The Studio Next Door
I told him I'd finally gotten to do the work I'd always wanted. That leaving was a shame, but that things had worked out for the best.
I hadn't hesitated to say I was quitting. What I had felt, though, was a vague, formless dread over how the manager would take it. This wasn't the first place I'd ever worked — but it was the first place I'd ever been the one to walk away.
The manager really was a good person, right to the very end. Even when I brought up the handover, he just told me he'd handle it himself and all but shoved me out the door.
"Well, I can't say I did all that much for you while you were here. Still — let's at least say hello if we run into each other."
I hadn't known until now that leaving a job you'd held for so long could feel this bittersweet. I was quitting to do the work I'd always wanted, and yet I still felt this pang of loss. The manager had said he hadn't done much for me. The truth was, he'd always been good to me. That was why.
"Haa. Bittersweet. That's the word."
The street outside, after I'd finished talking with the manager who'd just come off his shift, was packed with people hurrying home.
"Ah — I should call Dayeon nuna."
She'd asked me to let her know how things went. I pulled out my phone to tell her I could start as soon as tomorrow.
"She's not streaming right now, is she?"
I checked the livestreaming platform first to make sure she wasn't on air, then placed the call. I'd considered just texting, but they always said a phone call was the more polite way to handle anything work-related.
"Yes, Dohyun?"
A gentle, warm voice saying my name poured into my ear.
God. I genuinely wanted to record this and listen to it every single day.
"Ah, nuna. I just finished talking with the manager, so I wanted to call."
"Ah~ So what did you two decide?"
"Well, I told him I'd stay to do a proper handover, but he said they'd already hired me and I couldn't keep you waiting too long. He was kind enough to say I could leave as soon as tomorrow."
The truth was, I'd pushed a little harder than that — I'd wanted to stay and hand things over properly. The manager had turned out to be a lot more stubborn than I'd expected. Something about not wanting to stand in a young person's way. It wasn't like that at all, though.
"Oh my. He sounds like a really good person. Still, if you quit that suddenly, it'll hit them pretty hard over there."
"I was worried about that too, so I brought it up. He wouldn't budge."
"Hehe. Sounds like you must have been a really good employee, Dohyun. For him to go that far for you."
Hah — getting that kind of recognition from Dayeon nuna...!
My heart just completely skipped a beat...!
I should have recorded that...!
"Dohyun. You're making that huge swooning face again right now, aren't you?"
"Hah..! Are you nearby? Or is this telepathy?!"
"Heheh.. I just had a feeling you'd be like that. Anyway — take this week off, and start next week. Come by the studio this weekend and have a look around, too."
My bank balance wasn't going to implode over a week off, anyway. And once I started working with nuna, I was going to be making more than I ever had at the convenience store, no matter how you sliced it.
"Yes. I'll come by this weekend, then. Could you send me the address?"
"Yep, yep. I'll send it over chat. Ah — and when I mentioned you were coming this weekend, our thumbnailer said she was curious and wanted to come too. Is that alright?"
A thumbnailer!
So besides the editor with the supposedly terrible personality, it seemed she did have other people she worked with. I wasn't used to working alongside anyone, but if I could get along with a colleague, that couldn't be a bad thing.
"Of course. That's fine."
"I like how straightforward you are! Great. Then I'll see you this weekend!"
"Yes. Take care!"
"Heheheh... You're not bowing at a ninety-degree angle like yesterday, are you?"
"I'm not that much of an idiot, you know."
"Sorry. Your reactions are too good — I couldn't help teasing you. I'll let you go. See you later!"
The call disconnected, and I was left with the loud, pounding racket of my own heartbeat.
Wow. I really... I really had made it.
Just a couple of days ago, the idea of being on the phone with Dayeon nuna — of becoming Dayeon nuna's editor — had been something I couldn't even imagine.
Every last bit of that bittersweet feeling from leaving the convenience store vanished in an instant, leaving nothing behind but how happy I was. How glad.
Ah. Now I felt even worse about the manager.
Heh... but how am I supposed to not be happy about this!
Still, disappearing on such short notice felt like it would be too hard on the manager, so I treated the week Dayeon nuna had told me to take off as a wrap-up period and kept working. Judging by how pleased the manager looked, I did wonder if I should have waited for a replacement and done a proper handover after all...
"You've worked hard! This isn't much. I'm going to be busy for a while, so I don't think I can throw you a goodbye dinner. Consider this a bonus instead."
He even sent me off with a bonus and congratulated me on my last shift. I was never going to meet someone who looked after a convenience store part-timer like this again. Not that I had any plans of going back to being one.
And today was the long-awaited day I'd get to see the streaming studio.
The address nuna had sent over chat was so close to my place that I actually did a double take. To think she'd been streaming this nearby the entire time...
Ding-dong.
"Yes~ Who is it?"
When I pressed the doorbell, an unfamiliar woman's voice called out from inside. Was this the thumbnailer?
"Ah, hello! I'm Choi Dohyun — I was supposed to come by and look around today!"
"Ah! The new editor! One second!"
There was a brief clattering from inside, and then the door opened. The first person to greet me was —
"Welcome! I'm Jung Eunchae, Dayeon unnie's thumbnailer!"
She had short hair in a deep black that looked dyed, a pair of extremely thick horn-rimmed glasses, a petite frame, and a remarkably cute face. My new colleague.
"Hello. I'm Choi Dohyun. I'll be coming on as the new editor."
I introduced myself again now that we were face to face, and she flashed a wide grin and waved me in.
"Unnie! Dayeon unnie! Dohyun's here!"
The way she jumped straight to calling me Dohyun made it seem like everyone at work used the same honorific across the board.
Bang bang bang!
"Unnieee-!"
Eunchae hammered on the door like she and Dayeon nuna were very close. I just stood there in the entryway, waiting for nuna to come out.
"Why are you standing there all awkward! Come inside~"
There was still no sign of nuna, so Eunchae gave my arm a light tug and pulled me in.
Oh... a girl just grabbed my arm and pulled me...!
"Have a seat. I'll go get unnie."
She towed me by the arm, parked me on a small one-seater sofa off to one side of the living room, and headed back toward the room to fetch nuna.
So that's Dayeon nuna's studio in there.
If we work together long enough, maybe I'll get to go in someday too...
"Un! Nie! Get out here already~!"
"Aigoo, you little brat. I heard you. Keep it down."
Clack.
Under the assault of Eunchae's pounding, Dayeon nuna finally walked out with a look that said this was far too much noise.
"What were you even doing that you came out this slow. You weren't streaming."
"I was in the bathroom, what of it~"
"Hah, again...? Mmphp..!"
"Hey. We're not the only ones here, you wanna do this?"
They were clearly close enough to talk without any filter at all. I just sat there wearing the most awkward expression I could manage.
So girls talk about that kind of thing with each other too, huh...
"Dohyun, welcome. Thanks for coming all this way."
"Not at all. It's five minutes from my place."
"It really is close, isn't it? Commuting won't be hard at all."
She was right. Not knowing until now that nuna's studio was this close was a tragedy of the highest order — but as a commute, you genuinely could not ask for better.
"Oh! You live nearby, Dohyun?"
"Ah, yes. I live in an apartment about five minutes away."
"Ooh~ I guess I'll have to come over to your place next time!"
"And why would you be going there."
"What do you mean why! I'm dropping by like it's a housewarming for my new friend, that's why!"
Friend, huh.
Calling me a friend instead of a coworker right from the jump. She already had that popular-girl energy in a big way.
"Friends, my ass. You two are coworkers, remember?"
"When coworkers click, they become friends. That's how it works. Right, Dohyun? I'm a Dayeon unnie fan myself, I'll have you know."
"Hah?! Really?!"
W-wait. How does she know I'm a Dayeon nuna fan?
"I've watched all the fan videos you've uploaded, you know. Unnie and I watch them together a lot."
"Ack, you saw those...?! That's embarrassing..."
"They were definitely that kind of quali— ghk..!"
"Hey. Don't be rude?!"
Nuna drove her elbow into Eunchae's side hard enough to wring a startled yelp out of her. Not that it particularly stung — I knew better than anyone what kind of quality those videos were.
"She's not usually like that. She just gets a little worked up when she finds someone who shares a hobby with her, or... well. She doesn't mean anything by it."
"Ah, it's fine. Honestly, those fan videos I posted were pretty embarrassing quality. That's true."
"What matters is that you do well from here on! Anyway, welcome. Let me show you your workspace first. Come this way."