136. A Drinking Party with Two RinTube Editors
136. A Drinking Party with Two RinTube Editors
***
12 a.m.
Evening had given way to midnight. For most people, it was time to wrap up the day and head to bed so they could greet another tomorrow.
But there were also places where people only grew livelier and brighter once midnight passed.
The atmosphere at a bar in Yeoksam-dong was exactly that.
......
"Where have you been getting treatments lately? Jihye, why does your skin look so good?"
"What, is it that obvious?"
"Of course it's obvious. How did your skin get this nice in just a few days? Where is it? I should go too."
...
"Ha, that bastard Manager Park, seriously... he's so obviously just nitpicking whatever he can to put me down. Fuck, and there's nothing I can do about it."
"Hey, just put up with it. Has Manager Park only been like that for a day or two?"
A bustling bar where people had gathered in small groups, each absorbed in their own conversations.
At a corner table inside the bar, two women were seated.
A 24-year-old woman with long black hair neatly tied back, dressed in a clean, casual ivory-colored outfit. Park Soyul.
And a 27-year-old woman with the same black hair but loosely let down, wearing a drab gray t-shirt and jeans, living with dark circles from exhaustion. Kim Hayoon.
The two women looked like they had nothing in common in either appearance or overall vibe, yet somehow they had ended up together.
When the second video Soyul had worked on for RinTube entered the "Trending" category yet again, the two women had met up in person to celebrate.
"Hayoon! What do you want to order?"
Park Soyul. She smiled brightly and looked at Hayoon seated across from her as she asked.
"Hmm...?"
Hayoon glanced at the bar's menu and answered with a slightly awkward smile.
Now that an unexpected meetup had been arranged and she was facing Soyul like this, Hayoon found it incredibly awkward to look at her.
Soyul's impression in person exceeded Hayoon's expectations and then some.
Soyul practically radiated what people called "social butterfly" energy, and when Hayoon first met her at the meeting spot, she had found it hard to even approach her.
That was why it had been Soyul who spoke first, after happening to catch Hayoon's eye.
"This place is supposed to be famous for jjamppong and mussel soup. I've never been here before, but the reviews are pretty good."
Soyul watched Hayoon looking at the menu and pointed at a few items with her hand.
"Really? Then, th-that."
"Oh, no, wait. The takoyaki here is supposed to be really good too. Hayoon! Should we get takoyaki?"
Then she changed her mind and said the takoyaki on the menu looked tasty too, so Hayoon nodded again.
"Uh...? Yeah. That's fine."
"No, wait. Maybe because it's midsummer, but it's still hot even past midnight. The fruit punch looks good too."
At Soyul's words as she kept changing the menu like a reed in the wind, Hayoon momentarily lifted her gaze from the menu and stared at Soyul.
'Is she... messing with me right now?'
She wondered if Soyul was teasing her because she was acting spaced out, and looked at her.
But Soyul, as if unaware of Hayoon's reaction, was pointing at this and that on the menu and deliberating.
"Ah. Seriously. I actually have, like, decision paralysis when it comes to picking menus? To me, every single item just looks delicious. Ugh... Hayoon, you pick. I'll go with whatever you choose!"
When Soyul suddenly lifted her head from the menu and spoke energetically, Hayoon nodded with a blank expression.
"...Then, Soyul, let's go with the fruit punch? Maybe because it's still hot out, the punch is calling to me."
"Sounds good. Then! Excuse me! We'd like to order!"
As Soyul called over a nearby staff member and ordered naturally, Hayoon munched on the complimentary crackers and stared blankly.
'So I'm working with someone like this...'
The Soyul Hayoon saw was a social butterfly through and through. Her outward appearance was lively and cute, and she seemed like she'd be popular wherever she went.
On top of that, her personality was refreshingly straightforward, and she struck up conversation without hesitation, so she seemed like someone anyone would like.
And compared to that, Hayoon herself was timid and bad at getting along with people, so she even felt burdened by suddenly having this drinking get-together.
"Ah, seriously. Thinking about it again, it would've been nice if Rin had joined us too. Hayoon! You think so too, right?"
"Ah, yeah. Right..."
When Soyul lamented Serin's absence, Hayoon nodded quietly too.
It was, in fact, a gathering to celebrate RinTube's success, but Serin, the channel's owner, wasn't there.
There was today's scrim with G1, and on top of that, Serin had said she had a prior commitment and couldn't come, so only the two of them had ended up meeting like this.
Serin had said they should all get together next time when schedules allowed, but Soyul, fired up by the channel's consecutive success, had half-dragged Hayoon out, saying she wanted to celebrate somehow.
"You know, Hayoon. Don't you think we're really lucky, all of a sudden?"
"Lucky?"
"I mean, it's really unusual for a NewTube channel to blow up all at once like this. Rin said she'd give us a generous bonus this month too. It just feels like everything's been going really well, one thing after another."
When Soyul spoke with a bright expression, Hayoon nodded quietly.
"True, sometimes even I... can't believe I became Rin's editor. I guess you could say I'm really lucky. Honestly, I really didn't think I'd get picked. Sometimes I wonder if this is real."
As Hayoon spoke, she could clearly see RinTube's explosive growth, yet somehow it still didn't feel real that she was one of the channel's editors.
It felt like she had suddenly seized success in a short span of time, leaving her dazed.
"Oh, come on, Hayoon. Sometimes I wonder if you're too humble? You really have a tendency to put yourself down too much. And you know what? I half-expected Rin to pick me. I was confident in my skills."
"Really...? Well, you do make good videos, Soyul... I half-admired them while watching. Oh, and before, the NewTuber you worked for as an editor was Big Cat, right?"
"Yes, that's right. Big Cat! Hayoon, you know Big Cat too?"
Soyul asked in surprise, as if she'd never expected Hayoon to know Big Cat, and Hayoon gave a small nod.
"Yeah, I know him. He's a million-subscriber NewTuber, right? They say Big Cat's been on a decline lately, but just a few months ago his videos were doing really well. I thought his videos were really well made, so I used them as a reference a lot."
When she had been living as a small-time NewTuber, Big Cat had been one of the NewTubers whose videos Hayoon had studied like homework.
"Hearing you compliment me right to my face is a little... embarrassing. But well, I did work really hard when I was Big Cat's editor."
Soyul smiled softly and looked at Hayoon as she spoke, and Hayoon asked carefully, as if curious.
"But a million-subscriber NewTuber would pay their editor a lot, wouldn't they...? You could've kept working as an editor, so was there a reason you quit?"
Hayoon still found it amazing that someone who had been a million-subscriber NewTuber's editor was now working with her.
"Well... what other reason would there be? It's all money. Money. Even while Big Cat's channel was steadily climbing, he wouldn't keep his word about giving bonuses, nitpicked the video quality for no reason, and wouldn't even pay the incentives written into the contract."
"Whoa. Big Cat really... did that?"
When Hayoon asked in surprise at the unexpected revelation, Soyul smiled bitterly and answered.
"Yes. He really did. It's obvious how much Big Cat earns, but the guy's completely stingy, you know? When someone earns a lot, they should really know how to give a little... He kept desperately nitpicking so he wouldn't have to pay the incentives in the contract or the bonus he'd promised. All the goodwill I had just completely drained away. So I just quit. Yeah."
Hayoon had thought Soyul had probably just lived a successful life. But hearing this, Soyul seemed to have her own circumstances too.
So she hadn't lived entirely comfortably, Hayoon thought, and the feeling was strange.
The Big Cat she'd seen in NewTube videos had only ever come across as hearty and generous, someone who looked after the people around him like a good-natured person, so she hadn't known. In reality, a NewTuber whose monthly video views alone easily surpassed ten million was desperately nitpicking to avoid paying his editor.
It felt like she'd learned something new.
"No, Hayoon. Even thinking about it now, I was basically working for peanuts. Ah, even now... ha, I feel like giving Big Cat a good slap across the face."
"Just how much were you paid... really?"
For a moment Hayoon wondered if she should ask, but curiosity won out. When she carefully did, Soyul answered without hesitation, to her surprise.
"Exactly two million won. Two million. I worked over ten hours every single day, with no days off, and even did thumbnails on top of that. I got two million won a month. Seriously... can you believe a million-subscriber NewTuber treated his editor like that, Hayoon?"
—Two million won a month.
Hayoon repeated the figure in her head at Soyul's words, struck by an odd feeling.
Considering that the current hourly wage was around ten thousand won, compared to the hours Soyul had worked, she hadn't even earned minimum wage.
No, it was definitely exploitation.
But Hayoon, who had barely earned five hundred thousand won a month while living as a small-time NewTuber and streamer, felt strange comparing herself to Soyul.
"...No, you really must have had a hard time. Soyul."
Setting aside those feelings, Hayoon offered words of comfort, and Soyul let out a small sigh and spoke.
"Right. Seriously... and you know what's really ridiculous, Hayoon? After I quit being Big Cat's editor, I applied to other million-subscriber NewTubers and others who seemed decent, but weirdly, they all turned me down for all sorts of strange reasons."
"Huh? They did...?"
"Yes. Actually, before applying to be Rin's editor, I sent applications to several places. Then I only found out recently that Big Cat had been spreading bad rumors about me to his acquaintances. No, seriously, it's so absurd... When I called him out over chat, guess what Big Cat said?"
"...What did he say?"
"He said he never did that. Asked if I was picking a fight with him over some weird false rumor. Said I just didn't have the skills, or whatever... Ha, seriously, just thinking about it now makes me angry."
Soyul, who had ordered a bottle of soju along with the food earlier, opened it without hesitation and poured herself a glass.
Glug-glug.
Hayoon stared at Soyul with a blank expression.
"Ah, Hayoon, have a glass too. We should drink the first one together."
"Uh, yeah..."
When Hayoon held out her glass, Soyul poured soju into it without hesitation.
Soyul, who was clearly three years younger than her, spoke and acted like someone who had been through every hardship, so Hayoon couldn't help but feel like Soyul was the adult.
Clink!
The two women raised their glasses and touched them, and while Hayoon drank her soju carefully, Soyul downed hers without hesitation, as if her insides were burning.
"...Ugh."
"Ahh...!"
While Hayoon, unaccustomed to alcohol, grimaced at the characteristic bitterness, Soyul, in contrast, let out a small exclamation as if she drank for exactly this taste.
Amid the starkly divided reactions, Soyul suddenly looked at Hayoon and smiled brightly as she spoke.
"Still... I guess I should say I feel a bit lighter now that I've gotten it off my chest to someone? Hayoon, you're really good at listening. You were popular with your friends, right? You seem like you'd be really good at giving advice."
At Soyul's words, Hayoon answered, visibly flustered.
"...No?"
Me, popular?
At Soyul's completely unexpected comment, Hayoon was taken aback.
Just thinking back a little, all she remembered was being shunned by other kids for being gloomy...
"Huh? Why? You're really good at listening to people, Hayoon. I like calm people who listen well, like you. You know, from now on, let's meet up like this sometimes and have a drink. When you're editing, you end up holed up at home, you know? People really do need to get out."
As Soyul treated her with easy, unreserved friendliness, Hayoon found it unfamiliar yet inexplicably pleasant.
"...Yeah. Okay."
Time passed quickly for the two women as well.