Chapter 217
"I'll take the call and be right back."
"Ugh... W-what should I send? It shows read, but if I don't reply right away, won't they think it's weird...?"
"Seol-ah, calm down first."
"But my heart's pounding so hard..."
Seeing Yoo Seol-ah practically losing her mind, Lee Seo-yeon cracked a small smile and grabbed her by the waist, shaking her back and forth like a centrifuge.
"W-wait, st-stop... Eek!"
A few seconds later, Yoo Seol-ah collapsed onto the sofa, utterly drained. Lee Seo-yeon's emergency treatment seemed to have helped a bit, but it didn't take long for the tension to flood back into her eyes.
Lee Seo-yeon, seeing this completely new side of her, let out an obvious awkward laugh.
"I've never seen her shaking like this before..."
"...No, I wasn't even this nervous for my school interview..."
Yoo Seol-ah had always been a bit scatterbrained, but when it came to things she loved, it got way worse. And with SPICA being so polite, it only made her shake more.
Her usual chat style was super light and cute, so she kept typing and deleting, agonizing over it.
It was honestly hilarious to watch, but if this kept up, she'd still be agonizing an hour later. I poked her side.
"Kyaa!?"
"Just send it like you normally would."
"......Yeah, okay."
Even if SPICA really was a returnee like us and reacted to Ruwen's illustration, there's no way they'd be lying about liking Yoo Seol-ah's art. You could tell just by looking at everyone in the club room—coming back from Astasia doesn't change who you are inside. Yuna unnie had dismissed any worries about danger, too.
More than anything, even from just the chat, it felt like SPICA genuinely wanted to meet her. They'd broken their own mystique to reach out, after all.
Yoo Seol-ah kept tweaking the message, then finally squeezed her eyes shut and hit send.
[Available right now if possible...]
[(Cat sprinting at full speed emoticon)]
...Definitely a Yoo Seol-ah reply. Lee Seo-yeon held back a laugh before speaking up.
"Isn't that a bit too forward?"
"I-is it? Should I delete it? They might feel burdened...?"
"...No, I was kidding, just let it go..."
Seeing Yoo Seol-ah at the point where even jokes didn't land, Lee Seo-yeon sighed softly and quickly backpedaled.
Still, after sending the first message, she seemed a little less tense.
"...Pfft."
"D-don't laugh!?"
This time, both Lee Seo-yeon and I burst out laughing, and even Yuna unnie couldn't hold it in once Lee Seo-yeon roughly translated. What was this, a blind date pickup line? It felt like she was flirting hard—it was impossible not to laugh. Yoo Seol-ah's face started turning redder by the second.
Assuming the other side was a fan, it might actually work well, but funny was funny.
Finally giving in, Yoo Seol-ah tried to delete it quickly, but the read receipt popped up even faster.
"Gasp."
As Yoo Seol-ah flailed again, we all watched her phone with bated breath. The reply didn't take long.
[Thank you. Could I know Yuki-nyang-nim's name as well?]
Even in a one-on-one chat instead of email, attaching periods everywhere showed SPICA's personality.
Yoo Seol-ah, still trembling, slowly started typing.
[(Cat hiding behind a wall emoticon)]
She'd been sending everything in Japanese so far, but typed her name in Korean, so SPICA would immediately know she wasn't Japanese.
The read receipt popped up right away, but no reply for a while. Yoo Seol-ah's hands started shaking again.
"...M-maybe they hate Korea, ow!"
She got smacked on the forehead by Lee Seo-yeon for her wild delusions again.
Soon after, SPICA's message arrived, explaining the delay.
[Seol-ah-ssi. Your Japanese is so perfect, I didn't realize you were Korean.]
[That explains the Yuki-nyang nickname.]
[Do you like cats by any chance?]
Similar polite tone as before, but one huge difference: the message was in Korean, not Japanese.
Yoo Seol-ah started typing absentmindedly, then dropped her phone in shock.
"...What? A translator?"
Lee Seo-yeon tilted her head in confusion too, and Yoo Seol-ah snapped out of her stun to hammer away at her phone.
[Just started raising one recently!]
Yoo Seol-ah was fluent enough that no translator was needed, leading to this scene of Japanese in Korean and Korean in Japanese.
...What even was this situation? The delay suggested it wasn't a translator—more like typing in Korean manually.
[I like them too, probably.]
"Huh?"
Something that threw Yoo Seol-ah off like that wouldn't come from a good translator. Sure enough, it got deleted and corrected quickly.
[I like them too.]
[Cats are cute, so yeah.]
[I'm learning Korean—if I mess up, sorry.]
No wonder each message took time; SPICA was typing manually. Impressive level for whenever she started.
Both illustrators and language study—what was the connection?
[I've been to Korea a few times for travel, and I loved it every time.]
Read receipt immediate, but reply took a while. I got it now. Someone with that Japanese skill never visiting Japan? Kinda absurd.
[But your Japanese is this good?]
[Amazing.]
[So, any plans to visit Japan?]
[If okay, I'd like to cover your travel costs.]
Such a bold offer that Yoo Seol-ah accidentally sent a shocked "Huh?" Even just a plane ticket would be huge; "travel costs" probably meant everything.
Considering they'd been total strangers until today, SPICA must really want to meet her.
"...What did I do?"
"You make illustrations they like."
"......"
The offer was so out-there that Yoo Seol-ah tensed up again. But she was clearly dying to meet SPICA too.
After agonizing, she slowly typed.
[Sure, I'd like that.]
We were all a bit surprised watching—she'd really mustered courage for that one.
"I-I'm gonna take the call real quick..."
Yoo Seol-ah stood up, trembling. She'd gathered her bravery, but... would she be okay?
``` The thrill of finally connecting with a famous person in your industry—especially one you've admired—is indescribable. Even more so if they're a master of mystique.
But you can't stay tense forever. I opened the app I use to call Kats Sand and Haru-jjang, entered the number from earlier, and took a deep breath.
"...Hello?"
I confirmed the connection and spoke in Japanese, mind controlled as best I could, but the voice from the phone replied in Korean.
"Korean's fine. I'm a bit more confident speaking."
The first thought hearing SPICA—Iroha-ssi's voice: ...She's got such a cute voice. The tone was adorable, but the cool vibe came through the phone crystal clear. Even her Korean sounded near-perfect—no newbie pronunciation issues.
Given her instant reaction to Yuna unnie's Ruwen illustration, I'd had my suspicions. But right now, all I wanted was to be friends with SPICA-ssi.
"...I actually subscribed to your fan page from the start."
"...Huh?"
I had no idea. Fan pages let you change names, after all. So she'd been seeing my art from way back.
As we chatted casually, it became clear SPICA-ssi was cool and chic all around. Cute face and voice, but cool personality. Her moe factor was off the charts...
"Did you know I'm a girl?"
"Yeah, kinda guessed from the fan page messages."
...Women do notice these things. As we kept talking, her cool demeanor shone through—polite, kind, the whole package.
The awkwardness faded bit by bit, so I asked something I'd been curious about.
"...I've been following Lupco Yanglip too..."
"Ah, yeah. Putting a lot into that lately."
"But... with that QL-ssi, are you..."
Lupco Yanglip is a light novel about a bishounen novelist and bishoujo illustrator. With the real author and manga artist being handsome and beautiful, rumors flew.
I'd thought they suited each other too. No response after a bit, so I wondered if the call glitched and called her name.
"Um..."
"H-he's just a co, coworker...!"
...Huh? After all that chat, hearing her stutter was a first. Even raising her voice was new. And the casual address suggested closeness...
...Were they really living a romcom in real life?
I couldn't pry more, but seeing a kuudere's composure crack was peak subculture cuteness—beyond textbook.
Definitely wanted to meet and befriend her. If she was a returnee like us, we could help each other out.