. It serves the best fried chicken on campus, because it is the only fried chicken place on campus. Till has fond memories there of eating with Mizi, and with his friends from the Art club. He’d kill for a portion of their classic soy garlic chicken and some soju.

“Bye!” Mizi calls, as she leaves first with Sua, the two girls heading out the library, with Mizi tossing one arm around Sua’s shoulders. Till sighs, and he stuffs his things in his bag. Well, at least he can consider the game a gift from Mizi. 

*

The first thing Till pulls out from his bag as he begins his nighttime study session is the otome game that Mizi lent him. Even though he put it at the bottom of it, his books and laptop burying it completely. He looks down at the three people, and he sighs. The first difference he notices between himself and the two men is their appearance. Both of them are good looking, albeit in different ways, whilst Till himself is… well, he’d like to think he’s average.

If this game is meant to be educational, maybe he should start by cleaning up that stubble on his chin and styling his hair. Slicked back, with his forehead exposed, seems to be the trend nowadays. 

Till glances at himself in the mirror, trying to imagine himself with his hair gelled back. Hmm… maybe it would be an improvement. 

Somehow, Till ends up crashing on his bed, his Switch in hand, the otome game cartridge slotted into the machine. The game boots up, its cheery start screen flashing on the display. Till is greeted with way too many hearts and kissing noises, as the title “Chu Chu Office” pops up on screen with a hideous bubble font rimmed with blue, as blue as the office building that serves as the backdrop.

The available options are “New Game,” “Continue,” and “Options.” Curiosity compels him to click on Continue, only to find himself dropped into a final confession scene with the blushing brown-haired woman, whose name the textbox indicates as Hyuna. A quick look at her status menu shows that Mizi’s maxed out her stats, with maximum affection for Hyuna, half affection for another girl character named Durian, and zero affection for the male characters—with negative affection for the blond man named Luka.

Figures. Till quits out of the file, and he presses “New Game.”

The doors to the building open, and a bright light consumes the start screen. A dialogue box pops up, and a line of text appears across the screen. 

“Welcome to Chu Chu Office! Before we begin, we’d like to ask you a few things about yourself.”

Till finds himself answering a series of questions. About his name, which gender he’d like to play as, his date of birth, and more. By the time he’s done, he’s about ready to put down the game. But the white screen gives way to the background of an office building against a clear, blue sky. An upbeat theme begins to play, a jingle that repeats after every eight bars. 

Till: It’s my first day of work!

Till: I hope everything goes smoothly. 

Till frowns, and he cringes. He doesn’t speak like that at all! Still, he presses on, because Mizi at least played it to the end, so it can’t be that bad, right?

The doors to the office building opens, and Till is greeted with a spacious lobby, glittering from floor to ceiling. The fluorescent lights shine bright, and the counters are polished to the nines. Paintings and potted plants are placed all around the octagonal room, adding a bit of life to the otherwise clinical setting. 

Till: As his new secretary, I’m supposed to meet the CEO. 

Till: Where is he?

Till: Ow!

The backdrop shudders. A man appears on screen—it’s a man with hair so light coloured that it borders on white, his black roots showing from his scalp. He holds a clipboard in one arm, his other hand on his hip. Till hasn’t seen this guy before, but the fact that an affection meter—denoted by five hearts—accompanies his name suggests that he is also a potential love interest.

Dewey: Ah, there you are! I was looking for you!

Dewey: You’re Till, right? 

Dewey: Pleased to meet you. I’m Dewey. Remember me? The HR manager who interviewed you last week. 

Till sizes him up. The man is dressed in a casual white tee and a pair of jeans. Does he… work here? Now that Till really thinks about it, he doesn’t even know what company he’s in and what it does. 

Dewey: The CEO’s waiting for you. 

Dewey: Come on, let’s go!

Most of his sprites are smiley, and his gestures are wide and big. Till likes him already, even though he’s only had a grand total of three sprites’ worth of screentime. His character—that is, a proxy of himself—follows Dewey towards the lift lobby and into the lift. 

Dewey: So, how are you feeling? 

Dewey: Getting the jitters? 

Till:
> Totally pumped to start!
> Yeah, I don’t know, this seems a little… 

Till raises a brow. Clearly, he’s supposed to pick something here. Since this is a dating sim, one option must raise the affection level, right, and the other does not? Possibly lowers it too, judging by the fact that Mizi has her affection levels in the negatives with a character named Luka.

Till clicks on what seems to be the correct answer: Totally pumped to start! Dewey grins, all teeth and no eyes. 

Dewey: Great! I was hoping you’d say that.

Dewey: We’re almost at the boss’ office now. Right here on the fifty-seventh floor.

They step out of the lift, and the backdrop of a long corridor replaces the lift doors. A green carpet stretches across the whole corridor, ending at the single door at the very end of it. Along the way are more potted plants and portraits of people, featureless and blurred.

Dewey: There right there is the boss’ office. Go in and introduce yourself!

Till: (Alright, here goes nothing.)

The scene changes again. Till finds himself standing in front of a desk. Behind that desk is a leather chair, its back to Till. Papers are arranged in neat stacks, and stationery are all placed in a penholder. A computer monitor is switched on, the screen showing white. Across the walls are bookshelves, each one filled with binders and folders of various colours. The chair turns around, and… ah, it’s the blond man. What’s his name again? Luka? 

Till: (Wow, this place is well-maintained and neat. It’s a little intimidating, really.)

Luka’s sprite appears on-screen, the very picture of condescension as he peers down at Till, his chin raised. No wonder Mizi had negative affection points with this guy. Till doesn’t think he’d like him much either. 

Luka: So, you are my new secretary? 

Luka: Hmm, I hope your work is up to snuff. 

Luka: My previous secretary, well, let’s just say they got the boot. 

Till:
> I’ll do my best!
> Was your previous secretary that bad?
> Must be tough working for someone like you.

Till probably knows what Mizi chose. He decides on “I’ll do my best.” The heart meter fills up ever so slightly. Luka smiles—which looks more like a smirk, really, but Till almost feels his heart skip a beat. Almost. He can see why people would play games like these.

Luka: Good, good. That’s the attitude I like to see. 

Luka: Come in and meet your predecessor. She has a lot to teach you.

Entering the screen is a brown-skinned, brown-haired woman, the same one from the cover of the cartridge box. The one that Mizi romanced. The woman stares sternly at Till, her gaze so piercing that Till could have mistaken her for another living, breathing person behind that screen. 

Hyuna: Welcome to ANAKT Entertainment. So, you’re the new hire. 

Hyuna: Follow me. There are many things you have to learn by the end of today. 

Till follows Hyuna to his desk. She coaches him on a few tasks—simple ones, according to the description by the visual novel. 

Hyuna: You catch on quick. That’s what I like to see. 

Hyuna: Is this your first time working a secretary job? 

Till:
> Yes, it’s my first time.
> No, I’ve done it before. 

Till scratches his head. There’s no indication which one would increase his affection level with her. Does it matter if he doesn’t want to romance her anyway? Then again, she seems like the only female option, aside from the other green-haired girl he saw in Mizi’s save profile. 

Then again, what’s the point when Till’s supposed to be cultivating his romantic bone? He should be romancing the men. That’s how he accesses their rapport events, right? Or dating events, or whatever it’s called in this game. He has never played a dating sim, but he’s certainly played visual novels before. He picks “Yes, it’s my first time,” and Hyuna’s heart meter fills up ever so slightly.

Hyuna: You learn fast, then, for a beginner. Impressive!

Hyuna: Well, I suppose you can start with these tasks for today. I’ll continue teaching you tomorrow.

Creak!

Till: What was that? 

Another man appears, the third of that trio advertised on the cover: a black-haired, rather good-looking man with hunched shoulders, dressed in a janitor’s outfit, complete with a hat atop his head. In one hand, he holds a mop, and in the other, a bucket. He smiles sheepishly, his snaggletooth protruding from his upper lip. 

Ivan: Sorry for interrupting! 

Ivan: I’m here to clean the place. This is the CEO’s room, right? 

Luka: Yes, I am. 

Luka: Is that how you’re supposed to be greeting the CEO?

Ivan bows, and he says: I a pologise. The name’s Ivan, and I’ve been assigned here starting today.

Luka: Ah, I did hear that the janitor has changed. Your name is Ivan, correct? 

Ivan: Yes, sir!

Luka: Very well, I expect good things from you, Ivan.

Ivan puts his hands on his hips. Don’t worry. You won’t be disappointed. 

The game continues filling Till in on his first day at this fictional office building, surrounded by fictional people, all of whom may be his potential love interest. Naturally, the ones that caught Till’s eye the most are the two men who got the most screen time: Luka and Ivan. Luka, because he’s the CEO that Till works for, and Ivan, because he strikes up an unlikely friendship with Till in the pantry.

The first day comes to an end, and Till saves and puts down the game. That’s it, he’s had enough of this for the time being. It’s rather entertaining, but it’s exhausting to constantly be on his toes and wary of picking the correct choice each time. Is it just him, or is navigating such virtual, fictional relationships even trickier than the real world? Maybe it’s because he actually sees how the affection meter changes—or doesn’t change, in some instances—whenever he picks an option.

While intriguing, Till isn’t the kind to play these sorts of games. Maybe he’d hold onto it for a few more days, and if he really isn’t getting into it, he’d just hand it back to Mizi with a heartfelt apology. Also to reiterate that he is plenty romantic without the aid of 2D men. 

Till places his Switch on his bedside table, somewhat ashamed that he’d been playing this for a good one hour. The evening sun has long dipped beneath the horizon, leaving a blanket of stars in its wake, draped against the night sky. Till should really get studying, because he sure as hell is not going to flunk his finals.

*

Ivan sighs for the umpteenth time, a dreamy look on his face as he stares out the screen, at the handsome face of the man who picked up his game for the first time and played it. Now, that is the face of someone who’s the slightest bit interested in him. Not like their previous player who only made googly eyes at Hyuna and Durian.

“Stop that,” Luka huffs, as he spins around and around in his office chair. He usually does that for hours on end, because there really isn’t much else to do when the game is switched off. Sometimes, they go to sleep if they’re too bored. And they can sleep for a long, long, long time. Until the next time someone picks up the game. 

“Why?” Ivan asks, puffing his cheeks out. “Hyung, that guy was cute .” 

“Yeah, I mean, it was fresh the first time you said it. This is, like, the thirtieth? In an hour?” 

“B-B-But!” Ivan sighs—for the umpteenth plus one time—and he deflates, leaning back against the wall. “I wish he could romance me.” 

“And I would gladly let him,” Luka says quickly. “Well, at least he’s not like that girl who purposely said horrible things to me.” 

“Yeah, she was reasonably nice to me, I guess. Do you think he’s going to play the game again?” 

“Who knows? He didn’t seem bored, so there’s hope, at least.”

Ivan recalls the man’s—Till’s—face when he played the game. Sure, there were a few hints of boredom, particularly where there were huge chunks of dialogue, but most of the time, he sat, eyes focused entirely on the screen through which he viewed them, and through which they viewed him. He even stuck his tongue out in concentration at one point, though Ivan isn’t sure he noticed.

“Well, I’m gonna take a nap,” Luka says. He stops spinning, and he kicks his legs up on his desk. The papers aren’t scrunched, the stationery remains unmoving, as though glued to the table. Luka’s legs rest just slightly above the items on the desk where their collision boxes meet.

Ivan drops to the floor, pulling his knees to his chest, and he sighs once again. 

Chapter 2

Notes:

I used the wingdings font here, in case you're wondering what those symbols are. You can use a wingdings translator or something to decipher them!

I used this one to translate: https://lingojam.com/WingdingsTranslator

“Did you try it?” Mizi asks the next day, when she and Sua meet Till for lunch at the Arts campus’ cafeteria. Till doesn’t even need to probe to know what she’s talking about. 

“Yeah. It was kinda meh.” 

“Ooh, who did you meet already?” 

Till spears a slice of pork with his fork. “Uh… the blond CEO, the senior secretary, and the janitor.” 

“Luka, Hyuna, and Ivan,” Mizi recites. Sua looks like she wants to say something, but smartly chooses to keep her mouth shut. 

“Oh, and the HR guy too.” 

“Hmm, I don’t remember his name. He’s not very significant unless you go down his route, I think.” 

“I thought you didn’t romance any men.” 

“Of course not. I just checked out a YouTube video because I was curious about all the routes.”

Sua hums. “If I were a character in that video game, would you romance me too?” 

Mizi giggles, bats her lashes at her. “I’d only romance you and no one else, Sua.” 

Till wants to gag. He’s dealing with enough jealousy and dejection as it is. They don’t need to flaunt their relationship in front of him. 

“Anyway, you should keep playing,” Mizi says. “I heard Ivan’s route is the best. But it’s the hardest to get Isaac’s, because he gets mad at literally anything you say. But if you don’t romance either Dewey or Isaac, they’ll get together at the end of everyone else’s route.” 

Till raises a brow. “Interesting. You’re, like, more invested in this game than I thought.” 

“Well, duh, I was bored. Plus, you get to carry over information from your previous runs, so you could score better points with the character you want to romance in your New Game Plus.” 

“Yeah, maybe you should do that,” Sua says. “Whatever New Game Plus means.” 

Till isn’t even sure he can complete one run of the game. But if Mizi was so into it, maybe he can take it through to the end and see where it goes. Maybe the story is better than he thought. In any case, both the men and the women are easy on the eyes, so that’s a bonus. 

“Honestly,” Mizi says, “you should go for Ivan. He’s a pretty chill dude, so I think he’d suit your personality real well.” 

But you had zero affection for all the men , Till bites back, because he doesn’t want Mizi to know that he’s been snooping. He can only imagine her disgusted expression, which he has seen once before, when they were packing gym equipment in middle school. Instead, he settles for, “Oh.” 

“Yup. Just have fun with it. And if you aren’t, treat it like homework. From your dating coaches.” 

Till blanches. “My what?” 

“Didn’t you hear her the first time? We’re your dating coaches,” Sua repeats with a straight face. “Be grateful we’re doing this for free!”

“I didn’t ask for this! You foisted it on me!”

“It’s for your own good,” Mizi tells him solemnly, and she reaches over to clap him on the back. “You’ll be attached by the end of this, Tillie. Mark my words.” 

Till doesn’t know where Mizi’s got that confidence from, but by God does he want a slice of that. 

“Anyway, be sure to tell us about your progress! And if you know how, you should stream it on Discord. Let us watch.”

“What the heck? Hell no!” Till’s not going to let them see him pandering to 2D fictional characters, saying things that he would not say in real life.

Mizi giggles, and Sua merely smirks. With friends like these, who needs enemies? 

*

“It’s been a week,” Ivan mumbles sorrowfully, sprawled all over the pantry table. “Maybe he got bored and left.” 

“Hmm, he wasn’t that interested in the first place,” Isaac says. He’s the team leader of the secretary team, whom the protagonist would meet on the third of seven days of work. Meeting Isaac so late is also part of why he’s one of the hardest characters to romance. Isaac takes great pride in that fact. That means he won’t get as much screentime and he’d have more time to himself.

Ivan purses his lips. “I wanted to see him again. I want him to choose me!” 

“Maybe you should lower your expectations a little,” Dewey says, as he strides into the room. He drops into a chair, and he kicks his legs up on the table. One of his shoes is much too close to Ivan’s face for his liking. Ivan bats at it, but Dewey just drops his heel heavily on Ivan’s hand, earning a yowl from him. 

“Yeah, that kid doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would play this sort of game. His girlfriend probably asked him to or something,” Isaac points out.

“Oh please,” Hyuna mutters. Ivan tosses a glance behind him to find her standing at the entrance, her arms folded. “If he has a girlfriend, he wouldn’t be playing our game.” 

Ivan snaps his fingers. “Exactly.”

Dewey nods. “Fair point.” 

“Wait,” Isaac says, holding up a finger. “Do you hear that?” 

A faint whirr drones in Ivan’s ears. He gasps, springing up from his seat as the Chu Chu Office jingle tinkles in his ear. 

“Alright, everyone to your positions!” Hyuna shouts. “Okay, where the fuck did that Luka go now?” 

Ivan’s eyes widen, his jaw dropping as he pulls on his janitor’s hat. Till’s face comes into view. His hair is wet, a towel wound around his shoulders. He’s settled back on his bed, the bedframe behind his head. A droplet of water trickles down his forehead and down the bridge of his nose. Ivan appreciates all his features, including the wrinkle of his forehead and the knitting of his brow as he resumes his save file. 

He’s so going against his programming to get this gorgeous looker of a man to fall for him and him only.

*

Now that exams are over, Till has about a week before he’s going back to his parents’ out in the countryside. He can play video games to his heart’s content, and that includes Chu Chu Office. Mizi did make him promise to return the game before he gets on that train back to Daegu, essentially putting him on a time limit here. Sua’s already looking into potential mixers to sign Till up for. 

Right, so… Mizi did say that Till should try to romance Ivan. He’s a chill dude, Mizi said, her exact words. Unfortunately, Till’s type is cheery people who sees the best in everyone, preferably wearing spectacles and with pink hair that reaches her shoulders. 

The game boots up, and Till is once more greeted with the grey office building sparkling in the afternoon sun. He resumes his save file, and he’s dropped back into Day 2. According to the game’s cartridge box, there are seven days in total. At some point, he’d be locked into a route, and he’d only be able to romance that person.

Till starts the second day in a cafe his character decided to visit, which just so happens to be right next to the office building. It is there that he meets the green-haired girl called Durian that Mizi romanced halfway during her run of the game. 

Durian: Welcome to Spike’s Cafe! What would you like? 

Till:
> An Americano, black.
> Some milk tea would be nice.
> How about six shots of espresso with two shots of caramel, a pump of whipped cream and a drizzle of honey? 

The funniest option. Till must choose that. Though he won’t be scoring any points with her, his goal is Ivan anyway.

Durian: Sure! One six shots of espresso with two shots of caramel, a pump of whipped cream and a drizzle of honey coming right up!

With that, Durian’s colleague—a brown-haired kid dressed smartly in his barista’s uniform—sets to work preparing the drink. Judging from how the affection meter changes, it seems that the one Till lost points with is this guy. Who is called Acorn, apparently. Durian serves up his order. 

Dewey: Oh, fancy seeing you here, new guy!

Dewey appears on screen. Durian bows, and she asks: Oh, good morning, Dewey-ssi. What would you like?

Dewey: Err, I’ll have whatever he had. 

Till loses another two affection points with Acorn, landing him in the negatives and a very angry, pulsating black heart. Talk about starting out on the wrong foot. Sometimes, Till wishes he could see people’s affection meters in real life. 

Dewey: So, what’s up? Their drinks are good, aren’t they? 

Till:
> Yeah, they’re fantastic.
> I dunno, I haven’t tried yet.

What? Which is he supposed to pick? Is this why Mizi said this game had a lot of replayability value when he gets to see which option is the better one? He picks the second option, because sometimes, honesty is the best policy.

Dewey: Oh, yeah, that makes sense. 

Dewey: You’ll soon find yourself coming here more and more often. Everyone from our company likes to hang out here.

Durian: Till-ssi, your drink’s ready!

Till: Thanks. 

Till: (Hmm, wow, it’s unsurprisingly sweet.) 

Dewey: Well, you’d better get going. Or else the CEO is going to get on your case.

Till: Right then, I’ll be off.

The scene transitions into the office building’s lobby. Greeting him is his target: Ivan the janitor. He’s dressed in his blue uniform, his curly hair falling over his forehead. He clutches his broom, a wide smile on his face. Huh, Till doesn’t think he’s seen this sprite before. Ivan was pretty bashful the previous in-game day.

Ivan: Good morning, Till!

Ivan: Lovely day today, isn’t it?

Till:
> Yeah, the weather’s great.
> Say, there’s a speck you missed.

The answer’s obvious for this one. Ivan smiles at the response, and he adds: It’s not too hot, and it’s windy outside. Perfect for kite flying. 

Ivan: We should go fly kites one day. What do you say? 

Till:
> 💧︎◆︎❒︎♏︎📪︎ ✋︎🕯︎♎︎ ♌︎♏︎ ♒︎♋︎◻︎◻︎⍓︎ ⧫︎□︎📬︎
> ☠︎□︎ ⧫︎♒︎♋︎■︎🙵⬧︎📪︎ ✋︎🕯︎❍︎ ■︎□︎⧫︎ ♋︎ ♐︎♋︎■︎ □︎♐︎ 🙵♓︎⧫︎♏︎⬧︎📬︎

Till blinks, a chill running down his spine. What the hell? Is this… supposed to happen? He grabs his phone and takes a picture of the unexpected phenomenon. He opens his and Mizi’s chatlog. 

Till: Img-01.jpg

Till: is this supposed to happen

Mizi: Uh 

Mizi: Ive never seen that before

Till: Maybe the game broke? 

Mizi: I mean i havent touched it in a while

Till: It’s not a horror game right

Mizi: Nah, i didnt encounter this when i played it

Mizi: It could be a one off thing

Mizi: U can continue playing and see if it happens again

Till glances back at his Switch. Ivan’s sprite is still peering up at him, but this time, he looks somewhat… afraid? Till’s not very hawk-eyed but he can still tell the obvious slouch in his shoulders and the furrow of his brow. God, is there a hidden time limit or something where if he takes too long to answer, the character actually gets anxious at his supposed silence?

Hurriedly, Till picks the first choice, hoping to score some affection points with the guy. Instantly, Ivan brightens up, his eyes wide and shimmering.

Ivan: Really? That’s great!

Ivan: Let’s go this evening!

His sprite turns bashful, his free hand rubbing his nape.

Ivan: Oh, unless… you have plans?

Till: No, I don’t have any plans.

Till: Sure. Where shall we meet? 

Ivan: How about Mujigae Park? It’s pretty central, so I hope it’s not too far from where you stay. There’s a kite rental shop there too!

Till: I’ll be there.

Strange, Till thinks. What kind of character would just agree to go kite-flying with a janitor they just met? Maybe it’s normal for otome games? Not that Till would know. Whatever it is, Ivan is grinning so wide that it looks almost creepy. It crosses into the uncanny valley when Ivan’s mouth glitches. Till has never smashed the A button so fast in his life as he skips through their dialogue. 

Whatever that exchange was, he earned three points with Ivan, bumping his affection meter up by one heart. Now, he just has four hearts to go. 

The rest of the day goes by as per normal. Till shows up at work, panders to his boss, earns a few more points of affection with Luka. Although, he has no clue what kind of answers Hyuna wants to hear, and at the end of it, her affection points hover just above zero. She tells him that he’d be meeting his actual superior the next day, and she’s being transferred elsewhere, but she’d drop in and check on him from time to time.

By the time six p.m. rolls around in the game, it’s time for Till to wrap up his work.

Till: It’s getting late. The CEO has no more appointments for today, so I guess I’ll be going.

Till: Oh… he’s left too.

Luka: Who’s left? 

Till: ?! 

Till: Ah, CEO Luka, you scared me.

Luka: Apologies, I left something behind, and I’ve come back to get it.

Luka: Actually, now that you’re here, perhaps you’d like to join me for dinner? 

Luka: It’s an expensive sushi place, near the Han River. 

Till:
> Sorry, I’ve got someplace to be. Maybe next time?
> Sushi! Sushi! Sushi!

Luka isn’t Till’s target here. He’s gunning for Ivan, just because Mizi said so. Admittedly, the creepy things that occurred whenever Ivan entered the scene is putting him off a little. Maybe he’s meant to be, like, the creepy love interest. Maybe Mizi lied and this is a horror game, like Doki—

Ivan: Till! Are you done? 

Ivan pops his head into the office. Till stares, horrified, at the black mass of glitches that it has become. He nearly drops the Switch on his face, then suppresses his animalistic instinct to hurl the game machine across the room.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, he’s not going to be able to sleep tonight. 

Luka: Oh, did you already have plans with Ivan? 

Luka: That’s too bad, then. 

Luka: I’ll see you tomorrow, Till.

With that, Luka’s sprite disappears. Ivan’s glitched one takes centre stage. As he stares into the void that is now Ivan’s face, he wonders if he’d see traces of the devil himself. Till isn’t sure what’s compelling him to continue playing despite being the scaredy-cat that he is, but he does. It’s like there’s an invisible force gluing him to the machine. 

Ivan: Let’s go □︎❖︎♏︎❒︎ to 💣︎◆︎🙰♓︎♑︎♋︎♏︎ Park! 

Till: ☹︎♏︎⧫︎🕯︎⬧︎ get dinner first. ✋︎🕯︎❍︎ hungry.

Thankfully, it gets better during the kite-flying scene. Mujigae Park features a stunning display of spring flowers in the centre of it, each curve flaunting the colours of the rainbow. A fountain splashes in the corner, water spurting from the jar the statue of a woman clutches in her arms. 

Ivan: This is nice, isn’t it? Flying kites like this? 

Ivan: The wind’s strong enough in the evening. It’s impossible to do this in the afternoon. 

Till: Yeah, it’s nice.

Ivan: It’s relaxing, isn’t it? Takes your mind away from the humdrum of work.

Ivan: Why’d you choose to work here, anyway? I thought you were part of sales at your previous job.

Till:
> To be surrounded by good-looking people.
> Money makes the world go round and me happy.
> It’s been my dream to work here!

Till scratches his head. Did the topic of his character’s previous workplace come up with Ivan at any point? Maybe word travels fast in this fictional office. What’s bugging him is that… isn’t the correct option too obvious? 

Ivan droops when Till responds with “ It’s been my dream to work here.”

Ivan: Well, that’s good for you, I guess. Not everyone can achieve what they set out to do.

Well, there goes a point from his affection meter. Till should really search up the right answers next time. He doesn’t want to end up on someone else’s route because of his horrendous social skills. That’s another plus when it comes to relationships with virtual characters. There are always answers out there, and there’s always a surefire way to winning their favour.

Till: What did you want to do? 

Ivan: Who? Me? Believe it or not, I wanted to be an animator. But my family is too poor to send me to university or even trade school. 

Ivan: Well, it took some time to come to terms with it, but I found that this life isn’t so bad either. 

Ivan: I mean, the pay’s good and I get a lot of paid time off. I don’t think many other janitors can boast that much. 

Ivan: I must be pretty good at what I do, huh?

Till:
> Yeah, you’re amazing.
> Eh… could use a little work.

Till picks the first option. Ivan beams. The glitches are gone, leaving Till in the presence of one of the most handsome smiles he’s seen in his life. 

Ivan: Thanks! That really made my day, Till.

Ivan: Oh, the wind’s no more. Our kites are coming down.

Ivan: Come on, we should head back. It was nice hanging out with you, Till. 

And so, on that mild note, Day 2 ends. Till hasn’t realised how tense he is until he slumps back against his pillow, his hand holding his Switch dropping onto the bed next to him. He throws one arm over his eyes, and he lets out a deep breath. Instantly, he regrets it, because the ghastly image of Ivan missing his face pops into his mind’s eye again. He hopes he stops thinking about it before it’s time for bed. 

If Mizi knew he let something like that keep him up all night, she’d never let him live it down. 

Chapter 3

“How was that?” Ivan announces haughtily. “Surely, he’s gonna fall for me now!”

Once again, Luka spins around in his chair. From the look on his face, he’s not particularly glad. Not even a modicum of happiness on his face for Ivan. How terrible of a friend is he for forsaking Ivan like this? 

“Bro,” Luka says, holding up a hand. “Did you even know what you did?” 

“I am not caged by the constraints of my programming, Luka.”

“You didn’t see the glitches? The font change? He’s gonna think the game’s haunted!”

Ivan blinks, like a deer in the headlights. Or a really stupid cow. 

“You were sequence breaking! You brought Day 6’s event up to Day 2! The game’s barely holding itself together as it is! Besides, did you know how fast my brain had to think to cover up for your random appearance at the end of the day?”

Ivan wilts like a dying flower. Or a sprig of weed in the middle of a drought.

“Great, now what are we gonna do for Day 6?” Luka mutters. “Your Day 2 event is way too cold for Day 6. One way to fix it would be for him to go down someone else’s route and experience their Day 6.” 

“No! I-I’ll figure something out! Look, if he doesn’t want to go down my route, why’d he agree to do the kite flying event with me, huh?” Ivan shoots back. “He would have agreed to your dinner event.” 

“So, you’ll figure something out, is that it?” Hyuna says, appearing at the doorway. Ivan thinks she must have a habit of standing menacingly at doorways. “Pray tell, what do you have in mind?” 

If Ivan were alive, a sheen of cold sweat would have beaded on his forehead. As it stands, he is not quite alive in a specific sense of that word. Therefore, all he can do is stutter, “I-I have… something. I have something, alright. Just… Just not yet. It’s rolling in this here noggin, you see.” 

Luka glances up at Hyuna. “You don’t have to be so uptight. The kid isn’t even that interested in our game. He might not pick it up for, like, the next month, so Ivan’s got plenty of time to think of something.”

Hyuna doesn’t look convinced. Ivan whimpers at her pleadingly. After what feels like the longest pause, she drops her head into her hand. “Whatever you think of better be good.” 

Luka goes back to spinning on his chair. Hyuna announces that she’s going to the pantry because Isaac and Dewey are making out in their office. Ivan grabs a marker from Luka’s penholder, stalks over to a whiteboard hanging on his wall, and he begins brainstorming.

*

Till scrolls through the various websites that Naver pulled at one a.m. in the morning, unable to sleep after witnessing that horror that the character Ivan morphed into. There aren’t a lot in general, unfortunately. Chu Chu Office isn’t the most popular game, after all. After much scouring, he manages to find a forum, as well as its Wiki articles. There have been other people reporting glitches, but nothing as major as what Till encountered.

An hour of fruitless searching later, Till decides to contact Mizi. He wishes he took a picture of creepy Ivan, but he forgot in the heat of the moment. He’s blameless, he tells himself. No sane person would instinctively take a picture of the strange happening. 

Mizi: Huh maybe u were seeing things

Mizi: Next time it happens maybe you can take a screenshot? 

Till: I swear it happened!

Till: Don’t u believe me? 

Till: Mizi? 

Till: Are u there?

Till: Shit, it’s late I’m sorry for imposing

Till: Guess I’ll talk to u tmr

Mizi: Sflr! Sua was over and I was kinda preoccupied

Mizi: Well, maybe we can play the game together tmr

Mizi: This might be an easter egg or something!

Mizi: Well, I’ll see u tmr Till!

*

Till is amazed that he got any sleep in the first place. He wakes up to the sound of birds chirping outside his window and the whistling of wind. Leaves rustle in the draught. Till vaguely hears students’ voices chanting some cheer in the distance, perhaps holding some after-exam activity for the first-years.

Till blindly reaches for his phone, gritting his teeth in abject pain when his wrist crashes against the sharp edge of his nightstand. He holds his phone up over his head, noting that the time is 10:29am, all whilst nursing the pulsing pain in his arm. And… oh, Mizi replied him. Two hours later. And she was with Sua. Of course , she was with Sua.

Till replies Mizi with a good morning, a thank you, and a time and place. What better place to meet than the cafe on school grounds, near their dorms? They serve the iced mocha that Mizi loves, and the blueberry muffin that Till likes. 

Perhaps Till should get to work on his pet project that he has been putting off for a while now. His canvas sits on an easel in the corner of his room, covered with a piece of cloth. His art materials are gathering dust, untouched throughout the entire exam period. It is a painting that he worked on during the semester, a piece depicting a vast field with a mountain range as a backdrop, reminiscent of the hills and valleys of Switzerland, which Till travelled to during the summer holidays with his mother.

The only problem is that it’s… just that. A painting of scenery. A few houses dot the green hills, and train chugs along the tracks, wisps of smoke billowing from its chimney. It’s missing something, something nearest the audience, the viewer. A subject. 

The subject of the work was initially going to be the Glacier Express, the train trundling along its winding tracks that guide it through the majesty that is Switzerland’s scenery. However, things… happen, and now, the train has become nothing more than a part of the painting’s background, leaving the work without a subject to draw people’s eyes to.

He’s considered a few possibilities—a shepherd and his sheep, some cows basking in the glory of the daylight, birds nesting on a tree, the last one being Mizi’s honest suggestion. But none of them seems to work. They just don’t fit into the vision of his piece. Few people would understand this irate emotion of an artist whose work just isn’t cooperating. Plus, he’s painted too much that it’ll be a waste to give up on it now.

Till sits in front of his canvas, arms folded. Perhaps he should work on this later. Start something new and get those creative juices flowing. Or maybe he should take a step away from painting and sketch some ideas he’s had in his head. He’s been listening to some songs by an indie artiste lately, and he’s been really getting into Ruler of My Heart and Karma. 

That is how Till spends the next hour of his life, pencil strokes feathery as he puts his ideas to paper. First, with concept art about his next work: Karma. But also, when he gets bored, he switches to sketching the characters from the game. It’s an otome game—by definition, it is aimed at girls—and it is a dating sim too, a genre of games that Till would never go near with a ten-foot pole. Unless, of course, Mizi is the one asking him to play.

Something about the game intrigues Till. It might be the strange happenings in the game, like the glitches and the strange text. Or it might be because Mizi and Sua ganged up on and forced it on him. Then again, it could be his inner perfectionist, goading him into finishing what he’s started lest it pester him with irritating, pervasive thoughts grinding on his nerves. Whatever the reason, Till has no desire to stop. Not until he gets to the end of it.

At precisely 11:30am, Till packs his bag—containing his wallet, his phone, and his Switch in its casing—and he heads out the door.

The cafe is a stone’s throw away, a five-minute walk from Till’s dorms. He arrives in time to watch Mizi and Sua break away from a passionate kiss over a plate of lemon cake and two cups of coffee. He pretends his heart isn’t shattered into a million pieces when he joins them at their table.

“You’re late,” Sua remarks.

“I was sketching and I lost track of time,” is Till’s response as he places his bag on his seat. “Let me go get a drink first.”

He returns to his seat with a plain black coffee and a blueberry muffin, because he needs a hint of sugar to deal with whatever he’s seeing at 11:43am.

“Okay,” Mizi says, her fingers clasped in front of her. “Let us see it. Just saying, I’ve never seen it glitch, so you must have broken it or something.” 

She doesn’t seem all that upset about the prospect. Probably gives her an excuse to discard it forever. Then again, Till could always re-download a brand new version from the e-Store. That is, if he’s willing to spend even a single cent on this game.

Till brushes off the backhanded insult, and he boots up the game, placing the Switch on the table so everyone can see it. The usual office backdrop appears on screen, alongside the title. Till selects his save profile, and they hop right into the game. 

*

“Who knew he’d be back so fast?” Ivan whispers to Dewey, the two of them hiding in the storage closet in the secretaries’ office. It’s Isaac’s turn to greet the player on Day 3. 

Dewey shrugs. “I dunno. I thought Hyuna said he wasn’t that interested. Do you even have screentime today?” 

“Duh, Luka, Hyuna and I are, like, the main characters of this game. It’d be weird if we didn’t have screentime every day.”

“I heard you fucked up the game by bringing forward your Day 6 event.” 

“Please, I got lip from everyone else already. I don’t need you harping on my case too.” 

Dewey snickers. “Whatever. Anyway, I hope they fail this time round too. I don’t want whoever this Till fella is to romance my boo.”

The door is ever so slightly ajar as Ivan peeks out from the storage closet. Isaac is about to leave, and judging from his sunny expression, this Till person has somehow managed to score the lunch event with Isaac. How? You’d have to get three conversation options right in a row! Isaac’s route is not for the faint of heart.

And Ivan is supposed to be the one Till romances! 

“Hey, ever thought about how boring it is that we need to act out the same scenes over and over again?” Ivan says.

“Uh… no, actually. I mean, it’s what we’re born to do.” 

“Fine, then are you tired seeing Isaac constantly trying to get romanced?” 

Dewey clenches his fist. “Fuck yeah. Even though there were only two players before him.” 

“Great. What if we team up, and you get your boo back, and I get my boo?” 

Dewey holds out a hand. Ivan clasps his fingers around it. They shake firmly. 

“Right,” Ivan says. “So, here’s the plan.” 

*

“Everything’s going smoothly,” Mizi says.

“Yeah,” Till says, “because Ivan hasn’t appeared yet. The glitches only happen when he’s around.”

“Maybe he knows about your plan to romance him,” Sua says with a deadpan expression. “He’s trying to shoo you away.” 

A shiver crawls down Till’s spine. “Please don’t. I’m already freaked out enough as it is. I don’t need to know that there’s a vengeful spirit inside this game and it’s doing its best to keep me away.” 

Mizi purses her lips. “Oh well. I thought Ivan’s route was the best for you. I mean, considering your personalities, he could really complement you very well.” 

Till scowls. “It’s not like I’m dating him in real life. At the end of the day, he’s just a character in a game. A bunch of pixels.”

“Hey, who knows? Some people have 2D husbandos,” Sua says, “and you could be one of them.” 

Till doesn’t know why, but he takes offence to that statement. Mizi and Sua are not… trying to turn him gay or something, right? Nah, that can’t be right. Mizi just wants him to learn from a gentleman, as fictional as he is, because apparently Till is as romantic as a rock. 

Till concludes his interaction with Isaac, aided by Mizi’s boundless knowledge on the game. He managed to score a dinner date event with the head of secretaries. It will be, apparently, how Till would learn to act during an actual dinner date. Because despite his appearances, Issac can be a real gentleman during his dating events.

“Okay, so this is where you’ll meet Dewey,” Mizi says. “Remember to turn him down, because if you do, you’ll clash with Isaac’s event, and then you’d lose points for both of them. Dewey and Ivan are sort of friends. Having more points with Dewey would help you with Ivan’s points calculation later down the road.” 

Till continues playing, clicking through dialogue that doesn’t really matter, according to Mizi. Just orders from Luka, telling him to meet Dewey to complete more new hire orientation stuff. The scene changes, and he finds himself in HR’s office…

With Ivan lying on the table, a rose between his teeth, his body glitching like hell. 

“Whoa!” Mizi cries.

Sua’s eyes are wide. “You weren’t kidding.” 

“Is this an Easter egg?” Mizi shoves her face close to the Switch, her pink hair tickling Till’s nose. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this. On the net, or anywhere else. Did you do something special during the last two days?” 

Till frowns. “Er… I don’t think so? I think it might be related to the glitches.”

“Yeah, you said Ivan had been glitching out, right?” Sua says.

“Okay, but this is kinda scary,” Mizi says. “Besides, Ivan isn’t even supposed to be here. I’ve never seen this event before.” 

“Well, maybe Till’s switch is broken,” Sua says.

Till shakes his head. “It doesn’t work that way.” 

Ivan: Till! ☟︎□︎⬥︎ are you ♎︎□︎♓︎■︎♑︎?

“Whoa, his words are glitched out too,” Mizi comments. “It’s like code.” 

“Do you think it means something?” Sua asks. 

Ivan: I’ve been waiting for you to come all this time. 

Ivan: 👎︎♏︎⬥︎♏︎⍓︎ isn’t here right ■︎□︎⬥︎. Are you looking for him? 

Till:
> No, I’m ●︎□︎□︎🙵♓︎■︎♑︎ for you.
> ✡︎♏︎⬧︎, how long will he take? 

“Err…” Till frowns. “What am I supposed to pick here?” 

“I mean, you should always pander to them, so I guess the first option seems better?” Mizi says. “I can’t really tell what the options are, to be honest.” 

Till picks the first option. And Ivan grins widely. Too wide. His mouth glitches out of his face, and Till’s heart jumps.

Ivan: Awe⬧︎□︎❍︎♏︎! 

Ivan hops off the desk. His sprite returns to his usual one, without the rose in his teeth, dressed back in his janitor’s uniform. However, he still wears that smile on his face. His sprite grows bigger, gets closer to Till, until his face covers more than half the screen. 

Ivan: That’s great! Let’s chat a bit before the CEO arrives. 

“CEO? Aren’t we meeting Dewey?” Till asks. 

“Hey, wait, that’s his line from his Day 3 event. It’s supposed to happen later in the day, though. Luka was supposed to catch you after Isaac’s dinner and Ivan was supposed to interrupt it.” 

“Oh. Mizi, I hate to break it to you, but the game is totally messed up. Either that, or I don’t think I’m playing the right game. Did you get a bootleg version from online or something?” 

Mizi huffs. “Well, it was my parents who gave me the game hoping to turn me straight, so you could ask them.” 

If they wanted to turn Mizi straight, Till thinks, maybe they should have gotten one without Hyuna and Durian as dating options.

“Still, I kinda want to see how this ends,” Mizi says. “Come on, keep going.” 

Till continues mashing through the dialogue. They start talking about their futures—Ivan dreams of keeping his stable job, as tiring as it is. He congratulates Till’s tenacity in his decision to climb the career ladder. Ivan likes staying home during holidays, and he is ecstatic when Till agrees. Most dialogue options lead to point accumulation, Mizi tells him. It just depends on how many affection points he’d get.

Ivan: Oh, is that our CEO? 

Ivan: I guess I’d better get going now. 

Ivan: See you!

With that, Ivan’s sprite disappears, accompanied by the creak of the door. Then, Dewey’s sprite flashes on screen, in his usual pose with the clipboard on his shoulder.

Dewey: Did ✋︎❖︎♋︎■︎ just ●︎♏︎♋︎❖︎♏︎?

Dewey: You’d think he’d ●︎♏︎♋︎❖︎♏︎ the place cleaner than be♐︎□︎❒︎♏︎, but it’s not like he’s ♋︎⬧︎⬧︎igned to clean my area, so maybe he ♎︎♓︎♎︎■︎🕯︎⧫︎ bother. 

Dewey: So, are we ready to settle the new employee survey? Oh, and your employee ID, of course.

“Huh, okay, just remember to reject him,” Mizi says. “It looks like Dewey’s Day 3 event’s proceeding as normal.”

“You call that normal?” Sua says, a brow raised. 

Dewey doesn’t seem too disappointed that Till rejects his subsequent invitation to go to the movies. He does lampshade about how slightly unethical it is to hit on someone who’s just joined. Although, he looks just a little too happy for that. Till isn’t sure what to make of it. 

Still, he continues playing, and the game proceeds as though nothing happened.

Chapter 4

“That was killer!” Dewey cries as he walks into the pantry, raising his hand for a high-five. Ivan gives him the high-five, the slap of their palms ringing out in the room. The only other occupant of the pantry, Hyuna, drops her head into her hands.

“What the hell was that ?” Hyuna cries.

Ivan sniffs. “You weren’t even there.” 

“I felt the damage. You were glitching everywhere!”

“Hey, this dinner event’s the only one I’m letting this player have,” Dewey says, stabbing an accusing finger in her direction. “I’m not letting just anyone win my Isaac’s heart.” 

“Isaac’s heart is stone cold. No one’s going to win it apart from you,” Hyuna mutters. “Anyway, what I’m worried about is that he’d put the game down, because he doesn’t want to play an evidently haunted game.”

“I don’t know, they seemed to be getting rather into it,” Dewey says with a careless flourish of his hand. “What’s happening out there right now, by the way?” 

“Isaac’s dinner date event. That’ll just about wrap up Day 3,” Hyuna says. “As it stands, he has the most number of affinity points with Ivan, with a decent number with Luka too, but definitely not as much.”

Ivan pumps a triumphant fist into the air with a hiss of “Yes!” 

“As it stands, he’ll be locked in on Ivan’s route on Day 6, assuming that he doesn’t do anything drastic and lose a bunch of affinity points.” 

“Must be that stunt you pulled yesterday,” Dewey says. “Seriously, this is the first time I’ve seen you break the game for a player. He must be something special, huh? What do you even see in him?” 

“My future,” Ivan answers without hesitation, a dreamy smile on his face. Hyuna coughs into her hand. “He’s so cute and expressive! He really wears his heart on his sleeve, like how he scrunches his pretty little nose when he paints, or how shocked he was when he saw the glitches… Oh, and did I mention how gorgeous he is when he sleeps?”

“So,” Hyuna says, “you like him because of his looks?” 

“And his adorable mannerisms.” 

“Right. Are you sure you aren’t happy just because he always picks the nice options for your interactions? No one said that he’s being sincere. If he just wants to go down your route, he could have just curated his answers and told you whatever you want to hear. It’s not like you know what he’s really thinking.” 

Ivan deflates, sinking onto the table. “You’re right.” 

“Don’t let that get you down,” Dewey says, leaning over and flicking Ivan’s forehead. The resounding snap echoes in the confines of the pantry. “Do you think I won Isaac over by being cowardly? No, I walked right up to him and told him that I liked him.” 

“Ooh.” A languid grin stretches across Hyuna’s face. “Actually, please tell me about that. I’ve never heard how you and Isaac got together.” 

“That’s a story for another time.” Dewey claps Ivan’s shoulder. “You’ve got the drive, kid. Now, you’ve just got to make it work between the both of you” 

“But how? I’m in this game, and he’s out there. I may like him, but he’ll never know that I am sentient,” Ivan mumbles, trailing off towards the end. 

Hyuna’s grin doesn’t fade. “At this point, he thinks a ghost haunts this game. Honestly, he might not be that far off if you keep up your antics.”

“If you can break the game,” Dewey says. “Do you know what else you can break?” 

Ivan frowns. Holds up a finger, his mouth open, then decides that maybe he hasn’t got a clue, and he puts it back down. 

“Are you serious?” Hyuna mutters. “I’ve never heard of anything like this happening before.”

“Oh, please, you only ever go to the Internet to get drunk off gossip,” Dewey shoots back. “It could have been done before. Or our little Ivan can set a precedence.”

Ivan cocks his head, his brows knitted. “What the hell are you two talking about?”

“They’re talking about breaking the fourth wall, obviously,” a fourth voice speaks from the pantry’s doorway. Ivan lifts his chin from the table to find Isaac walking through towards the fridge, looking none too happy. He grabs a can of beer, and he pops it open, chugging it down till the can is empty.

“That bad, huh?” Hyuna remarks.

“No, it went pretty well, actually. He picked all the right choices, and that’s what pisses me off,” Isaac snaps, and he tosses the can into the air. The can disappears into a splatter of pixels. In the fridge, the can of beer manifests once more, refilled with the bitter beverage. 

“Wait, so… that means that his affinity points with Ivan and yours are practically the same,” Hyuna points out.

Dewey has shot up from his seat and made three significant strides to Isaac, wrapping his arms around Isaac’s middle and resting his head on his chin. Isaac barely flinches, and instead, he reaches up and strokes Dewey’s hair.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Ivan says, holding up a hand. “We’re sort of in the middle of talking about… breaking the fourth wall or something? What’s this… fourth wall? What am I missing out on?” 

“Oh, Ivan, Ivan, Ivan,” Hyuna coos. “You’re really a dinosaur, huh. When’s the last time you went back online?” 

“I’ve never been online.” 

Dewey guffaws. “Wait, so you’ve just stayed in this game like a prude?” 

“Who’re you calling a prude?” 

“Anyway, it’s only a myth, but there’s talk of us game characters being able to walk out of our games, but only if we share a deep mutual connection with someone from the real world. Usually, that means the player,” Hyuna says. “That’s called breaking the fourth wall.”

“No-one’s managed to do it, though, not even the horror game characters,” Isaac says, as he takes another sip of another can of beer. “And your case is a little weird, because typically, it’s the player who has a crush on the character, not the other way around.” 

Ivan frowns. “Oh. You mean, I must get him to like me?” 

Hyuna nods. “Something like that. But I wouldn’t know. I mean, like Isaac said, no-one’s achieved it yet. At least, not that we and our informants know of.” 

“Anyway, if he’s playing this game to its completion, you still have four days left,” Dewey says. “You’ve got plenty of time. And I’m so down to help you out, if you’re ever looking for assistance. Anything to stop him from laying his virtual hands on my sweet Isaac.” 

Isaac doesn’t like being called sweet, Ivan remembers. The last time Hyuna did that, he gave her the cold shoulder for two weeks straight. Luka tried mediating. It was a whole thing. But seeing as how Isaac only scoffs, he supposes that Dewey’s the only exception. 

“You know what? As annoying as you can be, we’re rooting for you,” Hyuna says, and she pats Ivan’s shoulder. “So, go get them, tiger.” 

Ivan salutes her. “Yes, ma’am!”

There is a glimmer of hope, a spark of possibility. If there is even the smallest chance that Ivan could, as they say, break the fourth wall, then he’ll make Till fall for him, hook or by crook.

“But first,” Hyuna reminds him, “you’d better think of something about your missing Day 6 event.” 

*

After parting with Mizi and Sua, Till spends the rest of the day reading up on known glitches and Easter eggs that have to do with Chu Chu Office. He doesn’t find much, and, like Mizi said, nothing about the ones that he has encountered. What he has found, however, are in-depth analyses of Ivan’s story and character, as well as various articles on trivia of the characters. He learns that the most popular character through a popularity poll is Luka, and Ivan is a close second. 

In fact, he gets so absorbed in the hours-long video essays about the different characters and the game itself that he hadn’t even realised how hungry he is and how tired his eyes are. He rubs them, closes the lid, and he falls back onto his bed. 

Ivan prefers answers that encompasses both ambition and down-to-earth qualities. Luka likes answers that are more subservient and stuttery. Hyuna likes more serious answers, Dewey prefers playful answers, and the list goes on and on. 

After chowing down on some spring onion-flavoured instant noodles, Till finds himself growing more and more intrigued about the man he’s supposed to romance. Mizi did mention that their personalities are compatible, but Till doesn’t quite understand why. He’s always imagined himself with Mizi, so he assumed that, after Mizi started dating Sua, that he’d end up with a girl with a similar personality.

Ivan is nothing of the sort. He’s neither kind nor gentle, judging from his peripheral interactions with the other characters. When he speaks to Luka or Dewey, there’s always a forced politeness on his face as he echoes lines of courtesy, programmed into the game. If Till picked the wrong options, there’d be a darkness that peeks out from under his cheerful facade, like there’s more to be understood, more than meets the eye. 

At the moment, Till’s only scratched the surface. It’s only at Day 5, many walkthroughs say, that the game’s story begins to become more interesting. That’s when the character-specific events begin to happen.

Like Ivan’s kite-flying event.

Till rolls onto his side, and he stares at the wall. He did read somewhere that Ivan’s kite-flying event is set to take place on Day 6, when the player is locked into his route. But Till experienced that event on Day 2. Not to mention that more than one walkthrough and guide said so. 

Mizi’s game is a bootleg version; Till can finally definitively conclude that that is the case. Does that mean he’s going to experience Ivan’s Day 2 event on Day 6? 

Well, there’s only one way to find out. Till has to keep playing. He grabs his Switch from his shelf, and he turns the machine on. 

He finds himself staring at the familiar office building of Chu Chu Office, greeted by the familiar jingle and loading into the familiar save profile. The first thing he does when it loads up, before he even clicks through any dialogue, is to check his status with the characters.

To his relief, he’s still on the right track to romance Ivan. Perhaps he should consult a guide till he’s sure he’s locked into Ivan’s route on Day 5. But a small part of him has started becoming attached to the game’s characters. It’s a silly thought, but he can’t bear to treat them as nothing more than data and code. 

Till hops right back into the game, having cemented his desire not to use guides. He will approach this naturally, because he at least owes the characters this much. 

God, he’s pathetically lonely, isn’t he? 

Before he can lament further, Day 4 opens in the cafe where Durian and Acorn work. He goes through the interaction with her, scores some points with Durian but ends up taking off more affection points with Acorn. Now, his affection with Acorn is still stubbornly in the negatives, and boy, is Acorn’s sprites showing him more of the evil eye than before. Yet the creepy factor pales in comparison to Ivan’s glitchy form. 

Till bumps into Isaac at the cafe. Isaac informs him that Luka is looking for him—his dialogue is barely decipherable as it has devolved into a string of near-incomprehensible symbols—and Till heads off. He makes it to the topmost level where the CEO’s office is, and he’s rushing out of the lift when he bumps right into Hyuna.

Till’s coffee sloshes out of the cup, splashing right onto Hyuna’s chocolate-coloured suit. She gasps, expression one of pure shock. Ah , Till thinks, as a chronic viewer of dramas, classic . 

Till: I-I-I’m sorry!

Till: I promise I’ll clean this up. 

Hyuna: Ah, don’t worry about it. This sort of thing happens. 

Hyuna: Well, I guess I’ll just have to find some way to explain this to Luka.

Hyuna: What about you? Are you alright?

Till:
> I’m fine, thanks for asking.
> Let’s get something from the washroom to clean you up.
> Shall we see if the janitor’s closet has something to help? 

Till picks the third option. Hyuna’s affection points increase by one, filling up to three hearts. By choosing the janitor’s closet, he has perhaps earned an interaction with Ivan. Assuming of course, that anything that even so much as mentions “janitor” is related to the cute janitor boy—

Hol’ the fuck up. Did Till just think he was cute ? No, Ivan is not cute. Ivan is a big fluffy dog of a human, that’s all. Or, rather, a human-shaped mass of pixels. If anything, he’s hot, and Till could look at his face all day.

Is it time to admit that after two whole days of thinking all about it, that Till could be gay, or at the very least, bisexual? Maybe there are other labels out there that he could identify better with, but he really doesn’t have the bandwidth to think too hard about it. He’s got his priorities straight—he has a dating sim game to finish, dammit. 

Hyuna: Good idea. I’ll be in the washroom, trying to scrub this stain out. 

Hyuna: Try to look for detergent or something. Or ask Ivan. He should be in there now.

Till: Okay, will do.

The scene changes to the janitor’s closet. As Hyuna said, Ivan is in there, humming a tune to himself. At least, he’s not quite appearing as his glitched-out self.

Till: Ivan, you’re here.

Ivan: O-Oh! Till, what brings you to my humble abode?

His sprite looks nervous. The sort of nervous with obvious droplets of sweat on his forehead, with wide eyes as though Till just caught him red-handed in the middle of some heinous act. Like with his hand in the cookie jar, for instance.

Ivan: Not that this is my abode, really. I mean, I don’t live here, but…

Ivan: Who am I kidding? At this point, I practically live here. 

Till: I accidentally spilled some coffee on Hyuna-sunbae. 

Till: I need some detergent. 

Ivan: Ah, we don’t really have detergent for clothes here… 

Ivan: Most of what I have are toilet cleaners, pipe cleaners, and stuff like that. 

Ivan: Oh, you could try using hand soap. It might not get the stain out completely, but Hyuna-ssi should at least be presentable.

Till: Thanks, I’ll let her know.

Ivan: Is that… the only reason you’re here? 

Till:
> Yeah, I’ll get going now.
> I came to see you. 

The right answer is clear here, and Till picks it. Instantly, Ivan’s nervous sprite changes to that of his cheerful one, and Till finds himself smiling. Just a tad. At least, until he catches himself, and then explains away his inexplicable reaction with the standard sense of triumph of a gamer getting their desired result.

Ivan: That makes me really happy. 

Ivan: Well, it’s a little hard to talk at work. 

Ivan: Maybe… Maybe you’d like to meet after work today? 

Ivan: There’s this bar in Hongdae that’s just opened up, and I thought that maybe… we could go together? 

Till:
> I’d love to.
> Hmm… bars aren’t really my thing.

“Sure, why the hell not,” Till mutters to himself, as he picks the first option.

Ivan: That’s great! 

Ivan: I’ll meet you at the entrance after work, then. You should hurry on back to Hyuna-ssi. She must be waiting for you.

Till: Yeah, okay. I’ll see you at six.

With a gentle smile and an enthusiastic “see you later,” Ivan sends Till off with a wave. The scene shifts back to Hyuna, who has emerged from the bathroom and apparently cleaned off most of the stain. A small part of Till wishes the interaction with Ivan were longer, instead of just fleeting moments in the office.

Hyuna: Where have you been? 

Hyuna: I got most of the stain out.

Till: Ivan said that using regular soap could get the stain out. 

Hyuna: Huh. Well, I guess it’s worth a shot. 

Hyuna: You’d better hurry on to see Luka. I heard he was looking for you.

Till hurries on to the CEO’s office. There, on his imposing black leather chair, Luka sits. He rests one head on his hand, a pair of black spectacles sitting on the bridge of his nose. Upon Till’s arrival, he leans back against his chair, his arms folded.

Luka: You’re late.

Luka: Where were you?

Luka: Come, let us go.

Till: Go? Go where?

Luka: Oh, yes, you weren’t informed yet. There is an important function I would need to attend two days from now. 

Luka: But I don’t have any appropriate dress.

Luka: We will head down to the nearest departmental store to purchase an outfit now.

Luka: Come along.

With that, Luka stands, and he disappears out the door. Till hurriedly follows after him, already thinking about the bar date he’s going to have with Ivan later.

*

“He agreed!” Ivan cries, pumping his fists as he parades his broom around the janitor’s closet. “Oh my goodness, he agreed! Yes! He’s chosen my route!”

Hyuna picks at her nails as she leans against the wall. With a snap of her fingers, the dark coffee stain vanished. “Yeah, yeah. At this point, it’s impossible to switch routes. He can still get Luka if he tries really hard, though.”

“He’s not going to try hard for Luka.” 

“Wow, bold, are we?” 

“He said he came to see me!” 

“That’s literally one of the pre-programmed dialogue options, Ivan. Besides, if he’s trying to romance you, it’s obvious he’s going to pick that. Just like how he chose to go to the janitor’s closet. Which took two points off my affection meter, by the way.” 

Ivan scoffs. “Who cares about your affection meter? I’m the one he wants.”

“Watch what you’re saying, brat. My concept art was developed earlier than yours.” 

“You weren’t even programmed in until the last minute. They wanted to scrap you.” 

It doesn’t matter what Hyuna says, because all Ivan can think about is his date with Till. They’re going to the bar, enjoy live music, drink cocktails or beer or wine or whatever his preference is—Till would earn up to three affection points with Ivan if he picks beer, though. Although, if Ivan can overcome his programming without breaking the game, he’d give Till ten affection points no matter which option he picks.

Ah… time moves ever so slowly when one is in love. Or, in Ivan’s case, deep infatuation that could, maybe, blossom into something more.

Chapter 5

Till has only ever gone shopping with Mizi, and even those outings waned in number when Sua joined and they formed their merry little gang. Or rather, the merry little duo of Mizi and Sua, plus Till. Even though Till was there first.

Therefore, it’s rather interesting that one of Till’s shopping trips since he was eleven years old is in a video game, a dating sim, helping his fictional boss pick out an outfit he would be wearing to a function sometime in the future. Till is quite sure Luka mentioned it but he can’t be bothered to remember when.

At this current point in time, Luka is trying on various blazers, oxfords, jackets, trousers. He holds up two sets of outfits—the first being a simple white blazer with gold cufflinks accompanied by a pair of white trousers, and the second being a more elaborate fit that seems more like a mishmash of leopard prints, fedoras, and boas.  

Luka: Which do you think looks better on me? 

Till:
> The white one.
> The leopard one.
> Err… shall we try looking for another outfit? 

The choices are getting harder and harder, Till thinks. How would he know what Luka likes? More importantly, would any of them win him affection points with Ivan, like how getting chummy with Dewey would earn him more points with the object of his interest?

“Bah, doesn’t matter,” Till mutters. “It’s not like I’m gonna go down Luka’s route anyway.” 

Although, Luka seems glad—it’s hard to tell, really, when most of his expressions are generally the same—when Till picks the white outfit. 

Luka: Good choice. Simplicity is always best. 

Luka: To commend your diligence and the efforts you have put into your work, I will offer to purchase one outfit for you. 

Luka: Just one! So, pick wisely. Come see me when you are done.

Till is presented with three choices—the maximum number of dialogue choices in the game, apparently. The first is a simple black-and-white suit. The second is a set of casual clothing, a button-down patterned with flowers and baggy jeans that flares at the end. The third is a dress, an evening gown, to be exact. At least, that’s what Till thinks it is. He’s never explored dresses much. 

Something tells him that each of these choices appeals to a different character. The question is: who likes what? 

Well, Luka and Isaac would probably like the suit. Dewey might like him in the dress. That means that Ivan… would prefer him in casual clothes? Or Ivan might have a freaky side to him and prefer the dress? 

Till goes with the safe option—casual clothes. The price tag is not hefty, as the game reveals. It costs at least ten times less than the suit and five times less than the dress. Luka, however, is not impressed at his selection. Till even loses affection points with him.

Luka: A man of your standing should dress the part.

Luka: But since this is your decision, I will respect it. 

Luka: I trust you have appropriate attire for the event on Friday.

Till: Sure, I do. 

Luka: Good. Well, here’s your clothes. Casual they may be, but the quality is still much better than that you’d see on streetside stalls.

Luka: Be sure to treasure them. 

With that, the shopping event with Luka ends, and the screen blacks out. What greets him is the backdrop of the busy streets of Hongdae, a static image with people rushing about, cars waiting at traffic lights, the doors and windows of stores still open spilling illumination onto the pavement. 

Till: We’re supposed to meet somewhere out here… but I don’t see him.

Till: Hmm… 

Till: A new bar that opened in Hongdae…

Ivan: Oh, Till!

Ivan’s sprite appears. He’s dressed in casual clothes, like he was during his kite-flying event. A white shirt underneath, a thin blue jacket hugging his admittedly rather delectable figure, and a pair of jeans ripped at the knees, exposing skin behind fraying threads.

Ivan: There you are. I was waiting for you.

Ivan: I heard you were out with the CEO. Was he making you work late again?

Till:
> No, he’s treating me very well, actually.
> Yeah, he works me like a mule. 

Till picks the first one. Ivan seems oddly dejected, but at least Till doesn’t lose any affection points with him. 

Ivan: Oh, well, that’s good. 

Ivan: At least you’re not dying from all the paperwork!

Ivan: Come on, let’s go in!

Ivan drags Till into the bar, and the game’s soundtrack changes from the upbeat one to a special tune with live singing and soothing music. Its style is slightly different from what Till has been listening to before, it’s softer and smoother than the rest of the music in the game. Perhaps this is a specific soundtrack unlocked with Ivan’s Day 4 event. 

What greets Till is not the background of the bar. Instead, it’s a close up of Ivan seated across from him at the counter, his arms crossed on the table in front of him. From this angle, Till must admit that he is gorgeous . Chiselled jaw, thin lips, eyes twinkling with a hint of playfulness. He looks like a playboy through and through, if only he wore more revealing clothing. 

Ivan: What are you thinking about? 

Till:
> This bar is nice.
> I like the music.
> You. 

God, Till’s going to have to pick that last option, doesn’t he? But, wow , it’s so embarrassing. He can literally feel his cheeks burn at the prospect of unimaginable amounts of cringe . He has to force himself to manoeuvre the cursor over the option that is much too obviously the right way to earn the most affection points with Ivan.

Ivan smiles instead of grins this time. His smile is soft, his eyes closed, his mouth curving upwards but does not quite convey the same mania as his glitching grin. 

Ivan: Aw, that makes me really happy.

Ivan: Well, it would make me even happier if I’m all you’ll ever think about.

Ivan: Oh, what do you want to drink, by the way? And shall we get a plate of mandu to share?

The screen blacks out. Till bobs his head to the bass of the calming melody. When the scene loads, Ivan assumes the same pose, aside from the fact that his head is now tilted back, his hand holding onto a shot glass filled with what must be soju. A plate of fresh, crispy mandu is placed between them. Till’s suddenly feeling hungry and craving some mandu himself.

Ivan: This is nice, don’t you think? 

Ivan: Sitting here, without a care in the world, with a friend. Not thinking about what the future could hold, and just… being here in the moment.

Ivan: That’s why jazz bars are one of my favourite places to hang out.

Ivan: But, well, I don’t know anyone else who likes this sort of thing, so I usually come alone.

Ivan: It’s nice to have someone here too! Especially if it’s you, Till!

Ivan: What about you? 

Till:
> I would come back here… for the drinks.
> Of course, because you’re here.
> We could go check out other bars sometime.

Wow, option one is just downright wrong. Maybe it’s to give players a chance to reject Ivan now. Till picks the second option, because it sounds the cringiest, and something tells him that Ivan likes cringey.

But of course, Till’s hand has to slip, or maybe the cursor moved too fast, or maybe he’s just too hasty. In any case, he ends up selecting option one, because of course , the universe has it out for him, even when he’s playing a stupid dating sim.

Ivan: O-Oh, yes, the drinks are great too. 

Ivan: And I know you ●︎♓︎🙵♏︎ coming ⬥︎♓︎th me too, just that ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ◻︎♓︎♍︎🙵♏︎♎︎ the wrong op⧫︎♓︎□︎■︎. 

Ivan: You’re rea●︎●︎⍓︎ ♍︎◆︎⧫︎♏︎! I can see that ♏︎❍︎barra⬧︎⬧︎❍︎♏︎■︎t on your face. 

Ivan: Never c♒︎♋︎■︎ge, okay? Stay the ♋︎♎︎□︎❒︎♋︎ble Till that you are.

Till blinks. He thought the glitches were gone, but no, it appears that the jumbled words are still present. Like a trap just waiting to spring. Till’s beginning to wonder if this has been intentionally coded in, just that no one’s discovered it yet, with how unpopular this game is.

Still, Till somehow gains one affection heart from choosing the very wrong option. The scene continues to play out, with Ivan making him promise to go barhopping some time. The screen darkens as the music comes to a haunting stop, and the day concludes.

*

“Oh my God, did you see how cute he was?” Ivan squeals as he peers out the screen of the Switch, staring up at Till’s bewildered expression. He is sitting cross-legged on Luka’s desk, the latter once again spinning—rather distractingly—in his chair. 

“Out of the three options, he could have picked any of the other two, but he somehow picked the first one? Don’t you think that’s deliberate?” Luka says. 

“You didn’t see him after that!” Ivan cries, and he waves dismissively at Luka. “You should have seen his face. He didn’t want to choose that option. I just know it. I’ve watched him for longer than you have.” 

Luka folds his arms. “And how do you know that?” 

“I’d like to think that I know him more than you. Does that mean that you’re breaking the fourth wall soon?”

“Maybe? I mean, I can’t really tell…” Ivan sighs. “It’s possible that it wouldn’t happen, and we’d get sold elsewhere to someone else. But I think… I don’t think there’s anyone quite like him.” 

“Or, we might be shoved in a shelf for ages and never see the light of day again,” Luka points out.

“That’s… what I was afraid of,” Ivan mumbles. “If I leave the game, then what happens to you guys? You’ll be trapped here in an unfinished game, and we won’t be able to speak like this anymore.”

“We’ll miss you, but we’re fine, really,” Luka says. “Acorn, Marty, and Durian have each other. Isaac and Dewey are together, and I’m still working on getting Hyuna to fall for my wily charms.”

“Which are non-existent,” Ivan points out. 

Luka pauses in his spinning to chuck a pen at Ivan. But Luka’s aim is horrible, and Ivan is good at dodging, so the pen sails past his head, hits the ground, and it disappears in a mass of pixels. 

“You’ve been going at it for ages now,” Ivan says. “When are you gonna realise that Hyuna is out of your league and give up?” 

“I have all the time in the world. Until this cartridge breaks, at least. I’d have even more time if we make it to the Internet,” Luka says. “Besides, shouldn’t you be working on your own issue? You still have one in-game day before your dreaded Day 6.” 

“Don’t worry,” Ivan says. “I have a plan.” 

“Sure, whatever you say.” Luka hops off his chair, and he heads towards the door. “I’m gonna go look for Hyuna.”

With that, he leaves, the door swinging shut with a click. Ivan takes Luka’s seat, the leather chair soft under his rear. He sits with his back to the desk, giving him the best view of Till sitting in front of his canvas, his face screwed up in a focused expression. He’s been poring over that painting ever since he put the game down for the day. Sunlight filters through the window, giving Till’s cute face a glorious glow. 

From this angle, he can only catch a glimpse of the masterpiece that Till has painted. There are mountains, fields, the widest expanse of grass that Ivan has ever seen. Things that he will never be able to see, feelings that he’d never be able to experience if he simply remains a bunch of data. 

He wonders what it’d be like to view such magnificent scenery with Till. If they could live in a cabin up in the mountains, with a patio for Till to paint, wouldn’t that be lovely? They’d be able to do more than what Ivan has been programmed to do. More than the jazz bar, more than kite flying, more than brief encounters in the janitor’s closet. The possibilities are endless, once he’s out of this game. 

Till abandons his canvas after the longest pause. His features relax as he falls into his rolling chair, and he picks up his sketchbook. Though Ivan could not see half of that painting, he certainly has a full view of his sketches. And… is that him? 

Ivan leans forward in his chair. He isn’t seeing it wrong. That sketch is of him. Him, and no one else. Only him. Three of his sprites. Three expressions that he does not recognise, expressions that he has never made before. One is of him afraid, with pinched brows and wide eyes, lips drawn down into a trembling frown. Another is of him bawling his eyes out, an expression he’s ever seen on Durian because of her incredibly tragic Day 6 event. The last is of pure laughter, his head thrown back, his eyes squeezed shut and his mouth wide open, his snaggletooth clearly protruding from under his lip. 

It warms Ivan’s nonexistent heart that Till captured his defining feature at all. It’s only a few pixels, a small part of his design, but he’s still proud of it. 

Out of curiosity, Ivan tries to mimic the expressions, but it’s hard to get it right when he doesn’t have a mirror. He moulds his face with his hands, fingers prodding his cheeks and pulling at the corners of his lips, but it feels unnatural, and he begins to glitch. Maybe he’ll have to think about trying it again once he gets out of here. 

For now, Ivan is content just watching Till sketch, watching him scrawl furtive strokes on the thick paper. His focus does not waver, and his gaze does not drift. Ivan once more steals a peek at Till’s painting, thanking his crush’s hobby for giving him the idea he needs for Day 6 and 7. 

*

“So, how’s the game going?” Mizi asks. She has invited Till out for a shopping trip as she needs to purchase a new set of clothes for her date with Sua, which Till has reluctantly agreed to join. That in and of itself is strange, because he used to jump at any opportunity to spend time with her. Maybe he’s just feeling a little under the weather today. Maybe he just wants to hole up under his blankets and spam the heck out of Chu Chu Office.

If he told himself he would be obsessed over a dating sim game roughly a month ago, his past self would have slapped himself on the back and implored him to stop joking. Because Till’s favourite games are third-person shooters, ARPGs, and idle clicker games. 

Though he started playing it thanks to Mizi’s request, it was probably the indie charm of the game, its simplistic storyline amidst his hectic life, and its compelling characters that keeps him going back. Not to mention how he anticipates going down a certain dark-haired janitor’s route, but he wouldn’t readily admit this fact to just anyone.

“Till, what do you think about this?” Mizi says, holding up a dress to her shoulders. The dress is a cute pink colour that complements the hue of her hair, with frilly sleeves and a flouncing skirt. “Or should I go for something more orange?” 

“I think… the pink looks okay. But I’m not the best at this, though, so you could just take my opinion with a grain of salt.”

Mizi frowns. Till panics briefly, wondering if he said the wrong thing. But she looks more surprised than mad, so that’s something. 

“Normally, you’d say that you don’t mind anything I wore,” Mizi points out.

Till blinks. “Did I? I don’t think I’ve ever gone shopping with you before.” 

“No, not that. I mean, when I was choosing clothes for prom and graduation and such. You never really had an opinion on what I wore. So, why the change?” 

Till scratches his head. “Err… I don’t know.” 

“Are you sure…? Wait, don’t tell me… did that game really work?” Mizi cries, slapping one hand over her mouth in a failed attempt to muffle her excited squeal.

“Work? What work?”

“Did you really fall for him? Ivan?” 

A deep blush spreads across Till’s cheeks. “What? Why would you ask that? How could I fall for a fictional guy?” 

“Hey, it’s a pretty common thing, just so you know,” Mizi says. “People get married to their fictional crushes.”

Till drags a hand across his face. Great, just because he can’t land a real partner, he’s going for a fictional one? In a dating sim game? How far off the cliff did he fall? 

“So, what are you going to do when we’re done here?” Mizi asks.

“That came out of nowhere.” 

“If you have no plans with a certain janitor boy, maybe you could join me for lunch?” 

Lunch with Mizi sounds nice, Till thinks. Besides, he’s not addicted to the game, and he’s not addicted to Ivan at all, even though Mizi’s very clearly suggesting it. He will prove to her that he likes spending time with her much more than playing Chu Chu Office. He’s not going to succumb to temptation and let that video game suck him in.

“Yes,” Till says. “Let’s get something soupy. I’m a little thirsty today.” 

Till ends up giving his opinion on five more outfits before he’s tuckered out, choosing to browse art supplies whilst Mizi peruses more dresses in another section of the department store. When they are done, Till helps Mizi carry her endless numbers of shopping bags—she ended up buying four outfits of the five she shortlisted.

They head to a restaurant on the first floor of the building, a place that serves primarily soup-based dishes. A seat opens up as they enter, a stroke of luck that Till finds is hard to come by nowadays. They place their orders, with Till feeling generous today and deciding to treat Mizi to a hearty bowl of gamjatang. 

“So, you’re going back home this Saturday, right?” Mizi says.

“Yeah. For the rest of term break. What about you?” 

“I think I might go back for, like, a few days? And then I’ll be coming right back to the uni. To keep Sua company.” Sua doesn’t have the best relationship with her family. They’ve concluded that the best way to keep the family somewhat together is for them to stay apart. A bit of a contradiction, Till thinks, but it’s not his place to comment.

“I think I’m going to finish the game ahead of schedule,” Till says, “so, I’ll return it to you before I leave.” 

“I was sort of hoping you’d take it off my hands, though. I’ve had my fun with it.” 

“Oh. Sure, okay. I’ll probably sell it, though.” After deleting his and Mizi’s save profiles, of course. Can’t have anyone rifling through those and compromising his and Mizi’s honours. 

Mizi nods approvingly. “Even better.”

The gamjatang smells better than Till thought. Mizi snaps a picture of her food, and Till’s already tucking in, scooping up pieces of pork and spring onions and slurping up the delicious soup. They talk about their plans for the next semester, about Mizi’s plan to leave for Finland with Sua for their exchange programme the year after. Till has considered the Netherlands and Scotland, but his poor grasp of English and nonexistent knowledge of Dutch is making him think twice about his choice. Besides, he’d have to wait for the results of his art scholarship application before even considering it. 

They talk for so long that their soup has cooled and at least two hours have passed before they’re ready to leave. Mizi complains about her hair smelling of soup, but reassures Till that it’d come out once she washes it. Together, they make their way back to the university. 

“Tell me how it goes!” she calls when they part ways at the entrance of Mizi’s dorm. She swipes her student card against the sensor at the door, and she slips in through the doors. Till watches her through the glass doors until she’s in the lift, before he strolls back to his own dorms.

It irks him that the only thing on his mind is playing Chu Chu Office and seeing Ivan’s bright and cheery smile.

Chapter 6

“He’s not here,” Ivan whines to nobody, as he leans back dejectedly against his chair in the empty pantry. Till left right after awakening for the day and at eleven a.m. He’s been out ever since, and it’s almost three p.m. now. Ivan wants to ask where he’s been, and whether he has forgotten about them, forgotten about him . 

He perks up at the sudden opening of the door. Right on cue too. Waddling in looking absolutely beat is none other than Till himself. Till shuts the door behind him, and the automatic lock clicks shut. Ivan’s gaze follows him as Till hangs his messenger bag on a hook by the door, before he wanders over to his desk, and he picks up the Switch.

Ivan’s pixellated heart jumps as Till switches the device on. He hears the machine revving up, the familiar sounds of the cursor selecting the game, and the distinct jingle of Chu Chu Office as it boots up. Hyuna’s voice floats from a distance, shouting at everyone to get into positions, and that includes Ivan.

Ivan adjusts his hat, still staring out the screen at Till, as he prepares for another day with his favourite player. 

*

Till should really have showered first, but the allure of falling back into bed with his Switch in hand overwhelmed any possible standards he could have had for personal hygiene. He rolls onto his side, once more immersed in this fictional world that he has become very familiar with in the past week, basically speedrunning the game. 

Day 5 begins with Till once more arriving at the office, eager to begin work. This time, Dewey is the one to greet him at the door, announcing that his boss is looking for him, and Till heads up the lift to Luka’s office. Luka is, as usual, seated at his desk, already neck-deep in work. 

Luka: There you are. 

Luka: There’s a meeting I have to attend with Dahwi Electronics in about an hour. 

Till: You have another meeting with Amma Food Catering that clashes, though.

Luka: Well, we’re going to have to reschedule that one. 

Till gets to work settling administrative details with Luka, which, thankfully, doesn’t take that long. Just a few lines of text, Luka asking him whether he’s taken breakfast, and whether he’d like to head down to the cafe to grab some brunch with him. Till isn’t sure he wants to entertain Luka. He’s just about had enough of the aloof man. 

Luka: I see, that’s too bad, then. 

Luka: You can go and get me an omelette breakfast set with black coffee.

Till’s brow twitches. Fine, whatever. Thank goodness he’s not romancing Luka anyway. He leaves for the cafe, taking that lift down fifty levels and striding through the glass door that connects the cafe to the building. It is there that Durian and Marty are taking orders, calling out names and distributing beverages.

Durian: Hi, how may I help?

Till: I’d like an omelette breakfast set. For the boss.

Durian: Oh, right, you’re his new secretary.

Durian: Sure, one omelette breakfast set coming right up!

Durian: How’s he doing, by the way?

Till ends up clicking through her dialogue at the speed of sound. Ever since Day 3, the small talk that the minor characters attempt to engage him in have become boring, repetitive, a way to fill the hours, especially if Till isn’t intending on dating them. After a brief complaint about Till’s boss, Durian sends him off with an omelette breakfast set packaged in the cafe’s cutesy takeaway box.

Till returns to the office building, somehow finding himself in the lift with the ever stoic Isaac. Isaac doesn’t speak, only gracing Till with a “...” 

Till:
> So, uh, how’s the weather?
> How’d you get your scar? 
> Nice watch you’ve got there.

Till goes with the third option, because that seems like the least generic and not-so-mean. Maybe he should search online about that mysterious scar once he finishes the game. Isaac arches a brow at the remark. 

Isaac: You noticed. 

Isaac: It’s a gift from my late father. 

Isaac: It’s not like I particularly liked him, but, well… 

Isaac: Let the past stay in the past, that’s what I like to say.

Till: I’m sorry.

Isaac: No, it’s okay. You didn’t know, and I couldn’t expect you to. 

Issac: Oh, would you look at that. We’re here already.

The lift doors open, and Till finds himself face to face with none other than Ivan, who is glitching out again. He hasn’t glitched this badly ever since Day 2. Maybe Till got lucky with Day 3 and 4. Ivan looks just as shocked as Till is. 

Ivan: ✌︎♒︎📬︎ Till and… I⬧︎♋︎♋︎c.

Isaac folds his arms, his expression sour. 

Isaac: You. Come with me. We have things to discuss. 

Ivan: Who? Me? 

Isaac: Till, go see the boss. 

With that, both Isaac and Ivan disappear. The narration in the textbox tells him that they’ve disappeared into the 🙰♋︎■︎♓︎⧫︎□︎❒︎🕯︎⬧︎ ♍︎●︎□︎⬧︎♏︎⧫︎… wherever that is. Well, Isaac did tell him to see the boss, so there he goes. 

Till steps into Luka’s office, the latter looking over some papers. He peers over, and he arches a brow.

Luka: Isn’t Isaac supposed to be with you? 

Till:
> ☟︎♏︎ ⬥︎♏︎■︎⧫︎ ⧫︎□︎ ⧫︎♋︎●︎🙵 ⧫︎□︎ ✋︎❖︎♋︎■︎
> ☟︎♏︎ ⬥︎♏︎■︎⧫︎ ⧫︎□︎ ⧫︎♋︎●︎🙵 ⧫︎□︎ ✋︎❖︎♋︎■︎
> ☟︎♏︎ ⬥︎♏︎■︎⧫︎ ⧫︎□︎ ⧫︎♋︎●︎🙵 ⧫︎□︎ ✋︎❖︎♋︎■︎

At this point, Till’s ninety-nine percent sure this game is haunted. But he’s stuck with it for this long, and whatever supernatural force is tied to this game has not messed with him. Not yet. Besides, he really wants to get to Ivan’s Day 7 and finish his route, at least. Then, he can put down the game for good.

Or maybe he could try to romance Isaac without using a guide. That’s probably an achievement in itself.

Upon closer inspection, all the dialogue options he’s got are the same, so he randomly picks one. Luka purses his lips, and he nods.

Luka: Well, there’s nothing we can do about that.

Luka: Where’s my breakfast? Did you bring it with you? 

Till: I have it right here.

Till places the omelette breakfast set before Luka, and he’s treated to a cutscene with sparkles and roses as Luka tucks into the, admittedly, magnificent breakfast. If there’s one thing that this game’s got right, it’s the amazing artwork. Especially of food. 

*

“Okay,” Isaac says, as he kicks the door to the janitor’s closet shut. “What the fuck were you thinking? I’ve been watching you break the game left, right, and centre, ever since this kid came into the picture.” 

Ivan hangs his head. “S-Sorry, I just wanted to see him real bad.” 

“Look, every time you’re going off and doing things offscript, we literally have to hold the game together to keep it from breaking completely,” Isaac says, and he draws a line across his throat. “I’m gonna really fucking lose it if the game breaks and we end up disappearing into the void, Ivan.” 

Ivan blinks. He holds up a finger, his mouth opened to speak, but then he smartly closes it and puts his hand down. Instead, he utters a watery apology.

“Besides, what are the chances of him liking you back? To him, you’re just a character in a game, a dating sim that he doesn’t play, judging by how amateurishly he’s playing this,” Isaac continues. “Are you willing to risk all our existences just so you could convince him to fall for you? Don’t you think you’re being a little too selfish?” 

Ivan never did think about it that way. He hadn’t even realised that excessively glitching the game could have such disastrous consequences. Is breaking the fourth wall really worth it when all his friends could disappear forever? Isaac’s right. He’s being much too selfish. 

“Look, there’s really no way to influence his feelings from behind this screen, okay?” Isaac says, his features softening. “If he likes you, he likes you, and if he doesn’t, he doesn’t. Simple as that. Sometimes, you’ve got to learn when to give up.” 

Ivan feels the glitches on his face, a tickling feeling that he never truly paid much attention to. His vision is hazy and his face hurts. There is a stabbing pain in his chest, and his entire body seizes. Novel sensations crash down on him, leaving him just short of a writhing mess on the ground as the ones and zeroes he’s made out of tries to comprehend all these foreign feelings.

“Well, I’m done with my duties for the day, so… I’m going to head out now,” Isaac says. He’s looking everywhere except Ivan, looking partly worried and partly fearful. “Do you need me to call Hyuna up here?” 

“N-No, it’s fine,” Ivan says, and part of his voice is distorted, a far cry from the usual, cheerful persona he puts up. What is wrong with him? This wasn’t programmed in. He’s still glitching, and he’s not even trying this time.

“Right, just… um… get your shit together before your event, okay? Wouldn’t want to worry the kid,” Isaac mumbles. He pats Ivan on the shoulder, before he turns and heads out the door. That’s as close to a show of comfort that Ivan’s going to get from him. He sniffles, the pulsing agony in his chest still not going away. If anything, it has multiplied in magnitude, leaving him a helpless mess on the floor.

His event is coming up soon. He can feel it in every fibre of his being. After finishing Luka’s event, where Luka is supposed to ask Till out if his affection levels are high enough, Till would make his way to the first floor, where he’d bump into Ivan “coincidentally” and Ivan would invite him out for food and subsequently ask to date.

He should start making his way down to the first floor. That’s where he’s supposed to meet Till, after all. He should, as Isaac put it, get his shit together by ridding himself of the glitches trickling down his face. 

The door knob turns, and the door swings open. Beyond the door is Till’s handsome face as seen through the screen of the Switch. Ivan can’t stop himself from staring at the utter perfection that this human being is, even if he’s glitching all over and his stomach is in knots.

Till: Ivan? Is that you?

*

Never before has Till seen Ivan glitching this badly. Except, maybe that time when his entire head was gone. Ivan is standing in the doorway, wearing his janitor’s outfit, his cap clutched between his hands, all crumpled in his crushing grip.

Till:
> Are ⍓︎□︎◆︎ okay? What happen♏︎♎︎?
> You ●︎□︎□︎🙵 horrible.
> Did yo◆︎ ♑︎♏︎t into a figh⧫︎✍︎

Till stares at his options, not quite sure how to console an Ivan who’s clearly just emerged from the janitor’s closet after sobbing his heart out. The sight of it makes Till’s heart throb, and he wishes he can reach in through the screen and give him a hug. That’s what he used to do when Mizi cried. But, of course, she stopped letting him do that once they were in middle school. 

Till goes with the first option, because the other two just sound plain mean. From what little he can read anyway. 

Ivan’s crying sprite vanishes, replaced with a more normal surprised sprite. 

Ivan: You can tell? 

Ivan: Well, of course, you can. 

Ivan: You’re very perceptive like that, Till.

Till:
> Do you want to talk about it?
> Should I give you some alone time?
> Chin up! It wasn’t that big of a deal.

Clearly, the first is the best option. Most likely. Probably. Till would want someone to ask him whether he’d like to talk, but does the same hold true for Ivan?

Then again, Till must admit that he’s intrigued as to what got Ivan so down in the dumps. His overwhelming curiosity urges him to pick the first option. 

Ivan: It’s nice of you to ask, but I don’t think it’s something you should concern yourself with.

Ivan: It’s my own problem, and I shouldn’t be burdening you with such things. 

Till:
> I can’t leave you alone!
> We can shoulder the burden together.
> Yeah, okay, I’ll go now.

A sudden thought occurs to Till. Could this be Ivan’s confession event? The part where Ivan’s supposed to ask him out and he’s supposed to get locked into Ivan’s route? Oh, Till can’t possibly mess this up. He’ll have to consult a guide to make sure he’s got the correct option. Screw sincerity. 

Till rests the Switch on his stomach as he reaches for his phone. A quick Naver search tells him that this is not how Ivan’s confession event is supposed to go. For one, he’s not supposed to be crying and glitching out everywhere. Second, it’s supposed to take place at the bottom of the company building, where Ivan would bring Till to the cafe and confess there, not in the doorway of the janitor’s closet.

Well, if the Internet isn’t telling him anything useful, he’ll have to follow his gut. Till is generally a nice guy—at least, he’d like to believe that—and so, he’ll probably get it right the first time. If not, he could just reload. Therefore, using his nice guy instincts, Till picks the second option. 

Ivan’s sprite turns into his smiling one, and the glitches are fewer in number. Ivan beams, his smile stretching wide, as though it were a new sprite that Till has never seen before.

Ivan: Thanks for saying that. Really.

Ivan: Say, do you wanna… go down to the cafe? 

Ivan: We haven’t done my confession event yet.

Till blinks. Rubs his eyes. His traitorous thumb has pressed the button too fast, skipped past the all-important dialogue.

Ivan: So, what do you say? Fancy a cup of coffee? 

Till:
> Sure, let’s get going!
> Nah, I’ll pass. 

Till picks the first option. Ivan continues to smile. Genuinely. As though he were exhibiting a real emotion, and not behaving like a programme. What was Till expecting, though, when he already believes beyond a shadow of doubt that this game is downright haunted? 

The familiar cafe theme plays, and Durian greets them when they come in. Till swears she winks, but a second look at her sprite tells him otherwise. Ivan and Till find a booth by the window, and the cutscene begins. Rays of sunlight fall on Ivan’s beautiful, angular face, granting his dark hair a sliver of glitter. 

Ivan: Have you tried their cakes? Their lemon meringue is to die for. 

Ivan: Or if you like non-fruity flavours, their tiramisu and Earl Grey flavours are amazing too.

Ivan: Oh, yes, what kind of coffee do you drink? You can’t come to a cafe and not order coffee. Coffee’s the lifeblood of an office worker, after all!

Till:
> Sweet stuff, like a caramel macchiato.
> Coffee as bitter and black as my soul.
> I don’t take coffee. I prefer hot chocolate.

Till’s definitely in the second camp. But that choice doesn’t earn him any points with Ivan, because Ivan immediately says: Oh, you look like the kind who has a sweet tooth, though.

Ivan: Thank goodness I asked, because I was going to offer to get you a mocha.

Maybe Till should have picked—

Ivan: But that’s good! I like learning more about you, Till!

Three affection points slip into Ivan’s heart meter. Perhaps Till would earn those three points no matter what he says, because it’s not like his affection level with the characters would matter beyond Day 5. Day 6 and Day 7 are basically fluffy dating events, last he checked. 

They order their food, and Till gets a sense of deja vu at the cake and cups of steaming coffee before him. This feels just like the scene at the jazz club. Did the developers run out of ideas? 

Ivan: This reminds me of the jazz club. 

Ivan: Except instead of jazz music, we have elevator music.

Ivan: Well, I, uh… I called you here to ask you something. 

Ivan: It might seem a little forward, but… 

Ivan: I think you and I… we’ve got something special. 

Ivan: All the time that we spent together, all those moments we shared… 

Ivan: Through all that, I think… 

Ivan: Maybe…

A light blush dusts across Ivan’s cheeks as he leans forward, earnest eyes peering right at Till, through the windows to his soul. Till’s own face grows hot, and he hopes it is due to the summer heat. 

Ivan: I feel something special towards you. I’m not sure what to call it, really.

Ivan: And I was wondering whether you’d feel the same? 

Ivan: We could go on and share more adventures together. 

Ivan: We could spend every day together talking and experiencing, and exploring and stuff. 

Ivan: If that’s what you want, of course. 

God, Till’s heart is about to explode from how fast and hard it’s beating. Ivan’s lines aren’t even voiced, yet Till can already hear a deep, silky voice reciting each word in his ear. He swallows the saliva in his mouth, his fingers shaking as he’s confronted with a choice that really has only one answer.

Till:
> I would love to.
> I’m sorry, I don’t feel the same

Till picks the first dialogue. He’s half-afraid that his finger would slip, and that he’d end up picking the wrong option. He’s saved before this point, so he could just reload, but he still doesn’t want to disappoint Ivan, doesn’t want to trigger that sad sprite.

But he doesn’t need to reload, because he doesn’t make a mistake. Not here. It’s the strangest feeling ever, whenever he catches a glimpse of what he can only deem to be genuine feelings. He’s already past the point of a normal person, venturing dangerously into nerd territory, slowly transforming into the kind of gamer who fixates on his 2D husbandos. 

Yet, whatever shame he’s feeling melts away instantly when Ivan’s sprite changes. He glitches ever so slightly, but his face is bright, his eyes half-hooded, his white teeth bared as he grins wide. 

Ivan: I’m so glad to hear that. 

Ivan: Really, I’m not kidding.

Ivan: I never thought my feelings would be requited.

Ivan: Least of all by you, Till. 

Ivan: I’ve never been so interested in someone quite this much.

Ivan: You were my type from the very beginning, your silver hair and your silver eyes, the way you’d scrunch your nose up when you paint on your canvas.

Till freezes, stiffening with each word. What the fuck? How does Ivan know what he looks like? 

Ivan: Then, with each option you chose, the way your expressions change, it really tells me more about you. A lot more, and even so, I’m not satisfied. 

Ivan: I want to know more about you than what I can see from this tiny screen.

Ivan: That is, if you would let me into your life. 

Ivan: Your real life.

Chapter 7

Till’s fingers lose their grip, and Till scrambles away from the device. Game’s haunted, game’s haunted, game’s haunted , Till chants like a mantra, his heart racing a thousand miles an hour and it’s not because of his teeny tiny eenie weenie crush on the black-haired man who’s quite literally the game’s most popular character after Luka. But God, how fantastic would it be if such a handsome man appeared in his room and—

A flash of light erupts from the screen, so bright that Till is almost blinded. He slaps a hand over his eyes and he stumbles off his bed, crashing his hip into his desk and recoiling from the sting. When the light dies down and Till can see again, he blinks a few times to rid himself of the afterimage of his room burnt into his retinas. There is something on his bed, something other than his Switch. Someone. 

Till blinks again. Then a third time. Finally, he decides that maybe he’s not hallucinating from too little sleep or his permanent art block. 

There is, quite literally, a man on his bed. A man who is not him. In fact, this man is the spitting image of Ivan from Chu Chu Office. He looks as disoriented as Till feels, dressed in his ugly blue janitor’s outfit, his hat having fallen off his head and landed on the ground. Instinctively, Till reaches over and picks it up, pinching it by the brim and holding it out to the man.

“Oh, thanks,” the man says, and his voice is exactly as deep and silky as Till imagined. He peers up at Till from under dark lashes, under a black fringe that falls over his forehead, the barest hint of crimson in his pupils. It’s even more charming in real life, when Till sees it so close, in 3D, not those static 2D cutscenes that occur in the game. “Your… Your real name. It’s Till, right?”

Till stutters, unsure of how to respond, “Yes?” 

“Oh, okay, great. Because it would be really awkward if it wasn’t.” Ivan—Till can only presume it’s Ivan from Chu Chu Office, because of the way he’s adjusting his hat, exactly the same as his sprite in the game—chuckles nervously, his hair falling over his eyes. “So, um… nice to meet you.” 

“Who the hell are you?” Till cries, already inching towards the door. Somehow, there is this strange man on his bed, who has now climbed off his bed and is shuffling towards him, his hands held out as though trying to calm a scared animal. Till is at least one of those things. 

“You don’t recognise me?” Ivan cries, sounding utterly heartbroken. His voice cracks, and his shoulders hunch, shuddering with sniffles that Till can’t tell if they’re real or fake. The way he acts, the way he moves, they mirror Ivan’s sprites from the game to a T. It’s no coincidence. If Till hasn’t just let his overactive mind take over and it’s somehow conjured up this whole scenario, he has to conclude that Ivan has indeed popped out of his game and is now currently standing in his room. 

“N-No, I do recognise you,” Till says, waving his hands about. He approaches Ivan slowly, ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. The door and window are both viable options. “You’re Ivan, right?”

“Yes!” Ivan cries, perking up immediately like a wilting plant given water. “Yes, I am.”

“You actually came from inside the game, did you?” 

Ivan nods. “Yes, I did. I was born a mass of code and pixels, but here I am, in the flesh! With a beating heart and everything! I never even knew it could be possible, because Hyuna was saying something about breaking the fourth wall—”

“Wait, Hyuna? As in, the Hyuna? From the game?” 

“Yes, Hyuna from the game! She’s really cool when you get to know her, but she can be a little scary too.”

“So, you’re trying to say that there’s a whole wide world inside that game, and you guys are sentient, and…” Till rakes a hand through his hair, not sure what to say, not sure what to do. The whole situation is like a fever dream. Maybe he’s dreaming this all up, played too much of this game and fell asleep with the Switch in hand.

“Yes! Every character that’s come into creation is sentient in the world of games!” Ivan cries, then his eyes go wide, and he plasters his hands over his mouth. “Oh shit, I’m not supposed to say that—”

“Not that anyone’s gonna believe me if I tell them anyway,” Till mutters. 

“Oh, right, okay. Hah… that’s true,” Ivan says, and he breathes a sigh of relief. “Well, um, so… I’m here now. And that’s because you like me, and I like you.” 

Till blinks. “What?” 

“Yeah! That’s what Hyuna said. That if we have feelings for each other, I’ll be able to break the fourth wall and come out of the game.”

“Wait, what? That’s not right. I don’t have feelings for you.” Okay, maybe Till does, but he’s still at that stage where he doesn’t want to admit it. 

“But… you have to. I mean, that’s the only way the spell works.” 

Till blushes on instinct, because how can Ivan say that with a straight face? Talking about romantic feelings and deluding himself—and Till—into thinking that he has romantic feelings for Ivan? 

Then again, the man did come from a dating sim game, if his story is to be believed. 

“You accepted my confession too, didn’t you?” Ivan presses. “You said that we’d carry this burden together.” 

“Well, that’s not… um…” Till mumbles, his eyes everywhere but on Ivan, because he can’t bring himself to look at Ivan right now. Afraid to see the disappointment reflected in those dark, earnest pupils. “That’s in the game, you know. It doesn’t mean I chose that option because…”

Ivan droops. He stares at the ground, fidgeting with his fingers. Till racks his brains for something to say, but he can’t think of anything that could potentially comfort him. Maybe if Ivan doesn’t believe that Till likes him, he would slink back into his game and—

“A-Anyway, I can be useful,” Ivan says, and he jabs a thumb at himself, his smile ever so slightly shaky. Till’s chest constricts, and guilt niggles at him. “I can clean stuff real good.” 

With all the romance beats that occurred in the last five in-game days of playing the game, Till almost forgot that fact. There’s never been much emphasis on Ivan being a janitor other than the fact that he’s constantly wearing his janitor’s outfit in the office. 

“I can keep your place clean when you’re away, and I could find somewhere to work as a janitor, so… I can stay here, right? I can be useful and stay with you?” 

He must know his puppy dog eyes are lethal. Ivan must know. He wouldn’t be using it at full force on Till. He must also know that Till is weak to puppy dog eyes. Till’s knees are going weak just looking at the pathetic, deflated man before him with slivers of hope still aflame in his eyes.

“F-Fine, I mean, you can stay here,” Till says. For now. He’d have to find somewhere for Ivan to live later. Besides, what are Mizi and Sua going to say about him? How is Till going to explain his presence away? Oh, yeah, he’s the real Ivan from Chu Chu Office, not a total lookalike. Like, yeah, he’s actually from the game. No, I’m not shitting you.

“Really? That’s great!” Ivan cries, surging forth and grabbing Till’s hands in his. Warmth engulfs his hands, and Till’s cheeks heat up again, this time spreading down his neck and to his chest. Mere contact with Ivan alone stirs up butterflies in his stomach. “I was so worried you were going to kick me out. It’s my first time in the real world, you see, so I wasn’t sure how different the world outside Chu Chu would be.” 

“Yeah?” Till says weakly. Something tells him he should get Mizi’s advice about this. She’s going to find out, one way or another, either now or later. But a small part of him doesn’t really want her to find out. Not yet. Only he knows about Ivan now. Ivan’s his little secret.

“I know all those activities like flying kites was only in the game for you, but it was real for me,” Ivan says. “I’d like to do them in this world too. I want to feel the wind I said I felt, and I want to see the kites flying against the evening sky in the real world and compare it to the game. But most importantly, I wanna do it with you, Till.” 

Ivan is much too close, so close that Till can feel his breaths on his face. Every neuron is telling him to step away, to put some distance between them, but his heart keeps him rooted to the spot. Anticipating. What is he expecting, even? 

“Sure, let’s do that,” Till says, his voice small and pliant.

“Yay! That’s great, Till!” Ivan cries, hopping on the spot, Till’s hands still in his. “Come on, let’s go, let’s go!”

“W-Wait, where… what? Hey, come back here!”

*

Living with Ivan isn’t half bad. Till gets used to his presence after about a month. That is, after he got over buying him new clothes, somehow managing to get Ivan an ID card, and also fulfilling his lifelong dream of flying kites in the real world. Oh, and helping Ivan’s friends in Chu Chu Office connect to the WiFi of Till’s dorm, where they’d spend the rest of their lives gallivanting around the Internet and getting on with their virtual lives.

His parents met Ivan when Till returned home for the summer holidays, introducing Ivan as a friend. His mother was so glad that Till made a new friend aside from Mizi that she basically welcomed Ivan as an honorary member of the family. Whether she means as a brother or as something else, Till isn’t very sure, and frankly, he’s too scared to find out. 

Ivan is like a newborn, wanting to try anything and everything, things that he has only heard about, seen through cutscenes and through Till’s Switch screen. He’s full of energy, rushing around and pulling Till this way and that, to the park, to the department store, and even inside an office building where they have no business being. 

Eventually, Till has no choice but to introduce him to Mizi and Sua. At first, Mizi can’t believe that it truly is Ivan—Ivan from the game, that is—but Till gets Ivan to dress in his janitor’s outfit, and she is thoroughly convinced. Sua still thinks it’s a hoax, though. Till probably just found someone who looked exactly like Ivan. Down to the last contour of his jawbone and his specific snaggletooth.

To that, Till says, “I don’t have the fucking time and energy to pull a prank like this.” 

Sometimes, Till finds him staring at the box the game cartridge comes in, and Till wonders if he misses his friends back in the game. He said they were sentient, talked and laughed like normal people. And now, he can’t speak with them again, can’t even check up on how they’re doing. 

“Do you regret it?” Till asks one night, the night before the school semester began again. “Breaking the fourth wall?” 

Ivan glances over at Till, brows raised. “Hmm, I miss them, but I don’t regret it. It was getting boring going through the same story beats again and again. Well, just thrice, I guess. You and Mizi, and a kid before you, were the only ones who ever played that copy of the game. If I stayed in there, I wouldn’t have been able to try so many of these things. Even drinking a cup of coffee is so very different out here than in there.”

Till grins. “That’s good to hear.” 

“And what’s more, I get to do them with you!” 

Till turns away and settles in front of his canvas, hoping to hide his blush. “Err… yeah.”

His painting remained unfinished, depicting the Swiss landscape as it did a month ago. He was agonising over what to paint in the foreground, what subject he should depict that he could weave seamlessly into this piece of art. 

But now, he knows exactly what he should add.

“Say, Ivan,” Till says. “How’d you like to go kite-flying sometime soon?”

Notes:

Thank you for reading till the end! Hope you enjoyed this short fic, and see you in the next one!

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