Bae Jihyun
"So is Lee Hyang-sook really your real name?"
"If you want it to be, I'll make it official. I'll file the name-change papers first thing tomorrow."
"Then you'll have plenty of time to tell me."
"...Bae Jihyun."
"...And your nickname back in school?"
"...The one you're already thinking of."
The soy milk my grandmother used to drink came to mind—that old brand. I studied this Lee Hyang-sook for a quiet moment, nodded, and held out my phone, her channel already up on the screen. Eight hundred thousand subscribers. A proper big-league YouTuber. She simply covered things so far from anything I watched that the algorithm had never once put her in front of me.
"I subscribed. Not sure that'll be much comfort."
"...Yeah. I think I really might change my name."
"Well, you're an adult now. Nobody's going to tease you over it, right?"
"...These bastards do."
"Then I suppose that's something you'll just have to take in with love. Still—it's easy to remember, and Jihyun suits you."
"...Thank you. Sniff."
"They say life gets easier once you give up."
"Then why hasn't it gotten any easier in twenty years?"
"Maybe you thought you'd given up, and you hadn't actually given up at all?"
"If I make a cabbage joke, you're going to get mad, right?"
"I can put on a straight face for you. But you're quietly shaving off eight years."
"Banks truncate the ones place too, you know. Standard practice."
"And in a situation like this, wouldn't rounding up be the better call?"
"So then we're the same age—does that mean I can drop the formal speech?"
"Shall we leave it here?"
"Hey now, you can dodge the words all you want, but flipping the whole board?"
"It's my specialty. A man ought to know how to give things a proper spin, don't you think?"
"...Pardon?"
"What exactly are you thinking right now?"
"Ah—no, that's not what I—"
"No, really. I'm curious what you thought I meant."
"...You're something else. Pick it up, put it down. Just leave it where it is."
"Filthy mind."
"...From that? Why? Which part, exactly?"
Somehow, we clicked. Maybe it was the way her energy ran so high, but I wasn't even nervous. I'd been talking the whole time without once checking the phone that was still live—the one I'd been so anxious about.
"Oppa. What are you doing?"
A face popped out between me and Lee Hyang-sook, and I jumped. Hyunji. But Hyang-sook startled even harder, which gave me a second to catch my breath.
"You scared me. I was waiting for you, and she asked if I could spare a minute for an interview, so I'm helping her out."
"Oh, a livestream. Hello."
Hyunji looked into the phone pointed our way and waved, and the chat, which had been flying, seemed to stall as if it had frozen. What did crawl up was nothing but this.
I looked over at Hyang-sook, who had gone completely silent. She was staring blankly at Hyunji, and Hyunji was staring at the phone.
"...Ah. Um."
I spoke to the dazed woman, and she shut her eyes as if hauling herself back together, then looked at me and answered.
"Ah, yes, yes."
"My companion's here. I'm sorry, but I think this is as far as we go."
"...Ah, of course. I understand. Thank you for helping with the stream."
"Not at all. Talking with you was fun. I'll just say a quick goodbye. Got to keep the manners."
"Okay. Then I'll run to the restroom."
Hyunji, who had been watching the broadcast, stepped away at that. I picked up the phone I'd set on the table and held it out to Hyang-sook.
"I said I'd give you my number if you asked."
"...I haven't asked yet..."
"You can ask now."
"...Could I possibly have your number?"
"Sure."
Her face went blank all over again, and when I let out a short laugh, color rushed up into it. She scribbled her number in a flash. I pressed call. A ringtone went off inside her crossbody bag, and I hung up.
"Well. You've got such a good personality I figure there are already plenty of men around. You don't have to force yourself to text me. I'll just go, ah, so that's the kind of person she was."
"N-no! There aren't! I will, I promise! I will!"
"All right. Have a good day. And everyone watching—have a fun one too."
Then, as if the chat had never stalled at all, one word started pouring in like a flood: oppa-bye, oppa-bye.
"What's an 'oba'? Did I overdo it?"
"Ah, no. It means 'bye, oppa'..."
"Ahh. Then I'd be 'bye, nuna'? Nuna-bye, nuna-bye. Ah. That is a little cringe."
Her energy had dropped all at once, but Hyunji was here, so I couldn't spare her any more of my attention. I'd cooperated as far as I meant to, and I'd gotten the number, just as I'd intended. A chance meeting, sure—but still, the first contact I'd landed from someone who actually made a living on camera. When I got up from the chair, the woman holding the gimbal smacked the table. Hyang-sook startled, yelped, "Oh, right!" and stood, opening her bag.
"Th-this really isn't much. Cookies I baked myself. They're so paltry, I'm truly sorry..."
I looked at the little bag, tore it open on the spot, and put one in my mouth. Not very sweet, and the salt was off. A little burnt, even, with a bitter edge—a cookie with every bit as much personality as Lee Hyang-sook. Still, fine enough beside a coffee. Better than the first batch the old café owner had ever managed. I gave her a thumbs-up and nodded.
"Oh, these are good. I bet they'd be even better with coffee. I'll enjoy them."
"...Thank you. Really. Be happy. You'll be blessed for this."
I had no idea why, but her face was burning red and her eyes were brimming. Wondering if something was wrong, I glanced at the woman whose name I didn't know and asked with a look, but she only smiled and shook her head. Figuring it was nothing, I scratched my cheek and said goodbye to both of them. Hyunji was already waiting outside the café. Of course, once the stream went up I understood Hyang-sook's reaction. That was a few days later.
In the café he had walked out of, Lee Hyang-sook sat in a daze, staring down at her phone. A sudden ache of misery had welled up and filled her eyes, and she had only ducked her head so her makeup wouldn't run—but she couldn't lift it again. In five years of streaming, today was the hardest she had ever found it to keep hold of herself. She kept turning her personal phone on and off—not the streaming phone, the one with that man's number glowing on the screen—stroking it, killing the display, waking it again. Then the donation chat she had locked for the interview chimed.
"Cut the bullshit. It's not over. It ain't over till it's over—you know that, right?"
"...Hey, guys. I'm seriously crashing. Sorry. Let's take a short break."
"That's what I'm saying."
"You're banned."
"Me too."
"Fair. I thought an idol had just walked out."
"For real? If you're lying, you're banned."
"Who is she? Some aspiring celebrity?"
"...Ewha?"
"...And she's nice, too?"
"Great. Truly comforting."
"...That could be, right?"
At that, Hyang-sook finally lifted her head.
"That was an option... If I offer a fee and invite him properly, the pretext might actually hold up."
"...Yeah. I should've asked."
"Found what?"
"You crazy bitch, you're incredible. So where?"
"...For real?"
"..."
While Hyang-sook couldn't get a word out, a post went up on the board, and the chat that had refused to believe it flipped in an instant.
"Both of you, banned."
"You're banned too, you fucking bitch. Is that something you say out loud?"
"Huh?"
In that instant the chat surged.
"I didn't turn it down. I put it on hold. Last time was a huge hit."
"I heard they licensed a network-TV format outright this time. You know Couple?"
"Yeah. Last time it got so bad they had to edit everything out, so I guess they decided to just raise the rating. And they even got backing from the Ministry of Maternity and Childcare. That's all I heard—I don't know the details. Even if I did, I couldn't say. I'm a little uncomfortable with the adult stuff myself."
"Banned."
"Should I?"
She watched the chat climb without end, then clapped her hands.
"Good. I'm feeling my strength come back. All right—let's do this."
"Would it be any fun if I told you now? And if I suddenly invite him onto something that big, you think he'd come? Anyway. First I ease him into the taste of streaming, right? Show off what I can do a little. Get him used to a camera before anything else."
"Shut up. I have to talk it over with my writer, too, so don't get your hopes up. I've got my own stream schedule."
The chat kept climbing, and with the distinct feeling that it really might catch fire, Hyang-sook sighed and opened her mouth.
"First I'll float Game Guest Seat and feel him out. He might only have been kind because he was on camera. You can't just drag anyone onto a production that big. Accidents happen. Have a little faith. I'm Lee Hyang-sook."
"Banned."
And with that, Lee Hyang-sook rose from her seat and slowly made her way out of the café.