Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: See You Next Time
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"Alright, that looks good."
"Ehehe, great work!"
"Good job, Eve~ I'm gonna head back and rest."
"Yes, hehe."
After getting the OK from Director Grandpa, it was finally break time. Lunch had stretched out a bit, but we'd wrapped up pretty quickly. Now there was just one last outfit left, and that would finish all four sets.
"Eve, good work."
"Eloise! I did great, right?!"
"Yeah, you did. Want one of these?"
"Ooh, chocolate."
Eloise pulled a chocolate from her pocket and handed it to me. It was that brand with the red and white colors, the one kids usually eat.
When I actually tried it, it just tasted like really good chocolate. The white stuff inside was the best part.
"Is today your last day too, Eloise?"
"No, I've got until tomorrow."
"That sounds tough. Should I come back tomorrow?"
"Pfft, you wanna? What would you even do?"
I mean, fair point. What would I do if I came? Sit by the heater to stay warm? Once I finished the five outfits in the afternoon session today, I'd be saying bye-bye to everyone at the shoot anyway.
"Oh, Eloise. Let's follow each other on Insta."
"Insta... sure?"
"Yeah!"
Eloise had a whopping 1.8 million followers on Instagram. Every photo on her feed looked like a professional photoshoot spread. Well, she's the ambassador for Mayfair, so that makes sense. But it felt more like a company account than a personal one, which was kind of a shame.
"You don't have any other accounts besides this one?"
"Like a personal one? Nah, I don't really do Instagram."
"Heh, gotcha. So the company manages it?"
"Mostly, yeah. But I can follow whoever I want. As long as it's not controversial."
"I see..."
Eloise only followed about 70 people. Being one of the chosen 70 by Eloise herself? That was like getting a medal. An ambassador for a world-famous luxury brand following me??
The recognition association approves.
"Heh, Eve. You've got a lot of followers too."
"Still way less than you."
"Mine's basically a company account. Doesn't really feel like mine."
"Hmm... Yeah? Want me to recommend some fun stuff to post?"
"Fun stuff?"
From the look on her face, Eloise clearly wasn't into Instagram. Time for me to school her a bit.
"This is something I never share with anyone, but since you gave me Kinder Chocolate, I'll let you have it."
"What's this...?"
I rustled around in the pocket of my puffy jacket that I'd taken off and pulled out a treasure. Straight imported from Korea: dukkum-gu, the Korean choco pie. Posting pics of this would make her feed instantly trendier.
Her current feed was all stiff and full of announcements or whatever. Felt kinda hard to approach. Nothing really worth scrolling through.
"Here, eat this and take a pic."
"W-wait. Is it okay to eat this? It looks like it'll make me gain a ton of weight."
"...Just eat it. You're still growing."
Eloise narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the choco pie in her hand. Half-doubting, she peeled back the wrapper halfway, pushed up the top with her finger, and took a tiny nibble.
"H-how is it...?"
"Mmm... It's good. Pistachio, huh."
"Right? Take a pic and post it. It's super popular in Korea."
"But isn't this viral marketing? If you're posting on your feed, you should at least get paid for it."
"Gasp."
Now that I thought about it, yeah. Even Chae-ah unnie, with her 50k followers, got sponsored cosmetics and posted pics all the time. Why had I been hyping choco pies for free? But I didn't mention the company, so maybe no one would notice.
"How about this instead? I'm gonna do it when I get back to Korea."
"What's that?"
"You know Scoop Market? They put a ton of jelly, chocolate, candy, snacks, all that stuff in a huge box, then scoop out portions like this to sell."
"Why would you sell another company's products for money?"
"Uh..."
"Did you get paid to advertise all this?"
"N-no...? I buy it myself with my own money...?"
"Huh?"
Thinking about it, it did sound kinda weird. Buying a bunch of snacks and putting them in a box... Why scoop and sell them? Was this even legal? Felt like reselling.
"Dunno."
"Korea has a lot of weird trends."
"Hehe, yeah? I don't get it either, but it's fun for sure."
Videos of scooping tiny toys, beads, pearls, stuff like that into a toy scoop. Packaging it all nicely in shipping boxes.
Eloise watched the Scoop Market reels I'd saved, then nodded like something clicked.
"Oh, I do have stuff I could sell like that."
"Ooh, really? What?"
"Brooches from Mayfair. They're small, and there are a bunch. About this big?"
Eloise held out her palm and circled her finger to show the size. Even on her small hand, you could fit like four. The details varied, but roughly that size.
"Brooch Scoop Market? That sounds fun! How much per one? I wanna buy some!"
"The cheaper ones are around 8 million won, up to 22 million for the pricier ones. To sell by scoop, you'd need about 40 million per scoop."
"Th-that's not Scoop Market..."
"Hmm, yeah?"
Eloise's brooch Scoop Market would attract oil barons in Dubai, not chewy cookie fans. I was thinking more like Haribo gummies and ABC chocolate snacks.
"You must get a huge allowance then, Eloise."
"Even if I do, I don't really spend it. Just use the card."
"How do you not spend it? I'd buy Robux and choco pies..."
"Ah... I don't game."
"For real?! Not even Roblox?!"
"Nah, not really."
Eloise was missing out on half—no, 75% of life. Brainrot stealing is the most violently fun game I know.
Beating the crap out of thieves trying to steal your stuff. Pure primal joy.
"Check this out. This is super expensive. I stole it from some other kid."
"I-is that so... Wild."
Eloise glanced at my character and tilted her head.
"Um... What's with that speech bubble?"
"This? It's an avatar accessory. A friend I met in-game bought it and said we should match."
"Ah, hmm... You shouldn't wear that."
"Why?"
"And don't meet that friend either."
"Why...?"
Gasp, Eloise is jealous. I have too many game friends, and I'm too awesome...!
"Thank you for all your hard work, Miss Ophelia. I learned a lot thanks to you."
"I'm glad it was helpful."
Ophelia's hair conditioning skills completely outshone the professional stylists. With all five outfits from the contract done, I had no more reason to come back to this shoot.
"Eve, you heading out now?"
"Yeah. You got one more left?"
"Still a couple. Two more by tomorrow."
"Gotcha. You have tons of money—why work so hard?"
"Ah, um..."
Eloise hesitated, then trailed off awkwardly without finishing.
"Just... stuff like that."
"Hey! No way! Spill it."
"Spill what? I wasn't gonna say anything."
"Liar! Tell me! If you don't, I'm not leaving!"
"Fine. Hang out till dinner then."
"I'm cold... Hurry up and tell me..."
Her expression looked off, and if I backed down now, I'd regret it forever. I'd wake up in the middle of the night wondering what she was about to say.
"Well... The thing is."
"Yeah, what?"
Eloise started to speak, glanced around to check for anyone nearby, then leaned in close to my ear.
"Actually... Both Mom and Dad got seriously hurt."
"Gasp... They weren't Hunter Police...?!"
"No, they got hurt while on Hunter Police duty..."
"Ah."
Yeah, honestly, even if Hunter Police are busy, everyone gets time off at year-end. It was weird she hadn't seen them. How?
Turns out, Eloise's parents weren't just busy—they'd been injured on the job and were hospitalized.
Work made time fly for her. And earning money was nice, though not because she needed it. The first reason seemed bigger.
"I see... Sorry, shouldn't have pried."
"It's fine. They're doing much better now."
"Wh-when do they get discharged?"
"Probably the day after tomorrow."
"Day after tomorrow...!"
This was day five in the UK. We'd planned for a full week, with our flight out the evening of the day after tomorrow.
"Eloise! I'll go meet your mom and dad!"
"Why would you?"
"Um... Just 'cause?"
"Pfft..."
What reason? Your parents got hurt, hospitalized, and now they're getting discharged... Of course I'd go.
"I'm flying out in two days. I'd miss them if I couldn't meet!"
"My mom and dad?"
"Y-yeah...?"
"That's hilarious. What kind of reason is that?"
Eloise burst out laughing, cracking up for a good while.
"Alright. If there's time, I'll ask them."
"You have to! I'll ask if it's okay to game together too."
"Hehe, yeah. Sounds fun. Go on, Ophelia looks like she's waiting."
"Okay. Keep checking Insta! I'll message you for real!!"
"Yeah, yeah, got it."
"And that's how it is. We're meeting Eloise's mom and dad when they get discharged."
"I see."
"Time should be fine, right? When's our flight?"
"9 PM UK time. Plenty of time for lunch or dinner."
"Phew, good!"
On the way back to the Claridges Hotel, I got Ophelia's okay too. Tomorrow I'd lounge at the hotel all day, then hang out the day after.
"Ehehe. What should we do? Gotta think of something."