Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: January 1st
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After Myth's stream ended, I sat there lost in the afterglow for a while.
About thirty minutes must have passed—just staring endlessly at the ended broadcast screen.
"Yeah, what's the big deal about the past seven years?"
What mattered were the decades ahead.
Just like Myth said, all I had to do was become 'Myth' from here on out.
Having swept away all those nagging thoughts, I stretched my arms out wide.
The pleasant fatigue of my muscles contracting and relaxing washed over my entire body.
"Joining Dad's company would be great, but if I had my way, I'd love to work in this industry too."
The instant praise from so many people for my work—and Myth turning it into a stream—had left a huge impression on me.
It was such an intense experience that I desperately wanted to see scenes like that again.
Especially since I'd gotten personally interested in something beyond just avatar modeling, maybe I should focus my studies there.
"New Year's Day really is for making plans, huh."
I had no idea how many I'd actually stick to, but that was half the fun—making as many as possible.
If even one panned out, wouldn't that make it a successful year?
As I mulled over all sorts of ideas and jotted down plans for the first day of the new year, someone suddenly knocked on my door.
"Who is it?"
What the...? Someone coming to see me in the middle of the night on New Year's Day?
Myth thought I was spending time with my parents and said she was doing an after-party with her agency folks. Was it the nurse?
I opened the door without a second thought.
"Heyyy~ Happy New Year~!"
"...Why are you here?"
And there she was—Myth, holding all sorts of delivery food and some mysterious black bag.
What the heck? Why was she here?
Myth grinned and asked,
"Can I come in?"
"Be my guest."
There was no reason to turn away food-bearing Myth.
She slipped right into my hospital room like she owned the place, pulled out the foldable low table from the corner, and set it up in the middle of the room.
It was so natural, like she was at home.
She said she'd been coming and going for seven years, so yeah, it made sense.
Seven years—that's a chunk of life.
"Come on, sit. This is your wake-up-after-seven-years celebration party."
"Pretty low-key for a party."
"Better not to rub your five million subscribers the wrong way, Seol-ah. If I wanted, I could rent out a whole fancy restaurant, hire a hundred-person choir and orchestra to sing just for you."
"...Sorry."
Come to think of it, I'd noticed it during that collab with Yeona last time—she had a sneaky habit of throwing money at people.
Drooling at the sight of the steaming hot chicken, pizza, and other goodies on the table, I plopped down next to Myth.
"So, why'd you really come? You said you were with your parents."
"Heh. Guess."
"Bored?"
"Nope. Someone said they missed me."
Crack.
My body went rigid at the sound.
N-No way.
She saw that out of all those chats?
Maybe my frozen panic was hilarious, because Myth doubled over laughing.
Tears pooling at the corners of her eyes.
"Didn't know your account was registered as a manager, huh?"
"What?!"
I fumbled for my phone, logged back into her stream with my account, and checked.
I'd been watching without thinking, but sure enough, there was a monkeyspanker icon next to my nickname.
Weird, I didn't notice that earlier.
Was it my imagination?
Myth unwrapped the chicken and chomped down on a perfectly fried drumstick.
"Manager chats show up in a separate window. Viewers don't usually notice."
"...I wanna die of embarrassment."
"Hehe. Oh, and that's only the third reason."
"What's the rest?"
"Hmm~."
Myth scooted a little closer to me.
Our shoulders touched, and she looked up at me because of our height difference.
"What do you think?"
Myth was prompting me for an answer.
I turned my head away and didn't reply.
Instead, I reached for the chicken.
Nom.
I took a bite.
Maybe because it crossed through the blizzard, it wasn't super hot and crispy anymore, but chicken was chicken.
I savored the long-lost taste of delivery food, moved.
"Brought this for me?"
"Pfft. Eat up."
"As you command."
I tore into the food silently for a while.
Myth watched, then brought her hand to my face.
"Hey, slow down. You've got something here."
"I was trying to eat neatly, but guess not."
"Hold still. I'll get it."
Myth grabbed a wet wipe and gently dabbed the corner of my mouth.
...This is, like, super embarrassing,
"Uh... yeah. This is kinda really embarrassing."
Myth's face was flushed too—must've felt the same.
She'd been fine until now; probably did it without realizing.
Now she caught on how awkward it was.
"............."
"............."
The silence born of embarrassment filled the room.
I'd hated the quiet before, but with just one person beside me, it didn't bother me anymore.
That realization was so weird that I burst out laughing without thinking.
It sparked Myth to laugh too.
Laughter chased out the silence, filling the room.
After laughing face-to-face for a good while, I shared my honest feelings.
"Thanks for coming."
"Eek?!"
"You okay?"
"Y-Yeah. Just choked on my food for a sec. But why'd you...?"
"Dunno, maybe being alone on New Year's Eve got me down."
"Why?"
"Feels like so much time passed while I was stuck."
Seven years.
Too long to call short, definitely a long stretch.
Everyone else moved forward steadily, but I blew through my early-to-mid-twenties doing nothing. It felt weird.
A fresh-out-of-college newbie age, without even starting.
Myth stared at me blankly.
Oh.
Did I get too sentimental and mess up?
I whipped my head away fast.
Embarrassment hit a beat late.
No need to say it out loud.
"Thanks."
"...For what?"
"Telling me."
"Nah, sorry. Felt like whining for no reason."
"Why not?"
"Huh?"
"You can whine and vent all you want."
Myth looked at me.
I looked back at Myth.
In the room with just us two, we faced each other.
Myth spoke calmly, but with firm resolve.
"That avatar you gave me that day? It put me here."
"...You'd have made it without me."
"Who knows? Pointless what-if. And—"
Myth reached out to me.
Her small palms cupped my head, then yanked me in hard and fast.
No time to resist—super quick and strong.
Right into her chest.
"H-Hey!"
"Just stay still, Seol-ah."
Overwhelming softness enveloped my face, while just-right volume pushed back.
In that contradictory bliss, with my heart about to explode, my face burned red to the bursting point.
-Thump thump thump thump thump.
Probably the same for her.
I could tell without looking.
Her pounding heart told me her feelings instead.
"That day, you saved my life."
"...Yeah, but."
"Seol-ah, I don't know how you see me, but to me, you're beyond anything I could've imagined."
Myth grabbed my shoulders and pushed me back a bit.
My face emerged from her chest, and there she was—face beet red, eyes glistening with tears, gazing at me.
It was amazing.
Tears welled up, but her face, her expression—not a trace of sadness.
"You made my life shine, saved me, gave me tomorrow."
Pent-up emotions spilled out in thick, hot drops.
Her breath felt scorching, like impure fire.
"I've received countless things I can't even tally, but haven't given you a single one back."
Thousands of nights waiting for you.
For this moment.
To tell you this.
"Just like you gave me everything, now I'll give you everything."
Myth smiled.
Tears naturally trailed down her cheeks with the expression.
For some reason, I reached out without thinking and wiped them away.
"And this—telling you that—is the second reason I came today."
I didn't bother asking about the first.
The echo of her heartbeat still rang in my ears, and the warmth on my fingertips from wiping her tears made it obvious.
After a moment of gazing at each other, Myth stretched.
"Ughhh... Saying what I held back for seven years feels so refreshing."
"Your emotions are heavy, girl."
"Can't help it. Who told you to sleep for seven years?"
Like the mood from before had vanished, we traded jokes and laughed at each other.
Myth reached for the tteokbokki she'd brought, skewered a sundae with a toothpick from nearby.
Dipped it in salt with a poke, and handed it to me.
"What, dipping sundae in salt now?"
"Living in Seoul, I found salt-dipped sundae kinda tasty?"
We spent the time munching on the piled-up snacks on the table, watching TV or Nutube.
Chatting about nothing and everything, laughing and goofing off.
Until the moment the morning sun rose on January 1st.
"Oh, Seol-ah. Come here. Sunrise."
"Snow stopped already."
"Yeah~. New Year's with snow falling wasn't bad."
"Personally, I like it after it stops."
"Then from now on, me too."
"What kinda logic is that?"
Far off, beyond the mountains, the sun peeked out.
We stood side by side at the window, watching.
"Myth."
"Yeah."
"I'm still a bit confused, y'know. Makes sense, since I just woke up after seven years."
"Yeah. I get it."
"So, just give me a little time."
"...Don't make me wait forever. I might not hold back and gobble you up."
"That's actually scary."
"Rawr."
"Hey?! What if you actually bite my arm! Ow!"
No need to spell out what I wanted her to wait for—it was clear.
January 1st.
In the new year after the snow stopped, laughing together in my hospital room.
I added one more line to my New Year's resolutions.