The After-Party

Today's stream had blown up into a bigger topic than I'd expected. From a pure streaming standpoint that was a good thing, but it came with a side effect: talk about my face was spreading far and wide too. Whatever. Even if my identity got dug up, nobody would actually work up the nerve to talk to me. First, no one would believe that someone like me did VTubing, and second—

"Today's stream was so fun!"

"Right? Unni, you were so cute when you cried!"

"Hey! I told you not to bring that up!"

"Pwahaha! You should thank Yeonwoo. She fixed the situation right away."

"No! She's the one who caused it in the first place!"

When Minseo raised her voice at me like she was lodging a formal protest, I turned to her.

"Could you say that while looking at my face?"

"Huh? No, I… um… sorry…"

See that? Even the members I'm closest with can't get the words out once they look at my face. How is anyone on the street supposed to walk ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up and ask, 'Excuse me, are you Roze?' Especially with me staring dead at them the whole time. …Then again, the identity thing really does call for caution.

"Let's just get dinner, shall we?"

"Yeah."

At the end of the day, this is the answerless problem that every VTuber worries about, so I decided to let it go. Anyway, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to explain the current situation: this was the after-party, and we'd all come over to Minseo's place near the company building. Something about not wanting to part ways right after meeting for the first time, I guess? Part of me figured we could just meet again whenever, but there are people who like to attach meaning to firsts, so I let it slide. Truthfully, I'd timed my own debut stream to exactly one hour too.

"Ta-da! Nice place, right?"

"Whoa! It's so spacious!"

"Should we drink?"

"Why not?"

With everything set up, the after-party officially began.

"Alright! To our success!"

I raised a soju glass so full that moving it a little too fast would have sent it sloshing over the rim.

"Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

The moment the alcohol hit my throat, the sharp scent of it washed over me, leaving a sweetness at the end.

"Khh!"

"Ah! The liquor's sweet tonight!"

The spread for the evening was fried chicken, braised pig's trotters, and salmon sashimi. Hmm, generous. But where's the soup, though? My favorite drinking food was the brothy kind, so the question came to me naturally.

"There's no soup?"

"Oh! I forgot! There's a fish cake soup kit in the fridge if you open it up!"

With that, Minseo told us to wait a moment and disappeared into the kitchen. While we kept drinking among ourselves, she came back carrying a pot.

"Here! Soup!"

"Whoa! Unni, you're the best!"

"Everyone! We're drinking until we drop tonight!"

"Obviously!"

"Bottoms up! Get sloshed!"

Ah. 'Drinking until we drop.' That rang a bell.

"How much can everyone usually drink, by the way?"

At the very least, someone has to keep their memory intact to tell the stories on stream later. After-party anecdotes are one of the things fans love most, so it'd be a waste not to remember them. The YouTube views alone are a nice bonus.

"Two bottles for me."

"Two for me too!"

"Three here."

"Two bottles if it's soju, unlimited if it's beer!"

Ignoring Sua's claim of unlimited beer, everyone here could actually hold their liquor pretty well. For reference, my tolerance sat at around four bottles of soju—exactly the same as when I was a man. A lot, if you'd call it that. And if the mind I have now—post-TS, post-regression—could hold out?

Theoretically speaking, staying sober all night was possible.

"About… half a bottle for me…"

"Oh dear, isn't that your third glass already? You've hit your limit."

When Yuna said her tolerance was half a bottle and I looked at her face, the flush was already there. I'd assumed she was just the type whose face reddens easily—turns out she was simply drunk.

"Keep drinking. Even if you get wasted, there are five people here to carry you."

"That's right! Yuna! On a night like this, you just drink!"

"Ugh, fine! Whatever! I'll drink with everyone!"

I retract my earlier thought. Someone has to go down for the stories to get good. Let us pray for the soul of Yuna, who will be sacrificed for the sake of our broadcasts.

And so, as the mood slowly ripened, the atmosphere turned solemn.

"Yeonwoo… I was really scared of you earlier…"

Minseo's voice sagged, still evidently wounded by what had happened on today's stream.

"I said this before, but it's because I like you. I don't tease people I don't like. Think of elementary school boys."

That part was sincere. Whether the teasing landed well or badly, I did it because, human to human, I was fond of her.

"Uuu…! When you put it like that, I can't even argue…!"

"Haha! Unni, you're so cute!"

"Aaaagh!"

By now Minseo's wounded feelings had flipped into sheer indignation, so I offered her a proposal.

"Then tease me back instead."

"What?"

"My hit reaction isn't bad either."

Probably?

"No…! Before we met, maybe! But the second I picture this face, how am I supposed to tease you!"

Ah, right.

"Exactly! So how am I supposed to treat you from now on?!"

"Treat me how? Just keep doing what you're doing now."

"If I ran into you on the street at three in the morning, I'm confident I'd scream out of pure terror."

Why so specific… But inwardly relating to it was beyond my control.

"Anyway, just be comfortable around me."

She'd traded her own backside for a red-pill joke on today's stream alone—what was there to agonize over now?

"Argh, forget it! I'm drinking more!"

And with that, the topic died right there.

Several more hours of running full tilt later, the party wound down. That thought I'd had earlier definitely needed to be erased from existence. Tonight's stories were not broadcast-safe. Far more curse-laden exchanges had come out than I'd anticipated, so they were getting sealed. Honestly, with how much everyone drank—except for me and Yerin—it would be a miracle if anyone remembered anything, so even if I wanted to spill, I couldn't.

"Nobody tells today's stories on stream."

"Yeah, I don't think we should."

Yerin, the only one still sober, agreed.

"Yeonwoo, you doing okay?"

At Yerin's question, I ran a quick systems check on my current state.

"Yes."

Alcohol after so long had pushed my energy up, but that was just a matter of consciously dialing it back down.

"*Sob!*"

At the sound of crying I turned around to see Yuna emerging through the bedroom door. Ah, right. Yuna's drunk gimmick is crying. If I'd known her gimmick in advance, I'd have stopped her from drinking.

"Go inside and get some sleep."

"*Sob*! Roze-nim…"

"Yes?"

"Why don't you ever torment me…?"

Now that was a novel thing to say—my alcohol-pickled brain snapped instantly awake. Ah. This is recording material!

I hurriedly opened a recording app on my phone, and Yuna kept going.

"I mean… you tease Wooju unni so well…"

"Yes."

"But with me it feels like you keep me at arm's length…!"

"Did I?"

"Yes! I want to get close to you, Roze-nim!"

"Is that so."

"I'm asking you to bully me too! It's fine coming from you, Roze-nim!"

"Uh… sure."

This one's a little dicey, isn't it?

She's small on top of everything, barely in the one-fifties, and there she was, looking up at me, eyes wide and face flushed with drink, absolutely glowing with joy.

"Gasp! Did you just call me unni?!"

She was happier about it than I'd expected, which threw me off.

"Yes."

"Wow! That sounds so nice! One—one more time!"

I handed her the hangover relief drink we'd bought on the run earlier and said,

"If you want to hear it again, take this and go to sleep."

"Yes! You have to say it again tomorrow!"

Holding her drained bottle of hangover relief, I gave no answer and just gestured for her to get inside already. There, one down.

"Ehehehe! Yeonwoo!"

I blocked Yubin with an outstretched hand as she tried to scoop me up.

"Whine! What is this?!"

"You don't go hugging people without permission."

"I'm not people! I'm your unni!"

She was well and truly gone… I'd already written Yubin ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠off the moment she started blowing drunken nonsense into the air, swept up in the mood. The one silver lining was that I didn't have to deal with Sua? Sua's drunk gimmick is touching people without warning. Thank goodness Yerin was handling her exclusively—just imagining Sua getting her hands on me made my skin crawl. I still feel weird whenever I wash this body; what if someone else touched it? Yeesh…. While I was quietly sighing in relief, Yubin tried to scoop me up again.

"Ehehehe! Yeonwoo, you're so pretty!"

"I know."

"But your face is so scary…"

"I know."

"But that's your charm!"

"I know."

This went on for a while, until blocking her got more tiresome than it was worth and I just let her pick me up.

"Ehehehe!"

I handed the hangover relief to Yubin, who looked delighted to be holding me.

"Drink this."

"Huh?! A present from unni?! Thank you!"

In that state, I steered her into the room where I'd tucked Yuna away, laid her down properly, and came back out.

"Yeonwoo…"

Ah, the final boss.

"Unni likes you so, so much…"

"Yes."

"Did I tell you? Unni likes you so, so much…"

"Yes, you did."

"Did I tell you? Unni likes you so, so much…"

Minseo's drunk gimmick was an infinite loop…. I thrust the hangover relief at her and resolved to flee.

"Hm? Thank you… wait, did I tell you?"

Oh, for crying out loud.

In the end I humored her for a decent stretch before forcibly laying her down.

"Phew…"

"Good work."

"Ah, thank you."

I poured the cola Yerin handed me and took a sip.

"*Glug.*"

Ahh, this is living.

"What is it?"

I asked Yerin, who had been staring at me fixedly.

"You're kinder than you look."

Hm?

"You're not picking a fight, are you?"

"Ah, no, that was a compliment."

"Was it?"

"Yeah. Your face really is a waste on that image of yours."

…What is with her all of a sudden?

"…You're sure that's not a jab?"

"Mm. I'm saying you're sweet, but your face cancels all of it out."

It had been a while since I got complimented in that particular genre.

"Then say nice things about me on stream sometime."

"…I'll consider it."

There we go—'considering' it is putting in real effort, for her.