A Change of Scenery

She'd looked like she was carrying a lot of stress, and when I confirmed she'd gone and posted a streaming hiatus notice, the worry in my chest only sank deeper.

"This is honestly crossing into workplace interference at this point."

The whole reason you hired an editor was to put out better videos and become a bigger streamer. For that same editor to be the reason she was taking a break from streaming... that was getting in the way of her work, plain and simple.

Bzzzt— bzzzzzt—

Eunchae had seemed a little down herself today and headed home early, and now — she must have just gotten in — my phone started ringing.

"Hey, Eunchae."

So that was why she'd called out of the blue. She wanted to get together over the weekend.

"Plans? ...Not really."

These days, the only people I talked to or hung out with were Eunchae and noona. There was no way I had weekend plans sitting around.

It was the season for flowers to bloom, so an outing didn't sound like a bad idea at all. I'd never properly gone flower-viewing in my life — I was always too busy grinding while everyone else was out enjoying the blossoms.

But... the three of us?

"Is noona coming too?"

"I don't know if she'll actually go."

She'd already taken today off stream. I had a feeling she'd insist she needed to stream even harder over the weekend to make up for it. Back in the day, she'd streamed seven days a week with so much fire that her viewers used to beg her to take a break.

I'd been worried about her heading home looking so down. Turns out, the whole way there, she'd been turning over something this thoughtful.

"Alright. I'll give her a call."

Huh? Wasn't that a little much, though?

She'd sent everyone away because she wanted to be alone, and now I was supposed to just show up and ask her to hang out this weekend? On top of that, she'd posted a hiatus notice. There was no telling whether she was even still at the studio.

Click.

And just like that, Eunchae said whatever she wanted and hung up first.

Good grief. This girl was always like this.

Or had she gone home early planning this from the start? It wasn't impossible. On a normal day, she would have lingered — saying she'd eat dinner at my place, or that we should do something together — instead of heading home so easily.

"Well... I might as well go check."

I didn't know if noona would even be there, but I'd been worried anyway. This was as good a reason as any. I headed for the studio.

Beep-beep. Click!

It took less than five minutes to reach the studio and step inside.

"Noona."

Her shoes were still sitting in the entryway, and I could see her on the living room sofa, lost in thought. She didn't turn her head. She didn't react at all. She must not have heard me call.

I walked in slowly and dropped down onto the sofa beside her.

"Ack! You scared me! What the— Dohyun?!"

She really hadn't noticed me come in. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠She jumped like she'd been startled out of her skin.

"Noona, you seriously didn't know I was here?"

"Ugh, I had no idea. When did you get here?"

The lock made a pretty loud sound when it opened. She must have been deep, deep in thought.

"Just now."

"Did you forget something?"

"No. I just came because I was worried about you."

I hadn't left anything behind, and I had no reason to lie, so I told her the truth — that I'd come because I was worried. Of course, if Eunchae hadn't shoved me into it, I probably would have just sat around worrying and never actually shown up.

"Come on, I'm fine."

"You almost never take a day off stream. Then something like that happens, and you post a hiatus notice. How am I supposed to not worry?"

Viewers who didn't know the full story were mostly just saying it had been a while since Dayeon took a break, and that she should rest up and come back refreshed. If I hadn't seen what happened earlier, I would have thought the same thing — that she just wanted a day off. But after watching her get so wound up, there was no way I could just leave it alone.

"I just... feel so stifled. And I haven't taken a proper break in a long time, so maybe that's making it worse."

She murmured the words while staring blankly ahead, her expression dazed. It was nothing like the noona I usually saw. She looked a little fragile.

"Noona, when things get hard, it's okay to lean on me or Eunchae. Ah — well, I guess we haven't known each other that long, so it might feel a little awkward to lean on me."

And depending on how you looked at it, I was also one of her viewers. And a guy. Yeah, that could make it uncomfortable. Then again, Eunchae was one of her viewers too. But at least Eunchae had been with her since before she even started streaming.

"Eunchae might seem like a lightweight, but she actually worries about you a lot. And when you talk about something serious, she takes it seriously."

"Mm, I know. Eunchae's a good kid. And I know you are too, Dohyun."

But the look on her face as she said it didn't seem all that comfortable.

"Still... I'm your employer. We're close personally, but we're also tied together professionally. Showing you this side of me... honestly, just doing that feels kind of wrong."

I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠noticed it even just watching her streams — Dayeon noona ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had a bit of a perfectionist streak. She really hated showing any kind of weakness, and it seemed like that applied to her private life too.

"Well, I can see why you'd think that. Especially since this place itself is a work space. That probably makes it even harder."

Even after hours, people tended to stay polite and keep their guard up in an office. Showing a vulnerable side in the studio was probably even harder — especially for someone like noona, who already didn't want anyone to see her like that.

"Which is why we should go on an outing this weekend."

"Huh? All of a sudden?"

"Yep. All of a sudden."

I let out a small laugh and kept going.

"A change of scenery might clear the air. Who knows — it might even make it easier to talk. And even if it doesn't, hanging out and having fun together should help with the stress, at least a little."

I was the type who believed that changing your surroundings and resetting your mood was pretty important.

"But, um... I took today off, so I feel like I should stream a little longer over the weekend."

See? I knew she'd say that.

That was exactly the noona I knew. But I had no intention of backing down that easily.

"Come on, we can go in the morning and you can stream after! And if it really comes down to it, I'll even hop on for a collab stream with you."

I hadn't wanted to appear on stream, but if it would help noona feel better, I was willing to go on a time or two.

"Pfft. What? You used to shut me down instantly whenever I asked you to come on stream."

"Okay, honestly, I'm still not thrilled about it. But if it's just my voice, it shouldn't be that bad, right? So come on — let's go on an outing. Yeah?"

"Hmm, what should I do... You're going this far, so maybe I should make some time. Hmm~"

She was pretending to think it over, but I could tell she'd already decided to go.

"Great. So what time should we meet?"

"I haven't said I'm going yet?"

"Come on, you know you are."

The playful look on her face as she pushed back told me her mood had improved a little.

"Heh, well, you're not wrong. Hmm, should we meet a little early? If I'm going to start streaming earlier, it might be nice to meet first thing in the morning, hang out, and come back."

She had no intention of giving up on starting her stream early. A workaholic through and through.

"Then how about we meet at eight?"

"That works? I'm good with that! But is it just the two of us going?"

"No, no. Eunchae's coming too."

"Ahh~ Hmm... I see."

She made a face that looked a little disappointed, and I tilted my head.

"What? Should it just be the two of us?"

"Huh? No?"

The answer came so immediately, so matter-of-factly, that I figured I must have imagined it.

Of course noona wouldn't want to go just the two of us. Walking around alone with a guy could lead to misunderstandings, and that would be a hassle.

"Then I'll let Eunchae know. Should we meet at the studio and head out from there?"

"No, let's just meet outside that day. We're going to change the atmosphere, after all."

She seemed to have taken the whole "change of atmosphere" thing to heart.

"Alright. Let's make a group chat and figure out where to meet."

"Sounds good! So, um... are you heading home now?"

"I should eat dinner soon. When are you going home, noona?"

"Ah! Want to have dinner together?"

Huh? This scene felt strangely familiar.

Dohyun, Dohyun! Let's eat dinner together!

Ah. It had overlapped with the way Eunchae usually acted.

"Sure, why not?"

I preferred eating with other people over eating alone anyway. And if the person I was eating with was noona, even better.

"Let's see... should we get your favorite tteokbokki again today?"

"Hey, you don't have to accommodate me every single time. What do you want to eat? This noona's treating!"

The dazed look from earlier was gone without a trace. She was completely back to her usual energy, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and I felt a little of the weight lift off my chest.

"Aw, why not? I like tteokbokki too."

"Huh? Don't guys usually not like it?"

"That's just a stereotype, you know...?"

Well, if I had to be honest, I wouldn't go out of my way to specifically hunt it down. But if someone asked whether I disliked it, the answer was no — so saying I liked it was fair enough.