"putting in parentheses"

The Creative Independent ran an interview with Pika☆ this week in Japanese and then, the next day, in English.

In English, there was a question about collaboration:

When you’re collaborating with someone, and they’re not real, are you able to figure that out by the act of collaboration?

There are definitely moments I can feel that, but it could come from my end as well. It gets kind of interesting when we both sense it.

In the Japanese version, passed through Google Translate, this was:

Is there a time when you are playing and you know that the other party is putting in parentheses?

There is a moment to feel, but it is also in myself. Burns but it is quite fun when each other notices it (lol)

Without being able to comment on the translation, I think “the other party is putting in parentheses” is so much better a way of expressing this nothing; it’s so much better than “they’re not real.”