Honestly, I'm a Bit Twisted

To be honest, I'm a bit of a twisted person. When my birthday approaches, I start thinking about why people even bother celebrating birthdays in the first place. This year I spent the time figuring out how to quietly let it pass. I obviously hate leading my own birthday party, and I'm not used to people noticing without being told and unilaterally offering gifts or favors. The biggest influence was probably my parents. They had the mindset that it's only natural for the birthday person to give more to those who come to celebrate. I don't remember it clearly, but at some point our house skipped the gifts entirely and it became a set tradition for the birthday person to boil seaweed soup, prepare a cake, and say "Let's meet at this time on this day." But now my parents are in America. So there's no reason for me to celebrate my own birthday. I thought participating in Momo's birthday party or the 1st gen's birthday parties to congratulate them was only natural, so I attended every single one. But I had never appealed to people with anything like "When is my birthday!" Therefore, even though the morning of November 22nd had dawned, my birthday was already forgotten in my head, and only the 1st gen's one-year anniversary trip schedule remained. In fact, every item packed tightly into the hiking backpack that was more than half my size had been prepared to celebrate the 1st gen.

While waiting for Momo to pick me up, having finished all my preparations to head out, I first called my mom who was in America. After a moment of the cheerful Voicetalk ringtone—ding, ding, di-di-ding—Mom picked up right away, probably because she wasn't busy.

The word "daughter" still felt awkward, but after all the "big sister" massages I'd received from Komari recently, I adapted faster than I expected.

"It's your child's birthday, yet you haven't come to Korea even once."

"Never mind that. Did you have seaweed soup?"

"…Together?"

I thought our family hadn't changed much from before, but something felt warmer. If it used to be "handle your own business well," now the tone carried a hint of worry. Even though they knew ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I had a habit of calling on my birthday, my parents had never waited for the call like it was an appointment. It was always either Mom or Dad who answered.

"Ah. Yes."

It really was completely different.

"Yes, Dad."

"…Yes?"

Was this really my dad? For a moment I had to wonder ten times whether I was dreaming. The usual line that followed "You're doing well on your own" was gone. In its place was a silly old man who couldn't sleep at night worrying about his daughter.

…No matter how you looked at it, claiming the flesh had fallen off my vocal cords was a stretch. I decided it was best to stick to clear facts, so I compressed my recent news and delivered it.

"Actually, I was a little sick recently. I went to the hospital and I'm taking care of my health. I'm fine now, so don't worry."

If it had been before, they probably would have offered a few words of concern and left it at that. After all, they had seen me handle household matters perfectly before they left for America a few years ago….

Has this man lost his mind? Even in economy class the round-trip ticket easily exceeds a million won. Coming all this way just to see me for a day or two is ridiculous.

"I'm perfectly fine so do not come. If you show up I won't open the door."

"I can report a black-haired foreigner for illegal stay."

"Absolutely do not come. If you do, I'll pretend I don't know you."

Mom seemed to catch my intention and pulled Dad back from the side.

"Anyway, thank you both for giving birth to me. I'll call again later."

Call ended.

I had only made a routine birthday greeting call. …Yet the signs already looked bad. Was this a hint that something ominous would happen on today's trip? I hoped nothing would go wrong, but before long my phone rang again. The moment I saw the name, my restless heart instantly settled.

Momo's car must have arrived in front of the house. Shall we head out? West Sea prawns, just you wait. I'll come devour you all.

The neighborhood was nothing but studio apartments, and since it was a weekday well after commuting and school hours, the streets were quiet around ten in the morning. A tiny Mazia walked out into an alley barely wide enough for two cars to pass and looked around. She soon spotted Momo's car and came trotting over. The moment she saw her, Momo couldn't help smiling. The huge bag protruding well beyond her body width made her waddle from side to side. No matter how you looked at it, they were only going camping for a single day, yet she had packed an enormous amount.

The girl who had walked over carefully placed her bag in the trunk and climbed into the passenger seat. Even though they had commuted together every day until last week, Momo was struck again by how short her legs were. The car sat high, so she had to jump with all her strength to get in. Even though Momo had deliberately lowered the seat as far as it would go, her feet only just reached.

"What on earth did you put in that bag to make it so huge? Is there a war tomorrow?"

"I packed what I needed."

"Like what?"

"You'll see later."

"Hmm…."

"You absolutely must not open it. It's a surprise."

Since Momo had been preparing the "Make Mazia Cry Buckets" operation together with the 1st gen, a corner of her heart twinged with guilt.

"Who announces a surprise so openly?"

"You asked first what I crammed so much into the bag."

Ah, so it's my fault? Mazia's counter-sarcasm was artistic today as usual. Momo chuckled and set a waypoint on the navigation for a Starbucks drive-thru a short distance away. Soon they each had a drink, and at the first red light Momo asked,

"So, how's the review content coming along?"

"Seung-yeon's handover speed is ridiculously fast, so I have plenty of time left. It's pretty much ready."

After returning from the I'm a Wolf collab, Mazia had declared she had gained confidence and would try hosting it alone. Her expression suggested she would do fine, but she still looked like a child left alone by the water's edge, so Momo had promised to act as training wheels for the first few episodes. That had been last Friday.

"Already? It's only been four days since you seriously started preparing."

"True, but it's only reviewing the month of October. The most memorable things from recent events come to mind immediately."

"Hmm. Which scenes did you pick for which content? Give me a quick rundown."

Mazia listed the October clips she had included in the review content whose official title was Monthly Fantasia.

…Huh? Looking at the selection, it almost felt like a Mazia mad movie compilation. Momo realized anew just how overworked Mazia had been in October. The sense of betrayal and shock that hit after realizing she had worked without rest was no small thing.

"It might be coincidence, but they're all days you appeared."

Mazia scratched her head as if she hadn't noticed that even after picking them herself.

"…Ah. You're right. I didn't think of that."

"Doesn't that just mean you went out that much and supported the kids so well? If you hadn't been there, those fun moments probably wouldn't have happened."

For some reason Mazia's reply didn't come. Momo had expected a sharp jab like "If you had supported me that much during the battle royale, we would have won way more," but the girl simply stared out the window in silence. Her cheeks even looked a little flushed.

'Oh?'

Whether Mazia had taken Momo's praise as simple boss recognition or as an industry top-tier streamer acknowledging her talent was unclear. But the important thing was that Mazia had reacted to the compliment at all. The girl who usually only made cutting remarks and grew restless if she couldn't tease Momo.

'Got you.'

It was the first time Mazia had shown such an opening, so Momo couldn't resist adding another compliment.

"Look at this… After the review broadcast, won't the kids start looking for you even more? Not to mention you already did a proper job in I'm a Wolf last week. Jia, you seem like you'd be a total collab cheat key."

But of course Mazia wouldn't stay quiet. A wicked person never passes up a chance to bite.

"Exactly. Speaking as the monitoring staff, the reaction was actually better than when you collab with the kids, Momo."

"…What?"

"It's true. Looking at the October broadcast metrics, the days I picked saw huge increases compared to normal. Subscriber growth, donations during streams…."

"No, that's just because you're a new face and people have high expectations—"

"And for the eve broadcast, there were quite a few posts that outright analyzed the difference between me and you. It seems viewers' hearts are something I understand better after all."

"Ugh."

Hitting only the sore spots with perfect accuracy was a skill in itself. But the last line hurt the most.

"After all, shouldn't you take care of your own broadcasts a bit more before worrying about the kids' collabs, Momo? As a fan I'm genuinely worried. Ever since you became boss, I feel like your broadcast sense has been gradually—"

"Hey! Stop! Stop!!"

* * *

Even though it felt like she was the only one getting beaten up, Momo's prediction had been accurate. With cheeks flushed from the cold, in front of the members who had gathered early at the pickup spot, Maru spoke seriously.

"I couldn't say it last week, but how about we only call Jia once a month from now on? Anyone who breaks it has to hand out an all-purpose coupon that lets the others do anything."

Instead of question marks, Komari was the first to laugh and joke.

"Wow. If Dora unnie slips up we can immediately demand a horror game collab."

"Hng. Komari, are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you a demon? Why is horror game the first thing that comes out…."

Rain mulled over Maru's words a few times, pushed her sunglasses onto her head, and spoke.

"Me one question. Why fix it? Only call once a month?"

It was about sharing Mazia amicably, but it could also be seen as a vow to restrain the incoming 2nd gen from calling Jia however they pleased. Although she had started with a joke, Komari—who already understood Maru's intention—continued.

"The 2nd gen will be here soon. If we call big sis Mazia whenever we want, they'll try to do the same."

"Komari's right. You all heard that she overworked herself helping our streams recently and got sick, right?"

Rain hummed and twisted her lips.

"Wasn't October just going wild because of the one-year anniversary special? Jia is basically unfriendly by default. Even if the 2nd gen comes, it's like ice."

There was logic to Rain's interpretation. Even though it looked like Mazia had been especially kind to the 1st gen lately, the anniversary had overlapped. But Maru, who had experienced it directly, added an explanation.

"It may look that way, but it's clear Jia has opened her heart ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to us recently. She turned down the friend request… but the fact that she speaks casually because we're the same age shows she's not as cold as before."

"What? Wait, what do you mean cutting in line? There are rules even for casual speech, you know?"

"Rain unnie already speaks casually to her…."

"Jia doesn't speak casually to me."

"That's because Rain unnie is older."

"Oh. Korea's age-respect tradition. I don't like that. Just parking casual speech."

Maru calmed the growing noise and gave one last request.

"Anyway, I brought this up so we don't fight among ourselves over Jia. That way I think today's hidden camera can succeed properly."

Everyone nodded, but two pairs of eyes in particular sparkled. Among them, Komari clenched her fist tightly and spoke first.

"If we don't want to fight, we should decide the seat next to big sis Jia first, right?"

Maru swung her clenched fist in a circle and shouted abruptly.

"…… Rock paper scissors!"