Excuses
I believe excuses are something you absolutely have to make when necessary.
Even if they’re lies.
“Why not?”
And even if the person you’re making them to is Lua.
How did things end up like this? We have to go back about two hours.
After Ruru’s stream ended, I started editing Elia’s stream first.
Elia’s work had to take priority—that much was obvious. Ruru’s clips were a hobby. Elia’s clips were my actual job. Completely different things.
So once I finished editing Elia’s stream…
“Whoa, it’s already this late?”
It was already five in the morning.
And I wasn’t even done. Unlike Ruru’s clips, which I could upload right away, Elia’s needed separate approval. I sent the first-draft version to the Representative for confirmation and went straight to bed.
When I woke up around eleven, I checked the revision notes, fixed the video, and sent it back. By the time all of that was finished it was roughly one o’clock—eating lunch in between had stretched things out a little more.
Anyway, it was finally one, and I was just about to start editing Ruru’s stream clips when—
Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~
The doorbell rang, right on schedule. At this hour there was only one person who would ring it.
“…Turn it off first.”
I closed the editing program, opened some random window on the monitor, and went to answer the door.
As if she’d been waiting for exactly that moment—
“Hi. Can I come in?”
Lua appeared.
“Yeah, come on in.”
“Excuse me.”
Lua stepped into our house with her usual smile, washed her hands the way she always did, and headed straight for my room. Watching her, I was grateful I’d properly shut down the editing software. If I hadn’t, she’d have found out I was Mangjjonku and chewed me out so thoroughly I’d be left nice and chewy.
Chewy or sticky—I wasn’t sure which—but chewed up either way.
With that thought I went to the kitchen and brought back some cookies.
“Jinwoo, what’s with the cookies?”
“Mom got them as a gift. Said they weren’t to her taste and told me and my brother to eat them.”
“…They look pretty expensive.”
“Yeah, right?”
I shrugged and answered casually. Lua’s lips curved into a small smile.
“I’ll enjoy them. Tell your mom I said thanks.”
“I’ll throw in that they were delicious too.”
“I haven’t even tried them yet.”
“You’ll like them. I know you.”
Lua tilted her head, took a bite, and immediately nodded.
“You’re right. These are surprisingly good.”
Watching her nibble on the cookies, I felt a quiet sense of relief. I figured cookies and games would be enough to keep her attention.
But then…
“Hey, Jinwoo.”
“What?”
“Can I watch you edit for a bit?”
Lua suddenly asked something completely out of left field.
“…No.”
“Why not?”
“Just no.”
“Aww, why~?”
I kept refusing, but Lua was nothing if not determined.
“Just once. I only want to see once.”
“Come on, I said no.”
“Just once.”
“No.”
When I kept shutting her down without any give, Lua finally couldn’t hold it in.
“Why not?”
…Why not, indeed.
Because I’m Mangjjonku, that’s why.
Anyway, that was how things had gone.
“…Is there some kind of secret NDA or something?”
“…Yeah. Pretty much.”
“Liar. It’s not that serious, Jinwoo.”
Wow. She had an uncanny knack for sniffing out exactly these kinds of things.
“Doesn’t matter. Still no.”
“Why?”
“Really, just no.”
“…If you’re doing part-time work mosaicking porn, I’ll understand.”
What kind of insane remark was that all of a sudden?
Lua wore a smile full of mischief, and for a second Ruru’s face overlapped with hers. That only made her more annoying, so I flicked her forehead hard.
Thwack!
“Ow!”
“You lewd pervert VTuber. I’m definitely spreading this around.”
“The viewers already know, don’t they? I’m actually pretty good at taking that kind of thing.”
Now that I thought about it, she was right. Ruru would cheerfully roll with mild sex jokes—“I’ve got a huge chest in real life, you know!” or “I’m way more charming than you think!”—without batting an eye. That was exactly why it had been so easy for me to keep Im Lua the person and Kuroa Ruru the VTuber separate in my head. The Im Lua I knew would never say things like that.
But just now, my world had started to collapse.
“Hey, Lua.”
“What?”
“…Could you just be quiet for a second?”
“Don’t wanna~”
“Haaaaah…”
A long sigh slipped out of me before I could stop it. Lua snorted with laughter.
“Sorry. I’ll stop teasing.”
She sat back down and looked at me.
“Do you have any Ruru clips you’ve made?”
“Huh? What?”
“My clips. Have you made any?”
When she came at me that bluntly I had to scramble for a response. I blinked a few times and loaded another lie onto my tongue.
“Ah… no. I don’t.”
“…Why not?”
“I just… wanted to enjoy them as a regular viewer.”
“You’re joining the Rudongbu, though.”
“Well, yeah, I have to join…”
“Then you should at least make some clips. You’ll need something like that if you ever have to do an interview.”
“My portfolio should be enough, right?”
At that question Lua’s voice turned downright menacing.
“…Have you ever made clips for any VTuber besides me?”
“Uh… before…?”
Lua glared even harder and stalked toward me. I scrambled to make whatever excuses I could.
“I mean, before you debuted.”
“Then why didn’t you make any of mine?”
“It just… sort of happened that way…?”
“Make some now.”
“You have to give me time to actually clip stuff.”
“I’m giving it to you right now.”
Lua was clearly determined to watch me edit no matter what. I understood. She wanted to drag me into the Rudongbu, and I’d already stopped resisting that part. The problem was that when the time came and I finally said, “Actually, I’m Mangjjonku,” I would get thoroughly chewed out for using her as a clown all this time. So my plan was to ask the Representative to keep my identity as Mangjjonku secret. I’d probably shift my editing style to something that felt more “official” too—right now Mangjjonku’s style was a little too raw, if I was being honest. I was putting in the effort so I could survive Lua and look more professional.
Anyway, I had zero intention of revealing that I was Mangjjonku to Lua. Not now, not later.
“…I’ll make some later and send them to you for sure.”
“Upload them to NewTube too. You could get popular.”
“…Aren’t there already a few popular Ruru clippers?”
I wasn’t the only one clipping Ruru. Other VTuber clippers made a few of her clips as well. That just showed how talented and entertaining Ruru—Lua—was on stream. What I was really saying was: There’s no way I’d get popular just by making Ruru clips.
But Lua said something I hadn’t expected.
“Ah, true. Especially Mangjjonku. He’s really popular.”
“Mangjjonku?”
“Yeah, Mangjjonku. You know him, right?”
My brain creaked as I somehow managed to nod. Of course I knew Mangjjonku. How could I not? I was Mangjjonku.
I nodded as awkwardly as I could, but luckily Lua didn’t seem to notice my state.
“Mangjjonku… he really is a good editor. A bit raw, and he teases me a lot, but still.”
Surprisingly, she didn’t seem to hold much of a grudge against Mangjjonku.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Of course if I ever meet him I’ll chew him out nice and chewy at least once.”
…Never mind. There was definitely a grudge.
“Oh, and I heard Mangjjonku joined as Elia’s editor.”
“Yeah, I heard that too. The editing style is basically identical.”
“Right? So if he’s at the company, maybe we’ll run into each other someday.”
No, we wouldn’t. Absolutely not. I hadn’t been back since the first interview and had no reason to go again.
Still, a sudden spike of nerves made me carefully ask,
“…What would you do if you met him?”
“I’d tear him to shreds for real. He teased me way too much. I became a bigger clown than I ever signed up for.”
“Ahahaha… but… isn’t it better when everyone’s happy…?”
“That’s that, and this is this.”
The moment I saw her sweet smile, I became more certain than ever.
Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely—
I could never let Lua find out I was Mangjjonku.
If she was talking like that with this much seriousness, she would go all-out. And if the target was me? She might chew me up hard enough to take a chunk of flesh with her.
I wanted to live a long life. A very long life.
So for my own sake—for my survival—Lua could never learn that I was Mangjjonku.
Absolutely not.
“Jinwoo, want any snacks?”
“We just ate cookies.”
“I didn’t have lunch, you know.”
I nodded at that.
“Then let’s get the fattiest chicken we can find.”
“…Do you have to emphasize that part?”
“Yep.”
With that slightly ridiculous exchange that still managed to make me smile, Lua and I ordered a whole chicken—specifically the grilled kind famous as diet chicken—and ate it together.