The Pineapple Pizza Surprise

The surprising fact that the pizza was completely free! Seung-yeon, who had been secretly hoping for a snowflake shaved ice topped with pineapple for dessert, was instead greeted by a delivery of warm pineapple slices generously scattered across a pineapple pizza.

“How is it? Looks delicious, right?”

The yellow fruit sitting atop the cheese seemed especially glaring today. ‘Aaaaaaaa…….’

Seung-yeon liked pineapple. Fresh pineapple was great. Having it as a dessert was great. As long as it was sweet and refreshing, she was fine with pretty much anything. There was just one exception. Warm pineapple—especially the kind cooked on pizza—was, to Seung-yeon, the greatest sin among sins.

How could anyone eat pineapple hot? People claimed it became sweeter and lost its sour and bitter notes, but that was no excuse. She could understand if it were grilled and served as a meat side dish. To her, pineapple on pizza was like deliberately slapping construction-site yellow onto a perfectly harmonious painting and asking, “It has a certain vibe, doesn’t it?”

‘If I reincarnate, please send me back to the era before pineapple pizza was invented… So I can smack the inventor on the back of the head…!’

True to her fan-girl nature, Seung-yeon squeezed her eyes shut, indulged in a brief metaverse-style fantasy, then pulled herself together and tried to answer Mazia’s question.

“Ma… Ma… Ma……”

But the words refused to come out. No matter that this was her senior, someone she personally admired, or that she needed to make up for her earlier mistake. Did she truly have to say that pineapple pizza was “delicious”? For anyone else it might have been possible, but as a true pineapple lover, Seung-yeon could not bring herself to utter such blasphemy. It would have been an insult to every wonderful dish that could be made with pineapple.

Still, what choice did she have? Her senior was watching her with such a pleased, expectant expression.

“Ma… Ma… Manager Mazia, I’ll enjoy it!!”

Only then did Mazia pick up a slice and begin munching from the crust. It should have been an appetizing sight—like a cute hamster nibbling on a giant piece of cheese. Instead, the mental image of soft bread, tangy tomato paste, savory cheese, and sweet pineapple kept flashing through Seung-yeon’s mind, making it impossible to take a bite.

But this had to be a loyalty test. Her university seniors had pulled similar pranks. It was a subtle way of asking, “I like pineapple pizza and we might end up eating it together often—will you still follow me?”

‘Just close your eyes and eat it.’

Seung-yeon knew better than anyone that Mazia was a kind person. Finding someone who would take care of a candidate who showed up for an interview at two in the morning wasn’t easy. So she could even understand if Mazia loved heavily spiced rice noodles or mint chocolate. Simply being able to work in the same office as her already made Seung-yeon’s life feel like smooth sailing.

Above all, she had been the one to throw the fish-shaped bread onto the cold floor and attack first. She had to accept her karma.

Just as Seung-yeon opened her mouth wide to bite the pointed tip of the pizza, a small hand suddenly darted in, snatched the slice away, and placed it back on the oily paper lining the bottom of the box.

“If there’s food you don’t like, you should say so. Don’t eat everything just because your senior tells you to.”

“Ah, no? It’s not like that! I never said I disliked it!”

“Your expression and actions are so honest they’re basically telling me everything.”

Seung-yeon tried to avert her eyes, but she couldn’t escape Mazia’s sharp gaze.

“I’m sorry. I assumed that since you like pineapple, you’d like pineapple pizza too. Don’t force yourself to eat something you hate. Let’s order something new—anything you want.”

“Uh, um. But… you bought this for me, Manager…”

“Hurry.”

Mazia’s tone was more serious than Seung-yeon had ever heard, and her expression was one she had never seen before. She was genuinely angry.

“Yes ma’am!”

Seung-yeon hurriedly took the phone Mazia handed her and began searching for something to eat, but her heart wasn’t completely at ease. She should have just eaten it without hesitation. It felt like her relationship with her senior kept veering off course….

‘She’s the type who can’t say she dislikes something even when she does.’

Or was it simply because she was a new graduate? Come to think of it, when I first joined the company I never turned down requests for help either. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The boss had clearly drawn the line—“This is your job,” “Only when you have no tasks”—so I rarely stepped outside my designated area. Whenever I did leave the partition, I usually came back carrying more work. Of course, my first assignment after joining hadn’t been all that different from what I did as a manager taking care of the boss.

Seung-yeon, on the other hand, was brand new. She was doing things she had never experienced in an environment she had never encountered. In that case, it was my responsibility to set clear boundaries. She needed to be able to say “I don’t like it” or “I don’t have time right now” without hesitation.

A short while later, Seung-yeon returned with the hamburger set she had ordered. Before sitting down, she bowed deeply.

“I’m sorry for causing you extra trouble…”

“Just eat. You need food if you’re going to work hard.”

“Yes, understood.”

The Halloween commemorative first-generation group broadcast was still in the casual chatting phase with all four members, so there was plenty of time during the meal break. When doing a single joint broadcast, matching the sync meant there was almost no need to monitor four screens simultaneously. Workload had been cut to a quarter of normal while personnel had doubled, bringing the burden down to roughly one-eighth. If we didn’t take advantage of easy moments like this to eat and talk, when would we?

Seung-yeon took a big bite of her hamburger. Her expression was far brighter than when she had been staring down the pineapple pizza.

“Your face looks completely different from earlier.”

“Gulp.”

“From now on, if there’s something you dislike, don’t hesitate—just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tell me. We’ll be working together for a long time, so we should at least know each other’s preferences to avoid awkward situations.”

Seung-yeon gulped down some cola, let out a big breath, and said, “Understood… You’re right.”

“You’re also speaking far too formally. Relax a little. We’re only a year apart in age.”

“What? How could I?! You’re the team leader…!”

“Oh, so you want to keep your distance from me? I understand. That’s possible.”

“No no no no no! That’s not it at all!”

Worried that her voice had been too loud, Gong Seung-yeon glanced around before blurting out her true feelings.

“I’m a Parallel fan too, you know. Of course it’s good to work with Staff D. Right now half the fans are desperate to see you. But I get to see you every single day now… So, um. Fan? Maybe calling myself a fan is weird. Anyway, I was cheering for you. Your recent broadcasts have been so much fun. I really wanted to meet you. Uwa.”

Even though I had never explicitly said “I am Staff D,” everyone seemed to figure it out. It looked like my voice came with fingerprints attached. However, unlike the other candidates who immediately bragged in their interview reviews about seeing “Staff D,” Seung-yeon hadn’t mentioned my appearance or the boss’s at all. She had already taken the VTuber industry’s unwritten rule about protecting real identities to heart and put the company before personal matters.

She was the closest thing to the ideal junior I had been looking for, while also being someone completely devoted to Parallel. That was why I wanted to take good care of her. Finding another junior like this wouldn’t be easy.

“If that’s how you feel, Seung-yeon, we should be more comfortable with each other than we are now. I may be higher in rank, but we’ll essentially be doing the same work. If I’m busy, you can take some of my tasks. If you’re busy, I’ll do the same for you.”

“Ah… I see.”

“Above all, we’re both Worldies, aren’t we?”

“Worldie,” taken from Parallel World, referred to the entire Parallel fandom. In other words, whether it was you or me, we were all hardcore fans who loved the whole group. It was an invitation to get along like friends while enjoying the fandom together.

She had been slightly frowning with discomfort from being overly formal with me. Now Seung-yeon’s face completely relaxed.

“Worldie… that’s right.”

“After the broadcast, call me team leader or whatever you want. At least while we’re watching the broadcast together, think of me as a friend. You know how it is—when you were watching the first-gen collab on Talk Code with your friend, you must have chatted like ‘This member is hilarious, they’re crazy’ while relaying the stream. Just do that in real life. Simple, right?”

Seung-yeon grinned. It was the first smile I had seen since she threw the fish bread onto the cold floor.

“Yes, understood!”

I turned up the volume on the headset around my neck and leaned back in my chair. Seung-yeon also relaxed her stiff posture and cautiously leaned back while watching me. The first-generation collab was just finishing its casual chat segment and preparing to move on to the main content.

Today’s group broadcast content was none other than Trick or Treat. It was the kind of guest-receiving segment commonly done for birthdays—known in industry jargon as “dotsumachi.” The streamer would keep a voice channel open while waiting for guests (usually VTubers from the same company) to arrive. The guests would leave congratulatory messages or various gifts, and the streamer would offer simple thanks in return. In a way, it was also an opportunity for the first-generation members to show off the connections they had built through their streams.

The guests would bring candy drawings, photos, or simple presents they had prepared themselves. Since everyone brought something different, the highlight was being able to enjoy a wide variety of banter in a short time.

“Who do you think will visit first?” I asked Seung-yeon, who was busily tearing into her hamburger as if I were talking to a friend watching the stream with me.

She swallowed what was in her mouth and replied, “In my opinion… MoovGun?”

“We’re thinking the same thing.”

“He’s been deeply into Parallel lately. He even suddenly inserted Maru’s duck song into his own play montage. And it’s exactly his dinner time right now…”

“Right. He’ll probably drop by to say hello before heading to his own stream.”

Almost as soon as we finished speaking, the Talk Code entry notification sounded. Just as the big data(?) predicted, MoovGun had arrived.

The girls were busy thanking him one after another. Thank you for the World Cup. Thank you for letting us promote during the civil war, and so on. After exchanging brief updates, what MoovGun left behind was—

It was a mouthpiece designed to prevent teeth grinding during sleep. Komari’s dumbfounded voice was priceless.

The “Candy List” in the upper right of the broadcast screen updated. After MoovGun left, people who had collabed with them before began dropping by one by one. The members’ mamas and papas also started appearing. Once around twenty guests had come through, creating an actual queue, the broadcast naturally entered a brief lull. It was eight in the evening, after all—about time for everyone to start their own streams.

It would have been nice if the boss jumped in to fill the gap right now, but she was tied up in planning and promotion meetings for the first anniversary event and couldn’t participate. When I glanced at the meeting room, everyone was standing up, frantically writing and erasing things on the whiteboard. The first-generation members were doing their best to fill the audio, but the longer the silence stretched, the more the anticipation for the content naturally dropped. It was the perfect time to throw in some fresh firewood.

I immediately swapped my monitoring headset for earbuds and connected to Talk Code on my phone.

“I’m going to help the kids with their broadcast for a bit, so keep watching.”

“Ah, yes.”

The moment my nickname appeared in the broadcast waiting room, I was pulled straight into the channel. Dora must have been watching and immediately dragged me up. The members greeted me noisily.

“Hello. Happy Halloween. It got quiet for a moment, so I thought it’d be nice to drop in and say hello before leaving.”

Usually when a guest arrived, the person with the closest connection to them would take the lead in the conversation. In my case, that seemed to be Dora. It felt a bit like special treatment for being her mama (illustrator). Sure enough, the moment the conversation started, Dora tried to keep me on the broadcast.

“Staff D, you can just stay here. Let’s receive candy together, hehe.”

But that wasn’t going to happen. We hadn’t planned anything in advance, and I was busy with work handover.

“I came to give out candy, so just sit quietly and accept it.”

“Really? What are you giving us?”

I had actually been planning to treat everyone to something to celebrate my promotion.

“Pizza gift codes.”

While the members were exclaiming in admiration, Komari—who had caught on to my intention first—shouted.

“Noona, you don’t mean—?”

Rain still hadn’t caught on, while Dora and Maru reacted a beat later.

“It’s not the pizza I’m thinking of, right?”

“No way, Staff D.”

Without answering, I sent a bundle of gift codes to the gift reception open chat. The moment Dora saw them she let out a deep sigh.

“Staff D. You know the viewers are the ones who will actually eat these, right?”

“The viewers getting to experience a whole new level of gourmet cuisine? What a joyous occasion.”

Komari roared like a beast.

“You evil woman. You’re calling this candy? You’re worse than the devil!”

“It’s my favorite food. If you say it like that, I might actually feel a little sad.”

The curious viewers requested the gift to be revealed. Only then did a screenshot of the gift code (barcode excluded) appear on screen, updating the candy list.

It was Maziapizza’s current hottest product—the kind that piled on twice as much pineapple as a regular Hawaiian pizza. The members’ reactions were explosive, and the chat flooded with messages echoing their outrage.

The previously quiet atmosphere instantly became lively. Since there were now guests waiting in the queue, it was time for me to step aside.

“Anyway, I’ll be going now. Viewers, I hope you enjoy some nice warm pizza and have a happy Halloween.”

Seung-yeon was completely stunned.

「The viewers getting to experience a whole new level of gourmet cuisine? What a joyous occasion.」

「It’s my favorite food. If you say it like that, I might actually feel a little sad.」

「Anyway, I’ll be going now. Viewers, I hope you enjoy some nice warm pizza and have a happy Halloween.」

She wasn’t sure if Mazia herself realized it, but the way she had jumped into the broadcast to liven up the mood was completely different from the Mazia she had seen so far. The gentle look in her eyes and the bright smile she wore the entire time made her seem so happy and full of joy that even Seung-yeon watching felt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠strangely warm and fuzzy.

She had thought Momo was desperately hiding Staff D because she was afraid of broadcasting or found it uncomfortable. But judging from what she had just seen, it seemed more like Staff D simply enjoyed hearing fans cry out for her.

So when Mazia finished her part and put her earbuds back in their charging case, Seung-yeon reflexively clapped like someone who had just watched a magnificent performance.

“So this is the dignity of Momo’s ultimate anti-fan and Parallel’s ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠skilled general manager… You weren’t nervous in front of ten thousand people…?”

Jia answered as if it were nothing, as though she was used to this sort of thing.

“During MoovGun’s civil war stream, there were over thirty thousand viewers, you know.”

“That’s amazing… You’re so cool. Maybe you’ll end up hosting events later? We have our first anniversary event coming up soon anyway.”

But Jia was the type of person who preferred setting up situations for others to react to. She greatly enjoyed predicting how someone would respond and then playfully teasing them. Taking the lead and dragging a broadcast by the collar was far from the style of someone whose specialty was riding the flow.

“Nah. That probably won’t happen.”