A Painful Social Life (2)
A Painful Social Life (2)
Clearly,
they had been briefed beforehand.
Contrary to my expectations, neither Catherine nor Eve showed much complaint about Andrea's actions.
I could maybe let it slide for Eve.
I'd figured Catherine would go through 'You?', 'A manager?', 'Why?' and then wrap it up with something like 'I'm against it.'
"Alright, if those are the circumstances, it can't be helped. Let's meet up separately at the concert venue later."
Those were Catherine's words, delivered as she lazed around, more relaxed than usual.
Perhaps her mindset shifted since that short conversation we had on the rooftop, because she seemed largely unconcerned by Andrea's abduction (employment) of me.
Our Geumjjogi had really changed a lot.
I felt an odd sense of deep emotion.
Anyway, there's a saying that a lion goes all out even when hunting a rabbit.
Now that I'd taken on the manager role,
I wanted to do the job properly so I wouldn't be a burden to Andrea.
It was a habit I'd picked up from mercenary work.
I followed behind Andrea and asked.
"Is there anything else I need to know?"
"Not really?"
Andrea shook her head as she answered.
She added, explaining:
"Cody and the stylist people are hired by the concert company anyway, and the fitting rooms and shops are all prepared inside the venue."
Andrea walked with light steps as she concluded her explanation.
"Plus there's no other schedule booked for that day, so you just need to show up and keep an eye out for the terrorists."
I nodded at Andrea's words.
"So I really just have to do the bodyguard work."
"I told you earlier. It's a 'weak stomach.'"
Indeed, there was no way the supremely professional Andrea would entrust actual manager duties to me, who knew nothing.
.......
But still,
even though she said all I had to do was guard duty, why did I have to start working right now?
I was about to ask Andrea about that part, but the elevator reached the underground floor first.
When we arrived at the underground parking lot,
I spotted a black van parked off to one side.
It was Andrea's work tuning van, the kind I had seen around a few times before.
I remembered that a female manager was always the one behind the wheel. Since I was the manager for the day, I wondered if I should be the one driving.
I asked Andrea a question that suddenly came to mind.
"Now that I think of it, what about the original manager?"
"Ah..., that person?"
Andrea stopped in place.
She turned her body toward me and manipulated her vision interface with practiced hand movements.
The manager's image appeared in the air.
[...Uh, hello? Andrea-ssi?]
It seemed she had called the existing manager via the hologram call function.
[What's the reason for your call?]
"Just checking if you're having a good time."
I looked over the screen floating in front of Andrea.
Behind the manager's flustered face,
a blue sky was spread out.
What the—where is she taking this call?
The manager let out a light breath at Andrea's question and drew a smile on her lips.
[I'm having a wonderful time, USA City really is amazing! Look at the sky!]
She had always struck me as the quiet type.
But apparently she'd just deliberately kept quiet normally.
[And this is all possible because Andrea-ssi sent me on vacation! As I told you last time, thank you! My parents are happy too!]
"Mm, mm."
So Andrea had sent her on vacation.
However,
every time the manager's call continued, something suspicious kept bothering me.
[When you suddenly told me to go on vacation at this time, I wondered what was going on. As expected, my gratitude for Andrea-ssi's deep consideration again─.]
"I'll hang up now."
[Yes?]
Andrea must have caught on as well.
She cut off the manager's words and swiftly ended the call.
"......."
I stared intently at Andrea.
"I sent her because she said she wanted to go."
"......."
"I'm telling you, it's true."
"......."
Andrea laughed nonchalantly and grabbed my shoulder. It was a move to block my retreat.
...Could it be.
That all of this was just Andrea's selfish motive, and that I had never really needed to be a manager at all.
I pondered in brief silence.
27. The Agony of a Social Life (2)
I let out a long, drawn-out yawn.
I'd been living the life of a home security guard (unemployed), sleeping whenever I was drowsy and waking whenever my eyes opened. So having to get up at this early hour was a shock.
My eyes kept closing for all sorts of reasons.
- Ppi bi bik, ppi bi─.
Ugh, so noisy.
I roughly switched off the clock alarm ringing directly inside my head.
Even just one day of this seemed like it would drive me crazy.
I felt doubtful about how the countless working people of this era managed to endure this sound while living their lives.
I could change the alarm sound by subscribing to a paid service, but I rarely used the neural computer chip's alarm function anyway.
Naturally, I hadn't bought a paid subscription either.
Honestly, I kept forgetting about it too.
【We bring you NCB24 news using free ad data time.】
As soon as the alarm sound disappeared,
a news ad—forcibly delivered to free users—began.
Yawning long and hard on the sofa to make up for the lack of air, I simply slumped over where I was.
I used the pillow I'd slept on last night to cover my ears.
I was sleepy and my head wasn't clear.
I didn't care about anything else around me.
For now, I just wanted to get rid of this ad sound first.
But there was no way a measure of that level alone could block the news (ad) ringing inside my head.
The ad kept being transmitted into my bowed ears.
While in that state, I moved only my hand to search up the credit payment process.
【Terrorists have issued threats against the 'Iron Heart Festival', the most famous concert in Neon City. The terrorist group is known to be extreme Luddites─.】
The subscription credits were withdrawn from my account.
Soon enough, the ad news sound disappeared too.
Only then could I sit up.
I slowly assessed my situation.
......Mm.
Come to think of it, I had come to Andrea's house yesterday for the manager work and slept there.
Since she had said there was only one bed, I had simply said I'd sleep on the sofa.
There had been insistent requests from Andrea to just sleep in the same bed since she was fine with it.
But Andrea could not overcome my stubbornness, which had been tempered countless times through Geumjjogi.
I stretched my body with all my might.
Still, maybe because the sofa was plush, I didn't toss and turn too much in my sleep.
The time I'd set the alarm for was what Andrea had told me about beforehand. She had probably said we needed to start getting ready from that time.
The concert itself didn't start until evening though.
I had no idea why we had to start getting ready at the crack of dawn.
But since I was the one who had agreed to take on the manager duties, it was a grave I'd dug myself.
That was why I was currently suffering in fatigue and drowsiness.
...I wonder if Andrea is up.
Thinking that, I rose from the sofa. The blanket I had been covering myself with slid off my body.
.......
I felt something brush against my feet.
I scratched my head and looked down at my feet.
And
I froze at the same time.
"......."
Saek— It was because someone was sleeping on the floor, her breathing shallow.
She was also the main act of the music concert just mentioned in the news, and an influencer whose related news you could easily find in the Net Space.
Mercenary colleague and famous singer.
I let out a short sigh.
"...Why is she even sleeping here?"
Seeing as she had even brought a blanket to cover herself, she had spent the whole night here.
I had no clue when she'd even come in.
I was pretty sure I'd even seen her head to bed to sleep.
First, I sat back down on the sofa very carefully, killing all noise so as not to wake Andrea.
The sun's light, a sight only seen in the Upper Layer, brightly illuminated the living room through the wall and the giant glass door.
...She sleeps well despite it being this bright.
I rested my chin on my hand and looked down at Andrea.
Normally, if you slept on the floor, your hair would be a bird's nest.
But Andrea's hairstyle flowed softly, as if someone had styled it for her.
Do celebrities' hair not get bedhead either?
I smoothed down my own messy hair and thought this.
A sweet scent wafted gracefully from somewhere, riding the breeze of the air