Five Million Won Up Front
I'd ended up taking on another job, almost by accident, but I couldn't bring myself to complain. If anything, I was happy about it — I'd even gotten a quest out of the deal. A reward of ten points was genuinely, mouthwateringly sweet. Of course, I could only collect those points if I actually pulled ten thousand views.
"Ten thousand, huh..."
Looking at Dayeon's videos alone, ten thousand views honestly looked easy. But the only reason it seemed that way was because she had a gift of gab, she was good at games, and a dozen other things all stacked together to make it look effortless. The average view count on the videos Jiyoon uploaded topped out at a few hundred on a good day. The bad ones died somewhere in the double digits.
The biggest problem, as I'd already told Jiyoon, was the content itself. Pivoting entirely toward lecture-style videos wouldn't be a terrible idea, but given how infrequently she uploaded, there was a real risk the algorithm would give her a brief flash of attention and then immediately crush her. I could prop things up to some degree with my Algorithm Correction skill... but banking the whole thing on that still worried me. My skill level was still pretty low.
"Hmm."
This was my first time doing the planning myself, so I really wanted to come up with content that suited Jiyoon.
"Ten just isn't going to cut it."
The fact that I couldn't think of anything beyond what I'd already discussed with the girls led me to an obvious conclusion: I needed to raise my stats.
"...Should I just drain my savings...?"
It wasn't like I had no way to raise my stats right now. I'd said I didn't have money, but I did have an emergency savings account set aside for a real crisis. It wasn't a fortune, but there was about ten million won in it.
"..."
I just wasn't sure if spending it right now was the right call. I'd built up that savings because I was terrified of what would happen if something went wrong and I had nowhere to turn — I had no one to lean on. Of course, I probably wouldn't be short on money going forward. If I kept working this hard, I could save up ten million won again in no time. Even so, it wasn't a decision I could make lightly.
"Forget it. I'll sleep on it and think again tomorrow."
Making a snap decision and acting on it now would probably do more harm than good. I was tired, and my head was a mess. I decided to get a proper night's sleep, shake off the fatigue, and revisit the problem afterward. Then I closed my eyes.
When I woke up in the morning, I already had a message from Jiyoon saying she'd sent over a draft contract.
"Did she work on this until dawn?"
Judging by the timestamp on the email, she'd stayed up late working and only gone to bed afterward. She had to be exhausted from her actual job already. The woman was genuinely passionate.
The reply came instantly. She must have been staring at her phone the whole time.
Dayeon and I were only about two years apart, so that was part of it... but I had a feeling saying that out loud would only make her more upset.
Well, talking casually wasn't that hard. I wasn't the one dropping the formalities — she was telling me to. Might as well be a good little junior and do as I was told.
I decided to look over the contract once I got to work and focused on getting ready first. I ate breakfast, got myself together, and headed to the studio.
Ding-a-ling—
"Oh, Dohyun, Dohyun~ Come on in~"
The voice that greeted me as I stepped inside belonged to Eunchae — she seemed to be the only one here today.
"Is Dayeon coming in late?"
"Probably, right? The last few days were the weird ones, honestly."
She had a point. Eunchae was only coming in to stream, and streams were always in the afternoon. There was no real reason for her to show up early.
"Which means it's just the two of us today, so how about we get a little steamy in the office..."
"Do your work, young lady."
"Tch."
That girl really couldn't look at my face without thinking something filthy.
"I've got more work now, so I need to focus even harder."
"Huh? More work? Oh, you mean covering Park Woojin's share too?"
Eunchae hadn't been there when I met Jiyoon yesterday, so she wouldn't know. I hadn't mentioned it separately either.
"No. I agreed to edit and plan videos for Jiyoon — the one I met yesterday."
"Jiyoon? Who's that?"
Eunchae narrowed her eyes and asked who I was talking about, so I gave her a quick rundown of what had happened yesterday.
"Oh, for real? So you're on friendly terms with the lawyer unnie now?"
"Yeah, it just kind of happened."
"Oho~ So another one's about to join the roster soon?"
"Another what?"
What was she talking about?
"What else? Dohyun's girls."
"...Hey. Not everyone in the world is like you, you know."
"That's what I thought, and then Dayeon unnie became one of Dohyun's girls too."
...Dohyun's girls.
I really couldn't not find that uncomfortable.
"...Anyway, get out. I have work to do."
"Park Woojin's gone now, so let's just work together in the living room~"
"Yeah, no. If I work with you, I definitely won't be able to concentrate."
Now that I was taking on extra work, I needed to show I was handling this side of things even more reliably. Not that covering Park Woojin's work on top of mine would even take a full week...
"Eugh, you're so mean!"
"Mean? Think about the stuff you pull before you say that."
"Urgh... I want to say that's not true...!"
She had enough of a conscience not to actually deny it. I nodded. That's right. Even you should have at least that much shame.
"Tch. Fine, then at least have one cup of coffee with me before we start."
"Ah, sorry. I need to wrap things up quickly today — I've got a lot on my plate."
It wasn't that I didn't have time for a single cup of coffee. But coffee with Eunchae usually meant an hour or two of chatting, so I turned her down with an apology.
"Cold. Today's Dohyun is ice-cold."
Even as she said it, she told me to work hard and closed the door behind her. I'd been a little worried she'd throw a bigger tantrum. Thankfully it didn't go that far, which was a relief. She was cute, but even so, you had to keep business and pleasure separate.
"First things first — the contract."
I opened the draft she'd emailed over and went through the clauses one by one, carefully. At its core, it was the same contract Dayeon had sent me, so most of the terms were the ones we'd used when I signed with her.
"...What's this, though."
Signing Bonus: 5,000,000 won — paid in advance
A signing bonus? Since when was there a signing bonus...?
I wonder if he got the contract okay.
Jiyoon had been in such a good mood since morning that she'd been humming to herself.
"Attorney Kim, you've had this glow about you since yesterday."
"Mm. Something interesting came up."
The one who'd been putting her in such a good mood, of course, was Dohyun.
He looked even more handsome than before.
She'd only gotten a rough impression, but Dayeon, who'd come with him, had been incredibly charming and beautiful too.
He's the kind of guy who can land a girl like that. Not bad. Then again, it was my first time meeting him properly, and he really was a good person — genuinely appealing.
She'd felt that way after seeing him just once. If you'd spent more than two weeks together, of course you'd end up catching feelings.
...Hmm. The guy hasn't even offered, and here I am already setting the table. Am I getting way too ahead of myself?
She'd insisted at first that she didn't feel anything special. But after meeting him in person, she couldn't deny the feeling anymore.
Are he and Dayeon dating? The things that bother me are his relationship with Dayeon... and the age gap.
His relationship with Dayeon was something she could just ask about. The age gap, though, was something she couldn't do anything about — and that was what really stuck with her.
"Haa..."
"You were humming a second ago, and now you're sighing? Something really is going on, isn't it, Attorney Kim?"
Her senior narrowed her eyes and asked as if demanding she come clean right that second.
In response to her senior's question, Jiyoon asked outright for a strategy guide on younger men.
"Uh, uh...? What? Younger, what?"
"A younger guy. I don't know how to go after him."
Just yesterday Jiyoon had been drawing a hard line, insisting it wasn't like that. Now she was suddenly asking how to seduce a younger man. As her senior, it was impossible not to be completely thrown.
"Uh, well, a younger guy... how big is the age gap?"
"...About ten years?"
"...Isn't that a little too young...?"
Technically it was eight years, not ten, but Jiyoon figured it was close enough that she didn't bother correcting herself.
"He's still an adult, though. It's not like there's zero chance."
"...Well, I mean, it's not completely impossible, but wouldn't it be pretty hard? At that age, guys usually just want to hang out with people their own age."
She wasn't wrong. At Dohyun's age, most people were still in college. Which meant if he wanted to date girls his own age, he could do so easily enough.
...Dayeon was around his age too.
Dayeon was twenty-five. There was an age gap, sure, but nowhere near as wide as Jiyoon's.
"...Haa."
"Still, well, you've got a lot going for you, Attorney Kim. Why not just lean into that? A rich, successful older noona! That's appealing, right?"
Jiyoon mulled over her senior's words for a moment, then suddenly thought of the contract.
...I should've put ten million instead of five. For the signing bonus.