Why Are You Coming Out of There?! - 2
Friday evening.
After finishing her broadcast at Studio Romance, Eun-hwa got ready to head home. She set down her headphones and packed up her personal laptop and smartphone.
And once she put on her glasses at the end...
“....”
...she was ready to go home.
Yuna said she and Joo-yeon went to the recording booth, and I guess Se-yeon is still broadcasting in the next room?
Eun-hwa glanced around the studio.
It was a familiar space, carefully treated with soundproofing materials. They used it whenever broadcasting from home was inconvenient, or when they had a special program to put together.
There was one difference, though, from the days when Arc Network still owned everything. The broadcast equipment, microphones included, had all been upgraded, one step at a time.
Equipment worth several million won each.
In bad cases, gear worth tens of millions.
Things the manager in charge of the equipment room had begged to replace more than once in the past. But back when the major corporation was still in charge, Arc Network's wallet had never opened easily. After a strict review, requests were routinely rejected.
The equipment she had once treated like a painted rice cake in a picture was now standing here in real life, shining and asserting its presence.
There was no need to say more.
It had all been bought with money from the new investor, Big Plan D.
“....”
What a kind investor.
Having worked briefly as an announcer out in the provinces, Eun-hwa understood it even more keenly. She knew very well how filthy the demands of investors who controlled entertainment agencies and broadcasters could get.
She had heard the rumors right next to her own ears.
That was one of the reasons I hated it so much that I quit being an announcer and came over to internet broadcasting.
So she felt the unusual nature of Big Plan most strongly.
Big Plan D.
This company was the new owner that had acquired the aimless MCN Studio Romance after Team Leader Jeong Yu-ri, its actual manager, had been mysteriously demoted - at least, that was how it looked from Eun-hwa's experience in the working world.
She still remembered that day vividly.
It had been about a month ago.
The day the expressionless man had walked into the company with deliberate steps.
After they were informed of the acquisition.
The Romantic Drive representative, Eun-hwa, and the studio staff had been shaking in their shoes while they waited for the new owner. Depending on what kind of person he was, the rest of their company life would be decided.
Eun-hwa had asked Jo Tae-sik, who was trembling just as badly,
-It, it got sold?! Boss, what is this...?!
-I-It'll be okay. The people taking over said they wouldn't touch management rights or the direction of the broadcast. We just have to greet them normally and keep going.
-But...
And then the man who came in was,
far younger than anyone had imagined.
-Good evening. I'm the investment director from Big Plan Holdings, who received the studio transfer from Team Leader Jeong Yu-ri.
-B-Big Plan Holdings...?
-All of you can simply continue the broadcast activities you've always been doing. From now on, you don't need to worry about money. All capital will come from Big Plan.
He shook hands with everyone gathered there. Then he extended a hand to Eun-hwa. It was a large, warm hand, absurdly harmless.
In a world that was cold,
dirty,
and thick with rot,
it might have been the only hand of its kind.
-I look forward to working with you. I'm Investment Director Seonwoo Taek.
-Pleased... to work with you.
Eun-hwa took his hand.
From that day on,
her life changed.
“Hoo...”
Eun-hwa held her head. Without realizing it, she'd gotten too emotionally absorbed and started describing the situation like that. She wiped her glasses and composed herself.
“....”
You've barely even seen him, and you're already getting blinded by first impressions. What is this, some fanfiction about dating an idol? This is way too much emotional overstatement.
Was it because she'd fallen too deeply for the literary girl, Danhwi?
Or...
was it because she'd fallen too deeply for him?
“....”
After a moment of silence, Eun-hwa scratched at her head with both hands this time. It reminded her of the self-indulgent little original novel she had written back in middle school, stuffed full of Mary Sues.
[The self-insert author's Lady Silverflower whispered to the cold northern grand duke, “Perhaps I have been consumed by your indifference.” He still wore that blunt, unreadable face as he simply took her hand....]
Scritchscritchscritchscritch...!
“Ghhrrr...”
Just as Eun-hwa shuddered.
A knock sounded at the studio door.
Knock, knock.
-Utyatya, Euna-nang! Haerin's here.
“!”
It was Se-yeon's voice.
Looks like her broadcast had ended.
The country's most-subscribed VTuber and she's this soft and floppy...? Everyone already knows the face behind the avatar, but no way they'd guess it was this bad.
Eun-hwa opened the door.
There stood Se-yeon, dressed in comfortable clothes. She always wore a loose T-shirt and baggy pants.
As always, Se-yeon spoke with a blissfully slack face, like someone with not a single worry in the world.
“Euna. Let's go home together.”
“Y-Yeah. Sure.”
“Do you have time today?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Want to eat dinner together?”
“Hmm, where? It'd be a problem if it's somewhere crowded.”
“I know a quiet place. I brought a change of clothes, too.”
Se-yeon held out the bag she had in one hand.
Eun-hwa nodded, impressed by how thoroughly prepared she was.
“Really? Then sure.”
“Great! Let's do that!”
“....”
Same age, twenty-eight.
And she was smiling like she was back in high school.
This must be why she has the most subscribers.
The two of them took the elevator down from the floor where the broadcast rooms were located, then entered the office where the studio staff were getting ready to leave for the day.
-So this is what it looks like when you've got real capital.
-Wow... it's more extravagant than some anniversary event.
-I thought it was too early for a summer event at the start of June, but they're just going ahead without worrying about the optics. I guess you really do need freedom of approach.
They had a large screen playing a special ABCD broadcast while the staff chatted among themselves. On the screen, a flashy water festival was in full swing.
Jang Se-yeon called out loudly,
“We're heading out now!”
“!”
The staff answered with wry smiles.
“Take care.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you for your hard work. We're going first.”
“No, it's fine. We'll be clocking out soon too, so don't worry about it.”
Eun-hwa glanced between the staff's relaxed expressions and the ABCD water-festival broadcast, then turned away. The strange tension that had hung in the air until recently had long since disappeared.
“....”
Is this another change brought about by Big Plan?
Money.
What was money, really?
What was it that made life feel this easy....
As she thought that, Eun-hwa left the building with Se-yeon. Outside, she could see people in neckties and business suits streaming out in droves after work.
Se-yeon let out a low hum.
“Wow, that's a lot of people.”
“Yeah. It's rush hour, so it'll be hard to even get on the subway.”
“Should we grab a taxi?”
“A taxi... taxis might be jammed up too.”
“Hmm...”
Se-yeon thought for a moment with her chin in her hand, then suddenly went, “Ah!” and rummaged through the bag she was carrying. Then she handed something to Eun-hwa.
Eun-hwa tilted her head and took it. It was, no matter how you looked at it, a folded cycling outfit. A skintight set for riding a bicycle.
“....”
Don't tell me the place she wanted to go together was...
On a... bicycle?
I knew she liked riding around on a bike, but I never thought she'd actually suggest it now.
She felt her glasses slipping down her nose as she asked back in a hollow voice, more in denial than in confirmation.
“What is this?”
“A change of clothes! Put this on and come with me!”
“Uh...”
Mm.
Sigh.
...I've got nothing else to do, anyway.
Fine. Might as well.
*
And now.
After riding bicycles through the night with Se-yeon and arriving in front of the convenience store that had supposedly been “quiet and nice” - unfortunately closed - Eun-hwa had just put a chocolate bar in her mouth when Investment Director Seonwoo Taek appeared as if from nowhere.
Eun-hwa's eyes went wide.
“?!”
Huh? What? Why is the director here?! And who's the guy next to him, Do-dam from ABCD? I thought he was supposed to be resting, so why are the two of them together...?
Her thoughts wouldn't sort themselves out, so with the chocolate bar still between her teeth, Eun-hwa blurted, half-muffled,
“Di-Director...? Do-dam, too...?”
“Utyatya? Director? Do-dam?”
Se-yeon opened her eyes wide.
She chewed on the chocolate bar and looked back and forth between Eun-hwa and Seonwoo Taek. Then she looked at the convenience store, and at Do-dam, who had already folded her arms and was glaring from beside Seonwoo Taek.
-Eeeh...?!
“....”
After chewing and swallowing the chocolate bar, Se-yeon nodded and said,
“Ahh, so the director was originally the boss, knew ABCD, then the boss changed jobs and became the director, while keeping the convenience store the same. Helping ABCD too was something the director had already been thinking about back when he was the boss, right? The convenience store is a place you've had since you were the director and boss. And the girlfriend is actually not a girlfriend, but an ABCD colleague, just as she says. ‘Do-da’ must come from Do-dam's name. What a coincidence, though a strange one.”
“....”
At Se-yeon's nonstop babbling, Eun-hwa whipped around and shouted while gripping Se-yeon's shoulders with both hands.
“W-What are you talking about, Se-yeon?”
“Mm, I see! I understand!”
“Don't be the only one who understands, tell me too!”
“Utyatya.”
Then Seonwoo Taek came over. Still hiding Do-dam behind his back, he approached Se-yeon and spoke to her.
“What Se-yeon said is correct.”
“Utyatya. Me baby Haerin. Utyatya.”
“I thought that sounded familiar. So you're Haerin.”
“Utya? Utyatya? You didn't know?”
“Yes, that's right. I thought you were just saying something for fun. I didn't expect you to say your catchphrase so openly outside.”
“Utya, utyatya. Don't worry about it, pwaaang.”
“I see. Well, there are people like me who can hear it and still not recognize it, so maybe you're safer than I thought. In any case, what brings you here?”
“....”
Se-yeon suddenly turned serious and said with complete earnestness,
“You don't need to worry. We just came out on our bikes to eat and have some fun. I liked this place because it was quiet. But since it was closed, we were eating snacks.”
“I see. I'll open the convenience store right away.”
“Utya, utyatya.”
As they listened to that conversation,
the Eun-hwa holding Se-yeon's shoulders and the Do-dam clinging to Seonwoo Taek's arm looked at each other. They didn't know why the other person was here, but the feeling they shared was exactly the same.
“....”
“....”
-Do-dam, can you understand what she's saying?
-Aren't you the colleague? Shouldn't you be the one who knows?
-That's true, but still.
Even as they shared that mutual understanding, Eun-hwa suddenly remembered Se-yeon's hidden(?) specs.
“....”
Even if she looks like an idiot most of the time, she can speak Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, French, and German fluently...
All at once,
she remembered something chilling.
Could it be.
Se-yeon was...
smarter than me?
*
The next morning, Saturday.
Do-dam, who had woken up at the arcade, ran to the convenience store just in case. She was bothered by the two people who had talked together and disappeared last night.
Especially the bespectacled woman's eyes had not seemed normal.
“....”
She keeps trying to sit next to the chief, and the way she keeps sneaking glances at him...
No matter how she looked at it.
It was that.
That thing.
Just thinking of “that thing” made a hot flush rise in Do-dam's chest.
“....”
Her head twisted crookedly, and a chilling sound slipped out of her mouth.
“Eeeek...”
And then she made up her mind.
She'd postpone adjusting her distance from Seonwoo Taek a little longer. Right now, there was something she needed to do for her friend, who was away until Monday.
While Aki's away, I guess I have to protect the chief completely.
Do-dam hurried her steps.
Tap-tap-tap!
As expected, in front of the convenience store where she arrived, the bespectacled woman was sitting at an outdoor table. She was wearing an elegant, neat outfit, as if trying to make up for the skintight cycling clothes from the day before.
She was staring blankly at Seonwoo Taek, who was bouncing on a sky kongkong. With an expressionless face, he bobbed up and down, inching a little farther out from the convenience store.
Bboing.
Bboing.
Bboing.
“!”
Chief! I'll save you!
Do-dam ran toward them. Then she pointed at Seo Eun-hwa and said,
“W-Why do you keep coming here?!”
“I-I can come if I want to.”
“How is that even a thing?!”
“I-I even got permission...”
“From who?!”
“....”
Eun-hwa whispered softly enough for only Do-dam to hear.
“From A-yeong... and the director too.”
“....”
Aki.
Ah...
Why would you say something that naive...
Do-dam's head began to turn little by little.