Let's See Who Cries First
"No — this is completely insane! Why would you hand my work over to that guy?!"
Park Woojin couldn't hold it in any longer. The words burst out of him at full volume.
"Hah, Woojin. Please lower your voice. There are only four of us here anyway — we'll hear you just fine if you turn it down."
Dayeon spoke like someone whose head had been throbbing for a while now, thanks to Woojin's nonstop shouting. It didn't help.
"You think I can lower my voice right now?! You're saying something completely ridiculous!"
"Park Woojin. What exactly is so ridiculous about this?"
I'd been watching this spectacle the whole time, and I finally cut in, irritation creeping into my voice. I'd planned to wait until Dayeon finished explaining everything before I said a word, but Woojin kept pushing and pushing without giving her a second to breathe. I wasn't going to sit through any more of it.
"Stay out of this, you little shit!"
"Stay out of it? This involves me too. And I'm the one who made this proposal in the first place. Noona... no — the boss didn't suggest this. I did. So if you've got something to say, say it to me."
Woojin's face crumpled even further. The idea that I might have been the one to propose this had clearly never even crossed his mind.
"Hah, look at this asshole. You made that proposal? Hey, you little shit. Who the hell do you think you are? Huh? You think you're somebody?!"
"I'm not anybody special. But I can tell you this much — I'm a better editor than you are, Park Woojin."
I let out a short scoff and kept going.
"Do you even know why this conversation is happening in the first place?"
"Your own damn ego, that's why! Why else, you fucker!"
He still had his ears shut. He had no intention of actually listening. I looked him straight in the eye.
"It's because of you, Park Woojin. I don't give a damn about your personality or your character. But if you're getting paid to do a job, you should at least take responsibility for finishing your own work on time."
There was nothing but contempt in my eyes as I held his gaze.
"We go through dozens of revisions every single day, but you keep delivering the edits so late that the boss has no choice but to compromise and upload whatever you've got. That keeps happening, doesn't it?"
Lately Woojin's editing had slowed to a crawl, and Dayeon had been forced to make more and more concessions — uploading videos that fell short of her usual standard. On any other day she would have sent them back two or three more times. But the videos had to go up on schedule, so she couldn't keep requesting revisions forever. She'd sigh and let it slide, because there was nothing else she could do.
"I don't understand why the boss should have to keep putting up with subpar videos from someone she's paying. And it's not like I said I was going to steal your entire workload and fire you on the spot, either."
All I had proposed was that I would edit the same number of videos Woojin was already assigned.
"If my videos aren't good enough, yours will get uploaded instead. And if that happens, I won't take a single cent for the work."
Editors got paid per video. If Woojin actually produced something decent enough to make it onto the channel, I'd be the one taking the loss.
"Of course, that also means if my videos keep coming out better and only mine get uploaded, you won't see a single penny either. But looking at how pissed off you are right now... you're not confident, are you?"
"Wh— what did you just say, you little shit?! Who the hell isn't confident, you fucker?!"
Objectively speaking, Park Woojin was not a particularly gifted editor. He didn't put any real effort into the work, and he didn't even watch streams, which only made it worse. What he did have, in absurd abundance, was an inflated, utterly baseless confidence in his own abilities.
"Fine, you fucker! Let's do this! Let's see who's gonna cry first, you son of a bitch!"
Needling his pride had been the right move. The same guy who'd been ranting about his work being stolen was now huffing and puffing, demanding an immediate showdown.
"Well then. That settles it. I don't expect much — but go ahead and struggle as hard as you can, Park Woojin."
His pride had taken a scratch, and he was too blinded by it to see the truth. If he kept losing, the eventual result wouldn't just be a bruised ego. It would be losing his job entirely.
"Wow, Dohyun, you were really good with your words back there."
Once the meeting ended, Park Woojin had stormed out, still hissing under his breath. Dayeon noona clutched her throbbing head and disappeared into her room, muttering that it was time to stream.
"Was I? I just said things I've been wanting to say for a while. That's probably why it came out that way."
I didn't head home right away. Eunchae and I sat together in the living room, each of us sipping a cup of decaf, talking it over.
"The way you talk, you could be a streamer yourself."
"Come on, you're giving me way too much credit. I'm really not at that level."
"Why not~ You like games, you're good with words. I think you'd do great."
The blind spot there being that I liked games — I just wasn't any good at them. Whether I was actually good with words, I wasn't sure. Maybe it was because I'd been working since I was twenty, but I could put a sentence together coherently enough. The problem was that was as far as it went. Being able to speak clearly and being able to hold a conversation that actually drew people in were two completely different things, and I could say with certainty that I did not have the latter. If I'd had that kind of charm... honestly, I would have become a streamer already.
"More than that, I'm a little worried about noona."
"Yeah. She should've eaten something, taken some medicine, and then gone live."
She'd vanished into her room so fast we didn't even have time to stop her. I hadn't gotten the chance to suggest we eat dinner together.
"Doesn't look like she's gone live yet. Should I go in and ask?"
No stream notification had gone out, so she was probably still getting ready. I edged toward her door.
"Mm, unnie doesn't eat well when she's stressed. That's just how she is."
Eunchae had lived with noona for a long time. She'd probably tried this more than a few times — the fact that she wasn't even considering trying again told me as much. But just because it had always been that way didn't mean we had to leave it that way forever.
I gathered my courage and knocked.
The door flew open. Noona leaned her whole body out into the hallway.
"Hm? What's up?"
She must have assumed it was either me or Eunchae. That completely unguarded look of hers set my hopelessly oblivious heart hammering in my chest all over again.
"Ah, uh... I was going to ask if maybe we could eat together first, and then you go live..."
"...Ah, sorry. I don't really feel like eating."
She'd said she doesn't eat when she's stressed, and sure enough, the rejection came first. I let out a long sigh.
"Noona, no matter how stressed you are, you can't just skip meals like that. You've got to take care of yourself, okay? Do you know how many viewers love you? If they find out you went live on an empty stomach because you were stressed, how worried do you think they'd be?"
Honestly, this was something I'd wanted to say since back when I was just a regular viewer, before I ever became her editor. Noona would casually mention she hadn't eaten, citing reasons like she wasn't hungry, or she just didn't feel like it. She had no idea how much it pained me every time — this skinny person who wouldn't even take care of herself properly.
"I honestly just want you to eat well. That's my wish. So please — just eat a little something, and then go live."
"...But, um... then the stream would start late."
"If you tell them you were late because you were eating, the viewers will cheer!"
I'm a hardcore viewer myself! I could guarantee better than anyone that not a single person would be upset if noona was late because she was eating dinner.
"Mmm..."
And noona didn't seem entirely unaware of how her viewers felt. A thoughtful look crossed her face.
This was the moment. This was when you had to push.
I shot Eunchae a look — jump in, help me out here.
"She's right, unnie! If you say you were late because you were eating, people are going to be so moved they'll be crying from the start of the stream. Starting with me."
Even my terrible attempt at a signal, she read perfectly and jumped right in. I nodded along vigorously.
"Hmm... mm, i-is that so..."
She was starting to waver. Yes! That's it!
"Your favorite tteokbokki for dinner, boom! Then a nice cold cup of decaf, boom! Ahh~ now that's living! How about it?!"
"Tteokbokki...! That... does sound good."
I knew she loved tteokbokki, so matching the menu to her favorite did the trick. A small rumble came from her stomach — she must have been hungry after all.
"Ah, whatever! Fine, let's eat first! We're doing all this to make a living anyway! Order the tteokbokki right now!"
"Oh yeah~!"
"Yes!"
At noona's declaration that she would eat dinner, Eunchae and I high-fived wildly, practically bursting with joy. Ah, this was nice. Evenings like this. Once we drove Park Woojin out, we'd get to have peaceful evenings like this from now on. The thought filled me with motivation. I needed to work even harder.
"Where should we order from?"
"Let's just get it from the usual place. That's the best one."
"I'm good with wherever unnie wants."
First, tteokbokki. Eat — and then throw ourselves into the work with everything we've got.