Chuseok
Time flowed on, and the holiday that defined autumn had arrived — the Chuseok break.
So, just as I'd told my viewers I would, I headed to my family home….
"Hmm… what do I do about this…?"
Standing in front of the apartment, what nagged at me was the fact that I still hadn't told my parents I'd dropped out of college.
Granted, my parents figured that with a face like mine, I'd land on my feet no matter what, so they probably wouldn't say much.
And if they did give me grief, I could always show them Seyeon's song — I'd released a track, after all — and it'd probably blow over. But the worst-case scenarios wouldn't stop playing in my head.
"Phew…."
I couldn't stand at the apartment entrance forever, so I took a deep breath and reached for the door lock—
Huh? Hold on….
…What was our door code again?
No, to be precise — what was the code to the apartment building entrance?
I remembered the one for our actual front door, but….
In the end, my memory failed me, and I pressed the intercom to call up to the apartment.
This was a first for me too, so I was plenty flustered, you little brat.
Open the door nicely while I'm asking nicely.
…was the polite version of what I actually transmitted through the speaker.
Oh dear… it seems my little sister's brain has suffered some damage from all that exam prep.
"You just you wait. I'm calling Mom."
Ninety percent of problems in this world can be solved with brute force.
Even delicate machinery gets fixed plenty often by giving it a good whack, no?
And since she's my own flesh and blood, my hits should be extra effective.
Familial synergy is a well-established mechanic in games, after all.
You could've led with that.
Apparently sensing my killing intent even through the phone line, Nayeon hurriedly buzzed me in.
So I entered the apartment building, pressed the elevator button, and let my thoughts drift as I waited.
I never used to forget passcodes before the regression….
However densely I might be living my life these days, it had never once crossed my mind that I could forget my own family's door code….
Hmm… I doubt it'll happen again, honestly….
Still, the mere fact that it happened at all was a fresh shock….
Shocking enough to crack my top five since the regression, honestly.
Anyway, lost in thoughts like those, I eventually noticed the elevator had arrived, and pressed 14.
I was spacing out when the chime announced our floor and the doors slid open.
Beep-beep-beep!
I punched in the front door code — that one I remembered with total certainty — and let myself in.
"I'm here."
I set the holiday gift I'd been carrying down in a reasonable spot, then shoved hard against Nayeon's bedroom door as I entered.
BANG!
"Hey."
"Oh, unnie's here?"
"Quit pretending to study."
I mean, fine — she's a high school senior with the SAT barely two months away….
High school senior… two months from the SAT….
Tch… maybe I should cut her some slack?
A faint whisper of my twenty-year-old self said it was fine to hit her, but the twenty-eight-year-old who made up the bulk of my psyche argued, forcefully, that a high school senior was a baby, and babies were meant to be protected.
"Tsk."
As always, I sided with the twenty-eight-year-old and lowered my raised hand.
"…You're not hitting me?"
"A pitiful high school senior with two months to the SAT deserves leniency from an adult who already went to college and dropped out, doesn't she?"
"Ugh! This hurts worse, you know?! Just hit me for real!"
"Oh?"
My agonizing had been for nothing — Nayeon was begging for it, so I slapped her backside with my palm, no holds barred.
SMACK!
"ACK! You psycho!"
SMACK!
"OW! Son of a—!"
SMACK!
"Sorry! I'm sorry!"
Hm. Fixed at last.
See how sweetly she talks when there's a hand looming over her?
Part of me wanted to knock some real sense into the back of her skull, but if her already single-celled brain got any worse, I'd feel sorry for her — so her backside would have to suffice.
Anyway, I asked the question that had been on my mind since I walked in.
"So where are Mom and Dad?"
Normally they should've been waiting in the living room when I arrived, but they were nowhere to be seen.
"They went out grocery shopping for a bit."
"Oh, I see."
Just a timing mismatch, then.
"Ugh… my back…."
"Here."
There was one more reason I'd felt free to slap Nayeon around.
"Allowance."
Because financial therapy is a thing.
"My back feels amazing! Unnie, you're the best!"
"I put in plenty."
"Really?! Let me see~"
Humming to herself, Nayeon opened the envelope and pulled out its contents.
"…Hey."
"What, dear little sister?"
"You said you put in plenty."
"Isn't this plenty?"
What Nayeon had fished out was a blue bill.
"You've got to be kidding me! The corner store won't even sell you a Picnic candy for this these days!"
"Excuse me? Don't talk nonsense. In eight years, a Picnic'll be a thousand won even at a convenience store."
"Stop being pointlessly specific!"
Had she had enough teasing for now?
She was clearly smarting from being played, so I decided to toss my feisty little sister a crumb of truth.
"Hey, sis. Doesn't whatever comes after those blue bills smell a little… yellow to you?"
At my words, Nayeon's eyes went wide, and she started rifling through the slightly thick stack of bills at speed.
"This humble child knew not of my esteemed sister's intentions and acted up for no reason… I beg your forgiveness…."
"If you're sorry, go bow your head."
"Yes ma'am!"
After mock-banging her head against the floor, Nayeon got down to the serious business of counting.
"Wow… this woman's diabolical… look at this — she put thousand-won bills on the first sheet at both ends, so you'd never know which way to pull from…."
It was a relief she appreciated the labor I'd put into figuring out exactly how to bait the trap.
"Unnie! I love you!"
Having finished counting, Nayeon threw her arms around me.
"I don't love you, so let go."
After a bit more of that back-and-forth, I headed into my room.
Hm? It's clean today?
Because I'd told them in advance I'd be staying for three days, the warehouse-like state I'd seen last time was nowhere to be found.
Before the regression I always announced my visits, but last time I'd shown up unannounced — so apparently they'd needed the spare room, and I'd discovered the red pill for myself.
Well, fair enough. A spare room becomes storage when it sits empty.
One of the small rooms here would've ended up a storage room under my watch, too.
I shut off my thoughts and sank into my bed for the first time in ages.
"Ahh…."
The bed I'd bought when I moved out was the more expensive one, and objectively more comfortable — but apparently my body remembered this familiar sensation, because the far cozier feeling here pulled sleep down over me like a blanket.
…Should I just nap for a bit?
Yeah. They'll wake me when dinner's ready….
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
…What time is it?
I remember deliberating over whether to sleep, so why is it dark outside….
My parents should be home by now, so I stepped out to greet them, and—
"…Yeonwoo dropped out of college?"
…My mother's voice drifted over.
"Uh? Yeah. I didn't tell you, Mom— ah… I'm dead…."
…That little traitor?
So much for the allowance being worth it, honestly…!
"Ha… why does this girl never tell her own mother anything…."
"Tell me about it… she said she finished the semester over summer and wouldn't come visit — that was because of the dropping out too, wasn't it?"
…What do I do.
No, what is there to do?
They already know, so I just have to walk out there with my head held high!
"Why didn't anyone wake me?"
I strode out, brazenly acting as though I'd heard nothing.
"Yeonwoo, have a seat."
"Hm? Sure."
Hm, that seemed natural enough, right?
Running a final status check on myself, I sat down in the chair.
"You dropped out of university, I hear?"
"Ah, so Nayeon told you?"
I answered without missing a beat, shooting a sideways glare at Nayeon.
"Ahem…."
"You could've at least consulted me before deciding…."
"Well… it's…."
Haa… Honestly, if she were just going to scold me it'd be easier, but this quiet disappointment is the hard part….
Sadly, the absolute worst-case scenario from among my predictions had come true.
But I'd honed my topic-swiping skills through years of streaming, and I resolved to deploy them here.
"So, um… I became a singer."
I played the strongest card in my hand.
"What?!"
"I'm sorry, what?"
"HUH?! Unnie! What are you talking about?! You never said anything about that!"
…Am I required to report every detail of my life to you?
"Okay, hold on. You've released a song?"
"Yep."
I pulled out my phone, opened the music app, and showed her the track I'd featured on.
"This one."
"WHAT?!"
"R-really?!"
"You lunatic! Why didn't you tell me about something like this?!"
"But why aren't you on TV?"
Mom asked, flustered in a way I'd rarely seen from her.
"Well… showing my face felt like…."
"What do you mean why?! Even if your face is a bit rough, I raised you to be this pretty! Why won't you show it?!"
…My face looks like this because it takes after you, for the record.
Saying that out loud risked veering into unfilial territory, so I kept it strictly internal.
"So… anyway… balancing college with performing was going to be awkward, so I dropped out."
It should be fine not to mention the whole VTuber thing, right?
"I'm only saying this once — don't go telling anyone it's me."
I weathered a barrage of follow-up questions, and when things finally quieted down, I managed to escape to my room.
"Phew…."
Life really does refuse to go according to plan, not even once.
Here I'd prepared what to say, and the situation simply refused to cooperate.
I was unwinding in my room, letting the tension drain from my body, when Nayeon walked in.
"Hey. You little traitor."
And as a token of gratitude to my dear sister — who had personally manufactured the exact situation I'd failed to control — I put her in a headlock.
"ACK! Unnie! Wait! I can't breathe!"
"Wait nothing. The money I gave you is precious to me, and I need to recoup it somehow, even if I have to bill it as insurance. You little traitor. Hm? Come on? Squeeze? What, don't want to put your back into it? Then relax?"
I suppose going easy on her because she was a high school senior was what caused all this?
I'm carving this lesson into her body so it never happens again!
"Ah! Ugh! Sorry! Sorry! I said sorry, just a second! Damn it! Did you really think Mom wouldn't find out?!"
Tch… she's got me there….
"I came to TALK to you! Just let me talk!"
Hmm… is that true?
She didn't seem to be lying to wriggle free, so I released her.
"Hack! Cough! Oof… you absolute psycho… you seriously locked that in way too hard…."
"It's supposed to hurt. That's the point."
"…Annoyingly nothing but chest on this girl."
…Was that an insult or a compliment?
But I could guess why Nayeon had said it.
With this body, putting someone in a headlock inevitably meant their face ended up pressed against my chest.
…That was really not something I needed to know.
Anyway.
"So? What did you want to say?"
Nayeon hesitated for a moment, then steeled herself, turned on her phone, and showed me a certain YouTube channel.
Oh, this looks famil—
"Could this… be you, unnie?"
…It's my channel, isn't it?
No wonder it looked familiar….