273. QueenblyTube!
273. QueenblyTube!
***
"Yeah. When you were on the phone, that's how you looked. You must really like Jeanne d'Arc."
"...?"
Serin, standing beside her, blinked at the sudden remark.
Then, spotting the mischief brimming in Seoyun's eyes, Serin let out a small laugh.
Noticing, Seoyun stuck out her tongue and went on.
What followed was mostly Seoyun going on about how much Serin thought about Jeanne d'Arc, how often she talked about her, how much interest she showed—on and on.
Seoyun exaggerated it all as if getting revenge for being turned into a fan, but
'Is that really what she calls revenge?'
Serin just found her adorable.
......
"...Huh? What do you mean?"
When Seoyun suddenly faltered mid-call, Serin wondered if she'd made some kind of mistake.
"Ah... yes. Jeanne d'Arc said such nice things about me.... You must have really liked her too, Sis. I—I mean, of course I like her as a fan too."
Whatever she'd heard, it was enough to make her stammer like that. Seoyun's behavior was strange enough to be noticeable.
'From the sound of it, it didn't seem like anything major.'
Serin was watching her with puzzlement when—
"I really enjoyed talking with Jeanne d'Arc too. If I ever get the chance.... Yes, yes. That sounds nice too. Okay, I'll put my sister back on."
Seoyun, who had been speaking in a flustered state the whole time, suddenly thrust the smartphone at me urgently.
Even in that moment, Seoyun looked strange.
'What on earth did she hear to make her act like that?'
She'd seemed flustered at first, but then she'd appeared to be talking calmly. Now she was making such a weird face.
And it was a hard expression to describe.
"Did the call go okay?"
Serin tossed the question out as she took the smartphone, and Seoyun just smiled awkwardly.
With a look that said she wanted to say something but couldn't quite bring herself to.
"Uh, yeah..."
Finding her behavior odd, I took the call again.
"Hello? Eunha, it's me. Did the call go okay?"
—Yes. It was fine. Your sister is adorable, by the way.
At Eunha's natural praise of Seoyun, Serin smiled without realizing it.
"Right? It was a little sudden, but I thought it'd be nice for her to say hello like this."
As she spoke, she glanced at Seoyun.
'Why is she looking at me like that?'
The way Seoyun was looking at Serin now seemed quite different from before she'd been told about Eunha.
Her eyes, once full of curiosity, had shifted into something inscrutable. How to put it—it felt really strange.
—Next time, if there's a chance, I'd like to spend time with your sister too. I'd like to meet her in person, and I'd love for us to talk somewhere nice together.
"Yes, I'd like that too, if possible."
Eunha's voice sounded more buoyant than usual, which left an impression.
'Eunha seems fine, though?'
Seoyun was making that odd face, so Serin had wondered if she'd said something wrong at the end. But the tone she actually heard from Eunha sounded pleased, which made the situation feel even stranger.
Poke.
Serin gave Seoyun's arm a light nudge for no real reason, and she flinched, shaking her head with a startled look.
—It's nothing.
She mouthed the words. Serin was still wondering what they'd talked about when—
—Serin, really... if you've been thinking about me that much, you could have shown it a little more.
An odd voice came from Eunha.
"...Huh?"
—Your sister told me all sorts of things about you. I had no idea... I really thought I was the only one thinking about it.
Something about what she was saying felt off, and I found myself answering awkwardly.
"I'm... not very good at showing things outwardly."
I wasn't sure where this was going, but since Seoyun had apparently said something, all I could do was go along with it.
—You don't have to be like that from now on. Let's meet once after the playoffs schedule is over. I'll make time.
What exactly did she not have to do?
Amid all the questions, Serin could feel through the phone that Eunha was in high spirits, and in a way, that made it seem like it wasn't a big deal after all.
If the person involved was happy, then wasn't that enough?
"Sure. Well, I'd like that too."
Serin glanced at Seoyun, and saw her avoiding her gaze with that inscrutable expression.
***
Yoo Eunha's private room inside the TSJ building.
Eunha moved her lips with a deeply regretful look.
"Well then, Serin... I'll hang up now. You must be tired, and I feel like I've kept you too long. So you really need to get plenty of rest, okay? Don't push yourself, and don't get sick again."
Click.
After the long call ended.
Eunha bit her lip and lay down on the bed.
Shake shake.
She shook her head against the soft fabric as if she couldn't believe the situation, expressing at least a little of the joy welling up inside her.
Her soft, jet-black hair tousled wildly as she made an uncharacteristically playful gesture.
'Why am I this happy?'
She felt buoyant, floating. At the same time, she felt a sense of satisfaction at having learned more about Serin.
The things she'd heard from Serin's sister made all the worries she'd been carrying alone feel meaningless, and that made her happy.
—That Serin thought about me a lot.
—That she cared without showing it, but couldn't express it outwardly.
—That she was interested enough in me to even talk about me to her own sister.
Beyond that, they were small things, really trivial things, but they just made her feel so good.
"...I wish you really would show it more."
All this time, whenever she had a spare moment, she'd contacted Serin, but she'd always worried: was it really okay to reach out? Would contacting her too often feel burdensome?
Because she'd felt a strange distance in Serin's BaTalk replies.
And with good reason—Serin's replies were very different from those of the people around her.
When I sent a BaTalk message of two or three lines after agonizing over it beforehand, Serin always replied with unbelievably short answers.
'Yes. That's right.'
'Congratulations.'
'That's a relief.'
'I was a little sick.'
Those short replies sometimes felt like she was being a bother, so even when she'd called today, there had been a sliver of anxiety.
A small worry: what if this made Serin find her annoying?
But now that she'd been reassured it had all been her own groundless fear, she couldn't have been happier.
Flop.
Burying her face deep in the blanket, Eunha's expression relaxed with happiness.
"...I really wish the playoffs would end soon."
She murmured it softly, filled with the desire to see Serin even one hour sooner.
Under her mysterious silver hair, that face that smiled so nonchalantly—she hadn't seen it in only a few days, but she already missed it.
Swish.
With a small gesture, she lifted her smartphone and connected to the NewTube channel she often watched.
The channel and video list that appeared.
—QueenblyTube!
[7 Ways to Get Close to Someone You've Just Met!]
[Awkward Couples, Start as Friends First!]
[Having Trouble Approaching Someone? Don't Worry. I'll Teach You Everything!]
[What's a Good Approach for Making a Favorable Impression?]
[Feel Like the Other Person Is Intimidated by You? This Video Has All the Answers!]
[Magical Behaviors That Make the Person You Like Like You Back]
The videos on QueenblyTube were all about helping with interpersonal or romantic relationships, so Eunha, who was clumsy with people, found them useful.
Since she'd never really tried approaching anyone directly before, this was the biggest NewTube channel she'd relied on for guidance.
With 1.44 million subscribers, she figured it had to have some credibility.
'It really worked.'
Now that she'd learned Serin's true feelings, her trust in QueenblyTube felt even stronger.
Scroll.
As she browsed the videos, Eunha's gaze landed on one in particular.
[Want to Get Close to a Woman You're Interested In?]
A thumbnail featuring a beautiful woman in her early twenties smiling brightly, with captions.
Eunha clicked the video and watched with full concentration, studying it.
But Eunha was failing to realize something important.
QueenblyTube was indeed a channel that helped with interpersonal relationships,
but the channel's main purpose was as a channel specializing in 'romance.'
***
'Cheongdam Pleana' luxury officetel.
Back home from Serin's place, Sua was in the middle of a stream.
Then, as if by magic, her expression changed.
Her face took on a slightly regretful look, and even the viewers could feel the apologetic air about her.
"Sorry, Plea-lings... but what should I do? I think I need to end today's stream here."
[Why??]
[????]
[Just a little more]
[You barely even played Arena today though?]
[I think Plea needs to rest]
[She took a streaming hiatus yesterday and a 4-hour stream is too much]
[Plea's expression does look a little off]
[Don't be sick 😭😭😭]
Even as she checked the disappointed chat, Sua smiled awkwardly.
"I'm feeling a bit tired today too, you know? After seeing Serin get sick yesterday, I thought I should focus on managing my condition too. I think I need to stop here and rest today."
When the disappointed chat seemed to mostly accept the mention of managing her condition, Sua smiled faintly.
"Still, I'll turn on the stream this weekend if I can, so don't be too sad, okay, Plea-lings?"
She even acted a little cute at the end, then ended the stream.
As the stream-ending message appeared on screen and the chat turned gray, Sua let out a small sigh.
"I'm preparing content, so I really don't have time to stream."
On top of that, having spent yesterday and today staying at Serin's place, her backlogged schedule felt like it was crashing over her in waves.
She had meetings lined up right away, and since she'd said she'd personally plan the Five Million Project, she couldn't stream as long as usual while preparing for it.
Swish.
With a tired expression, she swept her hair back and opened BaTalk, where countless piled-up messages awaited.
There were several advertising inquiries from the person managing her email, messages from her NewTube editors, and even messages from MCN-related staff.
Some of them needed to be checked right away, so even in her exhaustion, Sua went through them one by one.
Then one contract caught her eye.
'The Five Million contract?'
As she looked over the project-related contract, the contents were far from ordinary.
Since she'd asked for Serin to receive the same treatment as herself, the terms she was seeing were nothing short of dazzling.
The base signing fee was quite high, and there were various additional benefits if the Five Million Project's basic goals were met or if results exceeded expectations.
As she examined the contract, Sua let out an involuntary laugh.
She could feel SJ MCN's determination to hold onto Serin no matter what, radiating from the contract.
Considering Serin had only started streaming about a month ago, this contract went beyond unconventional—the terms were extraordinary.
Even though I had asked for Serin to be treated equally, even I found this hard to believe.
"Wait, this contract... don't tell me they're valuing Serin higher than me...?"
She'd asked for Serin to be treated the same as herself.
But the more she read the contract, the more questions she had.
If anything, she had the strange feeling that her own contract had gotten better because of Serin.