318. Each Other's Daily Lives
318. Each Other's Daily Lives
***
Weekdays. Serin's days rarely deviated from a set pattern, as if someone had scripted them.
She woke only when morning had passed and lunchtime approached, then took a quick shower. After that, she checked the messages that had arrived overnight, prepared for the day's stream, and went live at 4 p.m. as always.
Once the stream ended, she finished the workout she had scheduled and had dinner. After that, in her free time, she watched other streamers' broadcasts or checked various Another World communities, and the day came to an end.
Even with all that, twenty-four hours in a day wasn't enough, and the time usually flew by so busily that there was no room to think about anything else.
Which was why weekends.
On weekends, when she could rest completely, the routine of stream prep and streaming disappeared, and things actually felt more relaxed.
Without any thoughts about streaming, what could she do on a day off that was entirely her own?
As Serin reflected on that, she unconsciously let out a laugh at the taste of the food lingering in her mouth.
"...This is good."
"Right? I thought the seasoning turned out really well this time, even while I was making it."
Seeing Seoyun beaming right in front of her, as if she'd been waiting for that answer, Serin felt anew that they really were living together now.
Past the busy weekdays, the weekend.
And now, as that weekend day was slipping away before she knew it, she was spending it with a peaceful heart.
Honestly, evening had come and the day was fading without me even knowing what I'd done. But there was someone here to share a meal and conversation with.
The feeling of her heart naturally settling because of that was, in itself, comforting.
'What did I even do today?'
She'd gotten up and met the installation technician, spent the afternoon with Seoyun in Another World, and before she knew it, it was evening.
"From now on, delivery food no more than three times a week."
In my field of vision, where silver hair seemed to flicker like an overlapping image, Seoyun with her short black hair spoke in a deliberately firm tone, and I burst out laughing without meaning to.
"Then what about the rest? You're not saying you'll cook everything, are you?"
When she teasingly asked if Seoyun would prepare all the meals, Seoyun nodded vigorously.
"Yeah. I'm going to be freeloading at your place over break, so I'll at least cook."
At the confident declaration that she'd prepare the meals, Serin smiled faintly and shook her head.
"Still, three times is too few. Let's make it five."
"No, what do you mean five? Does my cooking taste bad? You said you were satisfied too."
"It's good. It's good and I am satisfied. But I still want to eat something different every day."
Even though she said it wasn't that, Seoyun puffed out her cheeks and glared.
"Seriously... Fine, okay. I'll put thought into the menu too. Let's do three. Okay?"
"Seoyun... why are you so distrustful of delivery food? Restaurants these days follow hygiene standards."
"I don't like it. You're already frail, and I'm worried something might happen if you eat delivery food when I don't know where or how it's made."
Seeing Seoyun openly showing concern for me... I couldn't bring myself to say anything.
She let out a small breath and finally nodded.
"Fine... let's do three. But late-night snacks are okay, right?"
"Late-night snacks are fine. But wait, you order late-night snacks too?"
Seoyun smiled as she accepted that, but when she asked the question back, I found myself blinking instead.
"Sometimes. Why?"
Actually, she fell asleep early almost every day. But occasionally, when she stayed up past midnight or into the early hours, she ordered late-night snacks.
"No... I was just wondering if you're really the same sister who used to eat so little. Your eating habits really have changed a lot."
Whenever Seoyun brought up the past 'me,' I couldn't help wondering just how I'd lived before.
"Well. I need to change my constitution too. I've been working out hard lately, you know."
Despite her inner thoughts, she casually said she was changing.
Because even now, I was keenly aware of just what a wreck my body was.
If she played games too long, a forced logout would pop up. Her stamina was poor in so many ways that she wondered how this body even kept itself going.
"Seriously, the more I see the new you lately, the happier I am, you know? It feels like your mindset changed for the better. I'm so happy too."
Seeing that bright smile, as if saying she liked who I was now, I felt like I could see Seoyun’s true heart.
"Seoyun, I feel this all the time, but you worry way too much."
"Tch. Worrying is a hundred times better than something going wrong because I didn't, okay?"
In the middle of that warm mealtime conversation.
BaTalk!
When the smartphone lying nearby rang, Seoyun looked over as if fascinated.
"Seriously. I can't even count how many times a day it goes off. Do you check all those messages that come in so often? You should at least turn the sound off."
"Well, I check them whenever I have time."
The vast majority were messages from her editors, and beyond that, just checking messages from Eunha, Sua, and other business contacts took up a lot of time.
"Seriously... when did you get this popular?"
When Seoyun said it with a look of wonder, as if she felt a little left out, I couldn't help laughing.
Me, popular? The idea felt ironic, since I wasn't even sure that was the right word.
It was hard to say her social circle was wide.
But every one of those connections was dense. They kept in steady contact, so it probably felt bigger than it was.
She'd gotten close with the RinTube editors and shared trivial small talk with them, and she exchanged messages with Sua and Eunha at least a few times a day.
'And on top of that, there was Seoyun.'
They lived together now, so they didn't message each other, but before, Seoyun's texts checking in or talking about streams had been a significant part of her messages.
"You're pretty popular too, Seoyun."
She said that and glanced at Seoyun's smartphone.
The screen kept lighting up with notifications throughout the meal. Honestly, if the sound were on, Seoyun's phone would be ringing all day long.
"That's just because I left the dorm today. The kids are sending messages because they're sad they won't see me over break."
She said it like it was nothing, but Serin thought that level of attention was plenty popular.
"So what should we do after dinner?"
She brought it up casually, a small dilemma forming.
"How about a movie? Or there's the option of watching a popular drama these days. You pick. Honestly, I've saved up a ton of stuff to watch with you."
At Seoyun's energetic answer, I found myself smiling and nodding along.
"A movie sounds good. So, is there anything fun?"
"There's a fun thriller that came out."
This kind of life isn't so bad.
***
The results of the ACK Playoffs held over the weekend went, in a sense, exactly as everyone expected.
—The two expected teams advanced to the finals.
On one side of the playoff schedule, G1 advanced triumphantly as expected and secured their spot in the finals first, and the final match of the TSJ Playoffs, with Jeanne d'Arc back, also ended in a TSJ victory without any major upset, completing the finals matchup everyone had predicted.
[G1 VS TSJ]
Originally, TSJ would have been in G1's position, waiting first, but this ACK Summer Season, G1 took first place, so the positions were swapped.
But that was all. In the end, it was the same finals matchup as always.
Traditional rivals.
A predicted result.
A finals more anticipated than ever.
G1 with unstoppable momentum. TSJ with Jeanne d'Arc back.
Countless articles adorned with all sorts of modifiers hyped the finals to be held next week, and at that moment.
At the TSJ team house, not long after the playoffs ended, a party celebrating their advancement to the finals was underway.
Clink!
Past the clinking wine glasses, players and coaching staff alike tilted their glasses with bright expressions.
After that, with the sound of glasses meeting several more times, the TSJ building, decked out with lavish food and wine adorning the table, was nothing short of spectacular.
A scene so extravagant it called to mind a banquet hall.
After the final playoff match, Eunha had shown signs of fatigue, so the celebration party was ultimately held at the team house, but even so, the scale of TSJ's celebration party was by no means small.
"Seriously, Eunha... how do you come back from resting and play even better?"
Seola, her cheeks faintly flushed from the alcohol, stuck close to Eunha and spoke, and the other players and coaching staff who had been tilting their glasses also turned their gazes toward her.
Under everyone's gaze, Eunha shook her head with a composed expression.
"Me, playing better? Everyone played well today."
In today's playoff match, before Eunha had even had a chance to shine, the other players had each overwhelmed their opponents in terms of raw skill.
At Eunha's answer, another player let out a soft laugh, and the coaching staff looked at her with eyes full of trust.
"The others have been practicing a lot too."
"While Eunha was gone, the kids were absolutely burning with determination..."
As they each chimed in, praising one another, Seola smiled brightly with a loose, tipsy expression.
"Did you seriously learn humility while you were resting...? If you become that perfect, what are the rest of us supposed to do..."
As she drunkenly rambled and subtly tried to press her body against her, Eunha frowned slightly and gently pushed her away.
"Seola, I think you've had a lot to drink."
"Hmm... you're so mean. Can't you indulge your cute little sister's whining a bit... Anyway, maybe it's because the wine is sweet... it's so good, right? Honestly, I was anxious this season... I wondered if we could even make it to the finals. Even now, I feel kind of weird, you know?"
As she subtly expressed her feelings and inner thoughts, Eunha listened calmly and continued to tilt her glass.
...
Throughout the rest of the party, Eunha showed a fairly cooperative attitude compared to before.
Her unexpected behavior surprised the team's players and coaching staff a little, but they welcomed it as a good change, and Eunha also relaxed her expression and spent a long time with them.
...
Click.
Returning to her room late for once, Eunha registered her faintly flushed cheeks and slowly leaned against the bed.
"Haa."
She let out a small breath and lay down on the bed, her disheveled hair faintly blurring her vision.
Staring blankly at that disheveled view, Eunha smiled softly under the influence of the alcohol.
"Just a little more..."
If she could just get through a few more days, the time she had been waiting for would come.
The time to actually meet her.
Because she would have a little free time.
"..."
Smiling faintly, Eunha tidied her disheveled hair and recognized the changes in herself, little by little.
These past few days, she had been trying to get along with others, spending time with them, changing her attitude.
She had decided it was a necessary change someday.
That she needed to fit in among them too.
And when she actually tried acting that way, the feeling itself wasn't so bad.
She realized she could just live ordinarily, getting along like this.
Swish.
She picked up the smartphone lying nearby and habitually opened BaTalk.
And looked at the message she had already checked several times.
Serin.
[Congratulations on making the finals!]
Serin had said she couldn't watch the whole match today because she was welcoming her sister. But there was the message, checking the results and congratulating her.
It was a message with content so simple it couldn't be simpler, with not a single special thing about it.
Countless congratulatory messages had arrived from many other pro players and celebrities, so compared to those, it was a message that seemed utterly unremarkable.
But even so, just looking at it made her feel good.
"...Strange."
Eunha muttered a single word, and for a while, her gaze couldn't leave Serin's message.