Our First In-Person Collab (2)
The explanation poured out in a rapid-fire torrent, leaving my head spinning for a second. It was the usual time I ate dinner before streaming when Arine called me on Discord. I peeled open a familiar convenience store lunch box and answered her.
“So what do you think, oppa?”
“Well, as long as it helps the virtual marriage content, I’m fine with anything we do together.”
I wasn’t in any position to be picky. If Arine ever decided to end our virtual marriage, I’d be the only one taking the hit. I didn’t have the brain to come up with content as entertaining as hers anyway. The only thing I’d been able to think of was cooking together during an in-person collab or something along those lines.
“This was actually recommended by a consultant at my company, but I thought about it a lot on my own too, you know?”
“Yeah.”
“First, our dynamic has a nice contrast, which is good. And through this, we’ll get to know each other better, right? For a couple, understanding each other’s lives is important.”
“I guess so?”
“That way we can keep building that close vibe and show that we really understand each other. Yeah, yeah.”
“That does sound good.”
“Plus, it’s not like we’re skipping the live stream entirely. We’ll be filming all day, so the live portion will just be our in-person collab. I might have some external schedules, but your entire day is basically streaming, isn’t it?”
It stung a little, but she wasn’t wrong. After all, I was the guy who basically never left his house except to stream. Still, her intentions were so obvious they were almost transparent.
“…But in the end, you’re doing this because it’ll get good views on your YouTube, right?”
The awkward little cough made her embarrassment crystal clear, and I couldn’t help but laugh. She really was honest in moments like this. Sometimes I wondered if the girl scheming all those clever virtual marriage build-ups was even the same person.
“You’re just paddling hard now that the YouTube tide is in, aren’t you?”
“That’s… well… um… you’re not wrong… ahaha.”
“Why are you being so shy about it? We’re past that. Let’s just be honest. Save Arine’s YouTube channel~!”
“That’s right! Please save Arine’s YouTube channel! Oppa! I also want to give my editors a little raise…”
Hmm. Honesty really was refreshing. It was way better than her trying to dress it up with all sorts of justifications and subtly steering me toward what she wanted. When someone lowered themselves this honestly, it made you want to help them even more. And I had nothing to lose. Like I’d said before, just being exposed on her YouTube channel was already helpful for me. Sure, I’d probably have to push myself for a day or two to film this, but it wasn’t exactly overwork for someone who regularly streamed for twenty-four hours straight. I wouldn’t even be missing any lives, and on top of that, this would be our very first in-person collab.
“Wouldn’t it be better to build up to the in-person collab first?”
“No, oppa. Since we’ve already started the virtual marriage, it’s actually better to speed up the progression. If we only show developments people can predict, it gets boring. Something shocking like suddenly doing an in-person collab is what’s fun.”
“That makes sense. Romance shows are only entertaining when they go from not even holding hands to suddenly going to a hotel or something.”
Unexpected rapid developments were what made people react with surprise. Following the standard playbook was just too predictable. It might feel safe, but it lacked dopamine.
“…But isn’t this kind of a loss for you, oppa? Since I’m the only one with the YouTube channel.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah. So I prepared an appearance fee. It’s not a huge amount, but it’s my sincerity, so please accept it.”
“Hey, hey. You don’t have to go that far. If you come to my place for a collab, the donations will probably explode. That’s more than enough.”
“No. We should still observe basic courtesy between people. I, Arine, am not that kind of shameless woman. Hehe.”
The first refusal was just for politeness, but refusing a second time would be disregarding her sincerity. I should just quietly accept it when she offered. There was no need to turn down money when my situation was already tight. Worrying about Arine’s wallet was basically like a homeless person worrying about a conglomerate CEO’s wallet anyway.
“Okay. Then I’ll take it and really give it my all.”
“So if I hadn’t given you money, you wouldn’t have given it your all?”
“Huh? Well, wouldn’t I have judged that on a case-by-case basis?”
“Wow. Look at this guy. What a total materialist? Hehe.”
“Who are you calling a materialist? Says the capitalist monster who only thinks about YouTube views.”
We traded lighthearted jabs, giggling at each other. Having matched our rhythm so much on stream, our real-life conversations naturally flowed the same way. I was thinking how this was the kind of talk only streamers could have when I started wondering if we should end the call to prepare for the broadcast.
“…I’m a little nervous, though.”
Arine’s voice came through slightly shy and endearingly fresh. How should I describe it? Like a high school girl trying to hide her nervousness while talking to her favorite teacher? My chest tickled strangely, and I asked her,
“About what? Filming the YouTube content?”
“……You really can be dense at times like this, oppa?”
Arine let out a sigh.
“What are you talking about? Then what else is there?”
“Aren’t you nervous? This is the first time we’re actually seeing each other. In person?”
Ah, so that’s what she meant. Now I finally understood why she was nervous. We’d been seeing each other’s faces on camera this whole time and talking constantly on Discord, but we had never once met face-to-face in reality. This in-person collab would also, in a way, be our very first meeting.
“It feels a bit like that. Like meeting up in real life with a friend you’ve only known through games? It’s kind of awkward~”
Arine let out a cute little giggle. The overflowing charm in her voice and behavior made my heartbeat pick up without me realizing it.
…What the hell. We’re only meeting because of filming. Why is she talking like this is our first date or something?
“Now that you mention it, I am kind of excited.”
“Right? I’m going to dress up nicely, so you have to come looking pretty too, okay?”
“Anyone listening would think we’re going on a date. Hey.”
“It is a date. A man and a woman meeting up. Even if it’s a business-armored industrial-grade date.”
“The second you said ‘industrial-grade date,’ all my excitement died. Guess I’ll just show up in sweats and flip-flops, dragging my feet.”
I was saying things I didn’t mean. In reality, I was incredibly nervous. As if trying to convince myself that even that nervousness was fake, I grumbled back at her.
“You say that, but you definitely won’t do it. Pfft.”
Why didn’t any of my bluffs work on her? I had no idea.
I dropped one of my part-time jobs. It was something I couldn’t have imagined doing before. Skipping even a few shifts would have made it impossible to cover my living expenses as someone living alone. But recently my streaming income had started coming in steadily. Probably because my channel size had grown. So I figured I could quit one of the three part-time jobs I worked each week. It was a bold decision I could only make because I was thinking it over by myself.
Honestly, if we were only talking about this month, I probably could have quit two. But since I didn’t know how long this would last, I couldn’t afford to be reckless.
“This is usually the time I’d be sleeping, but here I am, awake.”
It was six in the morning. Both Arine and I had ended our streams early the night before. It was for the “experiencing each other’s daily lives” content she had mentioned. At first we’d tried to do a “swap lives for a day” concept, but that proved difficult. There were parts of each other’s schedules that the other simply couldn’t handle. So we changed direction to experiencing one full day together instead. In the end, there wasn’t much difference. I’d just follow along and help with miscellaneous tasks for the parts I couldn’t participate in. It really would be the two of us spending the entire day side by side, seeing exactly how the other lived.
Anyway, Arine didn’t usually wake up at this hour either. But today she had an external shoot as well, so she’d gotten up early. She had worried about my stamina, but I insisted that filming on a completely packed day like this would make for better content, and today ended up being chosen as the shoot date. Broadcast angles mattered more than my stamina. If we were going to film anyway, I wanted to show the viewers the most entertaining version possible.
I took my time washing up, put on neat clothes, and fixed my hair. Then, for the first time since breaking up with Seoyeon, I even sprayed on some cologne I’d never used before. Standing in front of the mirror and applying skincare, I caught sight of my own face and a laugh slipped out.
“When was the last time I got ready this seriously? I don’t think I ever did this much even when I was dating Choi Seoyeon.”
Of course I had shown sincerity, but the longer we dated, the more relaxed my mindset became. There were times Seoyeon would come out in nothing but sweats too. Strangely, seeing myself getting dressed up like this felt more exciting than the fact that I was meeting someone.
Well, who was I meeting today? It was Arine—one of the most famous people on Naty.
“Anyone would think I’m going on a date. I’m going to work. I’m going to work.”
I patted my own cheeks to remind myself. I couldn’t stop the fluttering feeling, but this wasn’t a casual outing with Arine. I needed to forcibly put on a work mindset. Even so, the corners of my mouth refused to come down.
…Maybe I had been starving for this. It had been quite a while since I’d met anyone outside of streaming. I guess even I could feel loneliness. And if that person was a beautiful woman like Arine, it was bound to feel even better. Whether it was for work or a personal meeting.
Enough. I was overthinking again by myself. I forcibly calmed my racing heart and turned away from the mirror. It was almost time for our appointment—six thirty. Arine was supposed to pick me up in front of my house. I slowly opened the door and stepped outside.
I walked down the alley from my semi-basement apartment, opened the rusty green-painted gate, and was greeted by an unfamiliar sight in a very familiar alley.
“A van? That’s a van, right?”
There was a huge vehicle in this shabby little alley that I had never seen before. A black van—the kind celebrities rode around in—was standing out conspicuously right in front of my house. It wasn’t as massive as the ones I’d seen on TV, but it was definitely way too big for Arine to use alone. I looked around, but the only car parked there was that one. The engine was already running, as if ready to leave at any moment, waiting for me.
…So that really is it.
Realizing it was Arine’s pickup vehicle, I awkwardly walked over. As soon as I stopped in front of the door, the rear window rolled down and a woman’s face appeared.
“Wow, it’s oppa. Hi? Doyun oppa? No, no. Today I should call you Doyun, right?”
She added “since we’re filming” at the end. I stared at her blankly. Then, without any shame, I looked at her face as if possessed and muttered,
“……Wow. It really is Arine. This is insane. You’re fucking pretty.”
Like a fan who had run into their favorite idol on the street. She was so much prettier in real life. The words just flowed out like an exclamation, without any thought behind them.
“……W-what did you just say? Oppa?”
At that, Arine’s face instantly flushed bright red.