A Sudden Roommate
Hello. I walked to the bus stop, took the bus, transferred once or twice, then kept walking. I deliberately chose the least crowded routes, which made the trip take longer than necessary.
…Still, I couldn’t bring myself to walk through busy areas. The stares kept coming, and they were too much to handle.
“Haa… hnn…”
By the time I’d been walking for nearly an hour, I was completely out of breath. Just when I thought I might collapse if I took another step, I finally reached the address Kits had sent me.
The building was much larger than I’d expected. I hesitated at the entrance, wondering if I was even allowed inside, when someone stepped out.
“Can I help you?”
“Ah… um, well…”
“…Are you Menhera?”
“…Huh?”
That voice sounded familiar. A woman with short brown hair stared at me in surprise and called out my username.
“Kits…?”
“Yes! That’s me! Wow… so this is what you look like in real life…”
…Wasn’t that supposed to be my line?
It felt strange hearing a VTuber say something like that, but I guess it made sense. Considering how I usually acted, it probably wasn’t easy to picture me as a girl. Yeah.
“Oh, come on in! The president’s been waiting for you!”
“Okay…”
Waiting for me… It was already eleven. I must be really late. Pushing the thought aside, I followed Kits into the building.
We climbed the stairs to the third floor. She opened the door to what looked like a conference room and stepped inside.
A woman in a suit sat at the center of the room.
“President! Menhera’s here!”
“Hm? Really? Hello there.”
“Ah, hello…”
“Have a seat. Kits, you too.”
“Okay!”
I sat across from the woman they called the president while Kits took the seat beside her. Not knowing what to say, I kept my head down and fidgeted with my hands until the president chuckled.
“Pfft, no need to be so nervous. This is just a formality, really.”
“Oh… I see…”
“Mm, could I get your name?”
“…Han Eunseo.”
I almost gave my old male name out of habit, but caught myself just in time.
“Eunseo… Thank you again for helping Kits the other day. I really appreciate it.”
“Ah, it’s nothing… I didn’t even know what I was doing…”
“Still, you streamed really well. You said you learned by watching Sukmin, right?”
“Yeah… I watch a lot of other streams too, not just his.”
“Is that so? Do you watch virtual streamers often?”
“Yes… Pretty much every Bless Raider stream out there.”
As the conversation continued, my nerves slowly eased. Only then did I get a proper look at the president. Her hair was almost black with a faint blue tint, and she had dark eyes. She was quite pretty. Kits, as I’d already seen, had short brown hair and was sitting beside her with a bright, cheerful smile.
“Mm, how’s your singing?”
“…Not great?”
“Hmm… Your voice is nice, though. Could you sing something for us right now?”
“…Excuse me?”
Sing? Here? I was terrible at singing. I’d gone to a karaoke place once before and even I could tell how bad I was, so I never went again.
“I-I don’t think I can…”
“Come on, don’t be shy. You’ll have to upload videos once you debut anyway.”
“Ugh…”
Between the president’s pressure and Kits’ expectant gaze, I finally gave in and picked a song I knew. Most of them were Japanese, but whatever. I glanced at them nervously, then started singing. Since I’d heard the lyrics a thousand times, I didn’t mess them up. The melody was calm, so my tension faded and I managed to sing properly. Maybe my voice really was decent now, because it didn’t sound half bad.
I stopped after the first verse and looked at them.
“Oh…”
“Wow! Menhera, you’re really good!”
“Your voice is lovely!”
“See? Singing’s no problem. We’re good on that front.”
“Thank you…”
They both praised me more than I expected. I didn’t think my voice had changed that much from when I was a guy.
“Ah, and the revenue split is seventy-thirty. You keep seventy, the company takes thirty.”
“Oh…”
The next topic was money. Seventy-thirty wasn’t bad at all. …Wait, right.
“Um, President…”
“Yes?”
“I can’t pay my rent right now… I’ll probably get kicked out soon. So… I might not be able to—”
“That’s fine!”
I’d almost forgotten about the rent and my apartment. Before I could finish, Kits suddenly shouted from beside me. I was startled for a second, then her next words caught my attention.
“There’s an empty room at my place!”
“Oh, really? Then that works, right?”
“…Yeah. But, um… I don’t even have money for rent, is that okay…?”
“It’s fine! You’re the one who saved my streaming career, remember?”
“…Thank you.”
Thanks to Kits’ kindness, the housing problem was solved too.
“Alright then. Want to go meet the others who’ll be debuting with you?”
“…Huh?”
“They should be practicing downstairs right about now. Let’s go.”
Whoa. This person moved fast.
“Once you’ve seen them, we’ll just sign the contract and call it a day.”
“…Okay.”
I ended up following the president and Kits back down the stairs. As we descended, I realized I still didn’t know Kits’ real name.
“By the way… Kits, what’s your actual name?”
“Hm? Oh! I never told you, did I? It’s Shin Soyun! Shin Soyun!”
“Got it…”
Shin Soyun. Soyun. I repeated the name in my head a few times as we kept walking.
We reached the second floor and followed the president into a room with soundproof booths.
“Hey, kids! How’s practice going?”
“Hi, everyone!”
The president asked about their practice while Soyun just greeted them warmly. I lingered at the doorway, unsure if I should go in, until Soyun grabbed my arm and pulled me inside.
“Ah, hello…”
“Whoa, farm girl.”
“Wait, is she the president’s niece??”
“Hellooo!”
The moment I stepped in, everyone’s eyes locked onto me. From left to right: a short-haired girl with piercings, a long-haired girl with blue eyes, and the shortest one with orange-tinted hair. The first girl’s reaction was… something else. Who just calls someone “farm girl” on sight?
“No, she’s your peer.”
“…Huh?”
“Oh?”
“Nice to meet you!”
Well… this seemed okay?
“Ah, hello…”
“You’ll be signing today and debuting together, so let’s do introductions first.”
“Okay!”
The orange-haired girl bounced forward first and grabbed my hand. Soyun stood behind me, patting my head with a silly grin.
“Hehe… two cute ones…”
What was this girl even saying?
“Hi! Call me Seo Yuna!”
“Okay… I’m Han Eunseo.”
Next came the tall girl with piercings.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Kim Iyeon.”
“Hello… Han Eunseo.”
Then the blue-eyed girl in the middle.
“Hi! I’m Choi Harim!”
“Hello…”
“Your name’s Eunseo, right? Han Eunseo.”
“Y-Yeah…”
She said my name before I could and held out her hand, asking me to take care of her. I hesitantly shook it, and she started vigorously pumping my arm up and down. My arm hurts…
“Introductions are done. She’ll be living with Kits.”
“What?”
“Wait, what about me, sis?!”
“Whoa, lucky.”
President, why would you say that? I shot her a look, but she just winked and looked away. Seriously?
“Ahaha… She’s got some circumstances, so she’ll be staying at my place for now.”
Soyun covered for me smoothly, and everyone seemed to accept it without question.
“Alright, introductions over. Let’s go upstairs and sign the contract.”
“Okay…”
“See you guys later! I’ll buy you food!”
“Yes! For real?”
“Buffet.”
“You always want to go to buffets.”
“What’s wrong with buffets?”
We left their bickering behind and followed the president back upstairs. When we returned to the conference room, several sheets of paper were waiting on the table where I’d sat earlier.
“Read it carefully and sign on the last page. Oh, I never introduced myself, did I? I’m Kim Iseo.”
“Ah, okay…”
President Iseo handed me a pen. I tried to read the contract thoroughly, but I wasn’t exactly the type to memorize legal documents. I just made sure the revenue split was correct and signed.
“Welcome to Tsuki, then.”
“Thank you… I’ll do my best.”
“Ah, and Eunseo! Go home and start packing right away!”
“…Huh?”
Soyun had already switched to casual speech and was telling me to pack immediately. I almost asked why, but she smiled and explained.
“Because you’re moving into my place, obviously.”
“What? But… I still have about two weeks left on my lease…”
“Eh, we’re just doing it early. We can set up your streaming equipment while we’re at it!”
“Oh…”
She had a point. Moving would take time anyway, what with packing and setting everything up again.
“Okay…”
I nodded and stood up. Iseo spoke again.
“Take care on your way home. We’ve already prepared an avatar for you, so I’ll show it to you later. If there’s anything you want changed, just say so. For your debut song… pick a famous one you like and let me know.”
“Got it…”
I could just ask Soyun for Iseo’s number later, so I said goodbye and headed downstairs with them, leaving the building.
“…Aren’t you going home too, Soyun?”
“Hm? I have to help you move, don’t I?”
“Oh…”
So she meant we were moving today. I really hadn’t caught that. Anyway, when I started walking toward the bus stop, Soyun grabbed me.
“Where are you going? I have a car. Let’s go.”
“Okay…”
I ended up being dragged to her car. It was pretty big—my stuff would definitely fit. Not that I had much: just my computer and maybe two boxes of instant noodles. Oh, and clothes. I needed to grab those too.
“Huu…”
Everything had happened so fast that my head was spinning. I clutched my temples and punched my apartment address into the navigation.
“Just go here…”
“Okay!”
Come to think of it, Soyun could drive. That was kind of surprising.