Yuri Tama: From Third Wheel to Trifecta Volume 1

What is true love?

I pondered the question on my phone’s screen as I flopped down onto my couch. I was looking at the official website for a TV drama that had started airing this past April. May had arrived, Golden Week had come and gone, and I still hadn’t seen so much as a single episode of the show.

It was supposed to be a bittersweet high school romance sort of deal, I guess. Honestly, the only reason why I’d looked it up in the first place was thanks to an article I’d found that gushed about how it was “the best show on TV,” supposedly. It was also apparently “beyond real and romantic to a tee,” and watching it was like “taking a step back into my own youth.”

uhh...right! I’ll just play it off like I was kidding around! That’ll—gaaah?!”

Barely seconds after I’d sent the message, a little mark showed up next to it indicating that one, no, two people had read it. And an instant later...

What’s wrong?

Did something happen?

...they were worried about me. I didn’t even have time to try to claim it was a joke. That meant that if I stuck it out and went with the just-a-joke plan anyway, it’d probably only make them even more worried! No choice... I’ll just have to commit!

Me: Nah, I was just wondering why I’m so unpopular

What?! No! Committing too much! Dial it back, me!

Unpopular? You?

You know that’s not true, right?

That still left the big question unanswered, though: What was holding me back? If it wasn’t my looks, was it my personality?

Wait...is it my personality? I don’t think I’m, like, a bad person or anything, but it’s not like I haven’t caused my fair share of trouble here and there...

The more I thought about it, the more I began to feel a looming dread that my personality really did have some massive defect that was putting me out of the running. It was bothering me so much, in fact, that I found myself opening up a group chat I had with a couple of friends, typing, “Hey, am I just totally unlovable or something?” and hitting send—

Wait, gah! Wh-What am I doing?! It’s bothering me, sure, but that’s not the sort of thing you can just ask your friends apropos of nothing! And aagh, the way I said it makes it sound, like, super melodramatic, or like I’m fishing for compliments or something!

“I-It’s fine, no biggie, just have to delete the post and everything’ll be just—oh god I already sent it! You can’t unsend posts in this app! Crap, okay