Barbecue Revelations

The meat restaurant owner was delighted to suddenly receive a trio of beauties (one of whom would vehemently deny the label). Welcoming customers with striking looks was always good for business, after all—it was like dragging in a golden lump of luck that drew everyone else's attention. And not just one, but three. On top of that, each woman had a completely different kind of charm. From the owner's perspective, it was practically winning the lottery.

"Three of you? Right this way, please have a seat over here."

Guiding them to the window seats with the best view of the restaurant from outside wasn't particularly strange either.

"Oh, window seats."

Thanks to Minji and Yongho, who had spent the entire day suffering in the heat, the owner's shallow little scheme slipped right past them without suspicion. In any case, the three of them took their seats.

"What do you want to eat?"

"Anything's fine."

"I'm good with whatever."

Minji and Yongho casually tossed out the one phrase you should never say when deciding on a menu—"anything's fine"—over and over.

"...Then I'll just order for us?"

"Yeah."

"Sure."

Suha's brow furrowed slightly at that, but it was a minor incident. A meat restaurant didn't exactly offer a vast array of choices anyway. Minji had always been like this, and her friend Baek Ryong-gak was... well, a rather unique person in many ways. Suha decided to just let it go.

After pressing the call bell and ordering four servings of pork belly, soybean paste stew, and two bowls of rice, Suha looked over at the two baby birds chattering beside her. For the record, one bowl of rice came standard with the stew.

"Ryong-gak, you should take your mask off indoors."

"No."

"Come on, are you going to ignore your big sister?"

"Get lost."

Minji cackled while Baek Ryong-gak scowled and looked ready to punch someone. Watching the two friends bicker and squabble was enough to bring a smile to anyone's face, but... when exactly had things turned out like this?

Resting her chin on one hand, Suha wondered how Baek Ryong-gak had ended up crashing what was supposed to be a quiet dinner between just her and Minji. Just an hour ago, the group had consisted of only Suha and Minji. As they were leaving the gymnasium after the showcase to grab dinner, Minji had suddenly said, "Come to think of it, that guy was there too. Should I call him?"

Before Suha could even ask who "that guy" was, Minji had already explained it was Baek Ryong-gak and asked for permission to invite him. Deep down, Suha had wanted it to stay just the two of them, but she couldn't exactly refuse when it was Minji's friend. Besides, Baek Ryong-gak didn't seem like the type who enjoyed outdoor activities much, and most civilians had already left the gymnasium a while ago, so she figured he probably wouldn't come anyway.

But lo and behold, he actually showed up.

With petty thoughts like "Ah, he really came. No sense of tact... I wanted to be alone with Minji," Suha grumbled internally. Still, Baek Ryong-gak was someone who had known Minji longer than she had, and he was a famous high-level player in Ias even if he didn't stream. Building some camaraderie couldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hurt.

Even with her complaints, Suha made sure not to show them.

"Hey now, is that any way to talk to your big sister?"

"I'm leaving."

"Ah, sorry, sorry! Ryong-gak, you're really upset, huh? Back in the day you would've let me go for four more rounds! Has our friendship gone cold?"

Baek Ryong-gak had every right to feel wronged. After all, if it was just her getting excitedly hit while talking about friendship, what did that even mean? It sounded like he was supposed to just keep taking the jabs. But if he tried to counterattack, there weren't many things he could tease Minji about. Not that there were none, but in a situation where jabs were flying back and forth, he couldn't exactly throw a straight punch.

"Ryong-gak, want to hit the sauna after we eat? It'll feel great if we scrub each other's backs—kheuk!"

"Hey, hey, you crazy woman!"

Fortunately, Minji's nonsense was immediately cut off by Suha's sharp hand chop. Apparently, the only way to stop that endlessly chattering, destructive mouth was through violence. Though using violence against this crazy woman—who was technically female now, even if she had been male before—felt a bit off. Then again, since she kept treating him like a woman, maybe using violence wouldn't be a problem after all.

That aside, the sauna... It had been over ten years since he'd stopped going because of the treatment he always received there.

Yongho actually loved bathing. Especially soaking in a warm tub up to his neck—he enjoyed it more than anything. Once he started, he would lose track of time and stay submerged. If Minji had known, she would've laughed and said, "Pfft! Look, you're totally a girl!" But since he only thought it to himself, that never happened.

Still, even so... A woman inviting a man into the bath together? And scrubbing backs? It felt a bit awkward. That crazy woman really had no fear of men.

"What, why is your face so red?"

"I-It's hot! Ah, it's so hot. Did they turn the heater up too high in here?"

Yongho's face had flushed from the ridiculous imagination that suddenly popped into his head, but fortunately, Minji—with her catastrophic lack of awareness—didn't notice at all. Suha was also focused more on Minji than on Baek Ryong-gak, so it was a fortunate moment for Yongho in many ways.

"Four servings of pork belly are here. Enjoy your meal!"

Right as the conversation was losing direction, an employee arrived with the meat. Thanks to that, Minji's ravenous attention shifted from Baek Ryong-gak ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to the food, and peace finally returned to the table.

As soon as the meat arrived, Suha grabbed the tongs and quickly spread the fat across the grill to coat it with oil. Minji... well, she was never going to do it in the first place. Baek Ryong-gak also gave off the vibe that he wouldn't either. Suha figured she would have to grill the meat herself, but—

"Give me the tongs. I'll grill."

"Huh? I can do it, though."

Oh? What was this? Suha blinked in surprise at Minji, who was holding out her hand and offering to grill the meat herself. With a half-doubting heart, she handed over the tongs. Minji's posture was surprisingly proper.

"I'm actually really good at grilling meat, you know? You can all look forward to it."

It was something no one would have expected, but surprisingly, Minji was more skilled at grilling meat than anyone. Back in the orphanage days, whenever they had meat parties once or twice a month for nutrition, the grilling duty had always fallen to Minji. As the eldest and the big brother figure to the kids, it had been her responsibility, and it was the only time even the pastor looked at Minji with pride.

The pork belly sizzled with a pleasant sound as it cooked to a delicious golden brown. Baek Ryong-gak's eyes darted around nervously, clearly thinking, "I should do something too."

"I'll go get more."

"Uh, yeah. Make sure to grab from the top part."

In the end, Baek Ryong-gak switched roles to serving, and unexpectedly, Suha became the one doing nothing at the table. She had unintentionally secured the "freeloader seat," so she was the only one who benefited. Of course, since she was the designated driver, no one would complain about her enjoying this small luxury.

As everyone was happily eating and picking at the meat with their chopsticks, Minji suddenly spoke up.

"Oh right, I decided to become an official streamer."

It was a bombshell dropped out of nowhere.

"Huh? Didn't you say you weren't going to?"

"...An official streamer?"

Suha tilted her head, while Baek Ryong-gak's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. Suha already knew Minji had gone to meet Jeon Gangseop, but at the time Minji had clearly said she wasn't interested in the official streamer position. Suha had subtly suggested using it as leverage to get a custom PC first, but she never expected Minji to actually accept. A streamer who signed a contract just to get a PC they could receive later anyway—there probably wasn't anyone else like that in the world. She really was a child who made people worry about leaving her alone. Even though her body was far from childlike, Minji still needed someone by her side—

"An official streamer? You?"

Suha's wandering thoughts were cut short by Yongho's loud exclamation. For the record, Yongho's voice was on the higher side, so to others it sounded somewhat androgynous. It was his second complex after his appearance.

"Yeah, and I've already been assigned an ad broadcast, by the way."

"Eh? Really?"

She had taken longer than expected to refuse, so it turned out she really had signed the contract. But what kind of contract gets finalized that quickly? And she's already been given an ad? What even is it? Her decisiveness and execution speed were truly baffling to everyone around her.

"By the way, the ad is an Ias custom PC unboxing."

They had been wondering what kind of ad it was, but Minji answered it herself right away.

"Ah, unboxing~ That doesn't sound too bad."

Since she had decided to receive the custom PC in advance, it seemed they were planning to use Minji for promotion. Minji also got to be the first to publicly reveal the custom PC, so it was a win-win structure for both sides.

Then Suha suddenly had a thought. But unboxing? Unboxing...? Hmm... To do that, you'd need a camera, right? Camera? Huh...?

"Wait a second!"

Thanks to Suha's shout, Minji—who had been wearing a smug expression while bragging—jumped in surprise. What? Had she bragged too much? Maybe Suha had wanted to become an official streamer too? Yongho, who had been quietly eating meat while watching the situation, also got startled and started rolling his eyes around.

"W-Why...? What's wrong?"

Of course, the reason Suha had shouted wasn't what Minji was thinking.

"Then you'll have to do a cam stream, won't you?!"

Naturally, unboxing wasn't just rustling sounds without showing anything on camera. The charm of unboxing was providing direct visual information to viewers—showing them exactly what was inside with a "Ta-da!" moment. But Minji was a strict no-cam streamer who, aside from today, had never shown even a single thread of her real appearance on camera. Assigning an unboxing ad to someone like that seemed odd no matter how you looked at it.

"Minji, did you sign the contract while wearing your helmet?"

"Come on, what do you take me for? Of course not! I know how to show at least basic courtesy, you know?"

This was the same person who would have kept the helmet on if it hadn't been hot inside. She was lying through her teeth without a shred of shame. Whether she did or not, Suha's mind was spinning. No way, right? That was too much of a leap. Unboxing didn't necessarily require showing your face anyway. Ah, that's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right. She could just not show her face and it would be fine.

"Minji, I have a good idea..."

"What is it?"

"You know what a VLOG is, right?"

VLOG was a combination of "video" and "log," referring to video posts where people recorded their daily lives and uploaded them online. Surprisingly, its history went back to the late 19th century, but the modern form that became widely known and popular started in the 2010s.

"I know what it is, but why?"

"I was thinking we could film this ad broadcast in that style."

Minji was a rather unique streamer who didn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even have a computer at home and had to go to PC bangs to stream. The fact that they had specifically assigned her an unboxing broadcast probably meant they didn't know much about her situation. Since Minji wasn't the type to go into detail like "I don't have a computer at home, haha," it was much more likely that they had assigned it without knowing.

"Hmm... But then I'd have to film it with my phone?"

Even if she did that, VLOGs weren't something you could easily attempt with just a phone. Filming itself might be possible, but it would seal one hand and put her in all sorts of inconvenient situations. That's why VLOG creators usually carried special cameras—mainly body cams that attached to the body.

And the reason Suha brought this up was—

"Don't worry, I have a head-mounted camera you can use."

She had finally found a use for the cam she had kept stored away without ever using it.