A Proper Welcome
Park Woojin was thoroughly, viscerally rattled.
He'd been a big kid with a face that didn't invite argument, and ever since then a little steel in his voice had usually been enough to keep people from talking back. Of course, he had just enough sense to grovel the instant he ran into someone genuinely strong, so he'd never actually had to collide with the real thing.
But the Dohyun standing in front of him looked, no matter how you cut it, like he belonged in the weakling column. Woojin was five-foot-ten. The difference wasn't dramatic, but he was still looking slightly down, and by now the guy should have gotten the message and started crawling.
"Woojin, if you're planning to ruin the welcome party like this, I'd like you to just go home."
Dayeon's attitude threw him even harder.
He was the one who'd worked with her the longest. Yes, he'd taken Dohyun's bait today and shown an ugly side, but under ordinary circumstances he was careful about managing his image in front of Dayeon and Eunchae.
You're supposed to take my side!
He had no idea that Dayeon and Eunchae had already figured out he'd been quietly tormenting the other editors.
"No, but that bastard—"
"This bastard, that bastard—hey, you're the one who started it! Who wouldn't be pissed, getting talked to like that? I told you to knock it off when you did this to the previous editors, didn't I?"
Just because she hadn't known about the harassment didn't mean Dayeon had never called out the casual contempt, the way he talked down to people. She'd pointed it out every time she caught it and told him to stop. Only now was she learning he'd been doing it behind her back the whole time, and she was beating herself up for not paying closer attention.
"No, that's—"
Dayeon stood as if she had no interest in hearing another word of his excuses and held out his things.
"Leave. Don't make any more of a scene."
Her face and her voice were final. She clearly had no intention of listening further. Woojin still wore the look of a man who'd been deeply wronged, but in the end he had no choice but to stand. He glared at Dohyun for a beat, said nothing, clicked his tongue, and walked out.
Dayeon let out a small sigh and turned to Dohyun with an apology.
"I'm sorry. This is exactly why I didn't want to invite him."
It wasn't the kind of thing you could just shrug off. Tonight was a company dinner, so she could send Woojin straight home for causing a scene—but when they were actually working, that wasn't an option, which made the whole thing worse. She wanted to fire him on the spot. The problem was they were already short-handed.
Dohyun was still a rookie editor. His growth looked promising, but nobody could expect major results from him overnight. Lose the main editor on top of that, and the upload gaps would stretch. The channel would feel it.
"It's fine. I feel like I just made things worse by pushing back. Sorry, noona."
He hadn't been able to sit there while Woojin kept needling him, so he'd pushed back—but now he was worried he'd put Dayeon in a tough spot.
"Oh, come on. You have nothing to apologize for. That guy would've been even worse if you hadn't. You did the right thing. I only sent him home because I didn't want things getting more uncomfortable."
If a scene like this dragged on out in public, someone might recognize her, and she was the one who'd end up in the most trouble. Even so, she didn't think Dohyun's response had been over the line.
"Anyway, let's keep eating. The meat's going to burn."
While they'd been wrestling with Woojin, everything on the grill had stuck and charred. She flagged down a server to swap out the plate and put in a fresh order of meat.
"The mood got way too heavy. Woojin's gone, so how about we try to liven things up again, just us?"
Seeing Dayeon and Dohyun looking a little down, Eunchae spoke up, trying to salvage the atmosphere. This was supposed to be Dohyun's welcome party. Getting into a fight with Woojin and letting the night die under a cloud like this just didn't sit right with her.
"Want to have a drink? It's already evening, and tomorrow's a day off."
For a streamer like Dayeon, a day off wasn't really a day off. For Dohyun and Eunchae, the staff, it actually was.
"Hmm. You two go ahead and drink. I've got a stream at dawn, and I have to go live tomorrow too."
It wasn't that she'd never done a drinking stream. But that was drinking on stream, which was fine. Drinking somewhere else and then turning the camera on was a different story. Dayeon made an apologetic face.
"That's a little disappointing, but what about you, Dohyun? Want a drink?"
Eunchae felt the same way about going live after drinking, so she didn't push Dayeon any further.
"Drinks sound good. I'm not that great at holding my liquor, though."
He didn't have many occasions to drink, so Dohyun was a lighter weight than he might have guessed.
"Soju? Beer? If you can't drink much, maybe we should go with beer?"
"Ah, I'm fine with whatever."
He wasn't particularly fond of soju, but if he was going to drink, he wasn't the type to be picky. Of course, soju would put him under a lot faster.
"Oh! Then, hmm, how about somaek?"
"Somaek...! Yeah. That works."
"Is that something you need to look so grim about?"
"Ah. Did I?"
Dohyun answered with a remarkably solemn face, and Eunchae couldn't help laughing.
Well, well. Look at these two.
They volleyed off each other so easily, and every time their eyes met they smiled like a pair of kids with a secret. Dayeon watched them with a thoroughly entertained look.
"You don't have to drink if you don't want to. We're not the kind of people who pressure anyone."
"Nah, it's fine. I like somaek. I'll get drunk pretty fast, though."
Beer took the longest to hit you, but the carbonation shredded your throat and filled you up. Soju got you drunk fast without the bloat, but drinking it straight felt like knocking back industrial solvent. Dohyun wasn't fond of slamming either one on its own. Even if it put him under a little faster, somaek—soju cut with beer—was the one he actually liked.
They ordered soju and beer, and for the next thirty minutes the drinks were mixed with theatrical flair.
"That's right! Our Dayeon noona is the best in the world!"
"Ah, exactly! That's just stating the obvious! Hey!? Keep going!"
The two drunks, faces flushed with alcohol, had locked into another passionate alliance—this time on the subject of Dayeon.
"Haa... I'm actually going to lose it. Why am I the one who has to be embarrassed here?"
Already wasted and lost in a trance of fan devotion, the two of them had even dropped the formal speech—they were the same age, after all—and launched into an extremely enthusiastic Dayeon-appreciation session. The one who had to sit through the secondhand mortification was Dayeon, the sober subject of it all.
"You little—! I like you! You like our unnie this much? Then I gotta break out my secret weapon! Check KakaoTalk~!"
"Oh, nice, nice! What is it! Share everything you've got, right now! I'm sending mine too!"
"Ack, seriously, do that when you're by yourselves, you two!"
In the end, Dayeon managed to rein them in a little by confiscating both their phones.
"Tsk. Even unnie's angry face is adorable, I swear..."
"Right? Noona's so cute that's why we keep doing this~!"
"Look, I appreciate the love, but you both seem pretty drunk, so how about we call it a night?"
She'd already been thinking it was time to wrap up—she needed to start prepping for her stream. And looking at the state of these two, she decided they needed to clear out as fast as possible.
"Ehh~?! We're ending it here?! This is Dohyun's welcome party?! That's so sad! Super sad!"
"She's right! It's way too sad! We can't end it like this...!"
If they hadn't been drunk, Eunchae might have been like this anyway, but Dohyun at least would have politely declined. Wasted, with their energy launched into the stratosphere, neither of them had the presence of mind for that. No—Dohyun was just having too much fun.
"Ugh, then you two go for a second round! I have to go get ready for stream."
They clicked well. Their personalities and interests lined up better than she'd expected, and they clearly had some interest in each other. Dayeon figured it wouldn't be so bad if they went for a second round, talked their heads off, and maybe even hit it off.
"Here, here. I'll give you my card, so you two have fun through the second round. I'll be heading out first~"
Even as she left early, she covered the second-round tab. Dayeon was a really good boss.
"Don't stay out too late. Eunchae, your place is pretty far."
"Yeees~ Got it!"
Hearing Eunchae's energetic reply, Dayeon looked a little more at ease and turned to say goodbye to Dohyun as well.
"Dohyun, take care of Eunchae for me. I'm sorry I couldn't stay through the end of your welcome party."
"Not at all! It's fine! Thank you for welcoming me!"
Dohyun's equally energetic farewell just made Dayeon laugh.
"Aigoo, you two are both so cute. Alright. See you Monday, you two."