Huh? Size?
"...So, what should I do first?"
I'd only gone along to the meeting as a friend, only to receive a completely unexpected scouting offer. That same day I'd rushed straight to the company and stamped my seal on the contract without a second thought. Now I was posing the question to Kang Yura, who had become my boss.
Of course, it wasn't as if I knew nothing about the streaming ecosystem. I myself was one of the countless viewers out there, and with Jia streaming right beside me, I could claim to know a decent amount. But that was strictly from the spectator's side of the screen. I'd soaked up plenty of audiovisual material, sure... yet whether I could actually step onto the field as a player based on that alone was still an open question. And when it came to debuting as a VTuber, I was practically a complete novice. There was no way I wouldn't feel anxious.
...Though with the seal already stamped, it was a little late for those worries.
"Mm... Nothing you need to do right this second. Just take it easy for now, I guess?"
"Is that so?"
Yura tossed the line my way while stretching her arms overhead. Only a few hours earlier she'd been using formal speech with me the entire time, but the moment the power dynamic flipped she dropped it without missing a beat. Well... as the brand-new hire, I found the casual tone easier anyway. Besides, I was younger than her, so it didn't feel awkward in the slightest.
"Ah, there is one thing, actually."
"...?"
"You haven't done a single thing here yet, right?"
"Th-that's right?"
My boss's sudden remark made questions bubble up. Of course I hadn't—today was my first day. The contract had just been printed; it was still warm. What exactly was I supposed to have accomplished in that tiny window? I hadn't even properly toured the office yet. There hadn't been a spare second.
I answered without much thought, and the words that followed from the CEO completely blindsided me.
"Body measurements. Since you're already here, let's get them done."
"...Excuse me?"
"What's with the 'excuse me'? Everyone does it."
The request sailed so far past anything I'd imagined that my brain short-circuited.
"Wh-wh-why?"
"Why else? Did you think we were just going to slap some generic board model on you and call it a day?"
My face didn't match the pure panic currently scrambling my features. Yura took a brief breath to steady herself, then continued explaining to her thoroughly frozen new hire.
"If we just slap something together and then switch over to a 3D model later... what do you think happens?"
"Uh..."
"Once even one part is off, the whole thing looks ridiculously unnatural. You don't really want to watch arms and legs creaking around, do you?"
While my pupils jittered wildly, my boss remained the picture of cool logic. She piled on the pressure, hammering home that similar issues had cropped up in the early days of the virtual industry, making it crystal clear that this process for me was non-negotiable.
"So we have to match it to your actual body as closely as possible."
"Ah, uh..."
"For example... the chest... and so on?"
Mid-explanation, Yura's gaze drifted and settled on one particular spot.
"...Mm."
"..."
"If we went for full accuracy, it really would cause an uproar."
And just like that, she understood. She finally grasped why Yu Sihyun—who hadn't so much as blinked when a contract was shoved in her face—was suddenly this flustered.
If a woman was getting her body measured, there was inevitably one crucial area that had to be recorded. That soft, fatty centerpiece every woman possessed to some degree. And hers... well, it was exceptionally pronounced. Exaggerate just a little and the sheer size alone could qualify as a unique identifying trait.
In short...
...it was enormous.
"...Want me to... tone it down a bit?"
"...Please do..."
Yu Sihyun, day zero of employment: sexually harassed (?) by her superior.
After swallowing my pride and submitting to the body measurements, I briefly turned scarlet at the technician's awed gasp upon confronting that majestic silhouette. Once every appointment was finished and I was finally ready to head home, Yura stopped the two of us.
"...Ah, and one more thing."
"You two said you live together, right?"
"Yes."
"Any chance you're thinking of moving out soon?"
"...Huh?"
"Everyone else lives separately. If only the two of you are sharing a place, people start talking weird stuff."
It was a perfectly reasonable point. If word got out that just the two of us from the same generation were cohabiting, it could spiral into "discord" rumors regardless of the truth. Sharing an apartment wasn't exactly grounds for friction, but there would always be a crowd ready to treat even something that trivial as discrimination. If we didn't want to deal with the noise, we'd have to put in the extra effort.
"I'm fine with whatever..."
"...Sihyun?"
I had already sorted everything out in my head, but beside me Jia looked thoroughly shaken.
"I was only staying with her until I found a job anyway. Don't worry about it."
"...Alright then. Get home safe."
I remained completely oblivious until the conversation ended.
"Let's go. I'm somehow exhausted."
"..."
"...Jia?"
Only then did I actually look at my friend. Behind the familiar expression I caught a faint undercurrent of something off. How to put it... The eyes that always shone so brightly now seemed...
...just a little darker.