The Illustrator (1)
"...She's really a decent person, right?"
Lucia had already told me more than once that everything would be fine, but the anxiety refused to fade. Still, this was the best I could do right now.
"She'll be a good person."
In the end, all I could do was mutter it under my breath and try to hypnotize myself.
Yesterday the conversation had turned to an illustrator who could draw my streaming character, and faced with the tragic reality that I had no money, I asked Lucia for help. Fortunately, she introduced me to a talented illustrator she already knew. The problem was that this person did not exactly come across as ordinary.
SAX
Even the name gave off a strange vibe, and the moment we started talking they demanded we meet offline, just like that. In the end, I said okay...
After that conversation ended, a day flew by, and now it was time to leave for the meeting place. Even as I changed into the outing clothes I had bought with Sea, I could not shake the unease.
No. It'll be fine.
No matter how hard I tried to convince myself, my heart kept pounding. Come to think of it, this would be the first time I had met anyone in this form besides Sea. If the first person I met turned out to be some weirdo, wouldn't that just settle into trauma?
"...Maybe I should cancel even now."
But then I would feel terrible about Lucia, who had gone out of her way to introduce someone for me. Even I, who had barely ever held down a real job, knew that suddenly blowing off a meeting would be incredibly rude to her. And if the reason was not some unavoidable circumstance, but simply that the other person made me uneasy and creeped out? I would not even need to explain further.
"That's right. I'm going to trust Lucia-sama!"
More than anything, there was no way Lucia would introduce someone who would do me harm. I had felt that in my bones during yesterday's stream.
Originally I had planned to take a few days off because the setup still was not finished. But Lucia had warned that even a single day off could settle into a bad habit, emphasizing that one of the most important things for a streamer to grow was consistency. So I went live for about three hours even though it was late in the evening.
The results were amazing. Peak viewers hit nine, and six people were still there when I ended! Most of the reactions were really positive, too.
Lucia said the number one reason yesterday's stream succeeded was that I had swapped the mic and the audio quality had improved. Before that, it had actually been uncomfortable to listen to. And she declared that once the character was successfully established, I would grow on a scale that could not even compare to now.
I really hoped that was true. Which meant that for the sake of the stream, I absolutely had to meet SAX.
"Time to head out."
I nodded to myself in the mirror. Outfit as neat as possible, without standing out. Okay. Let's go. After steeling my resolve one last time, I left the house.
The destination was a cafe not too far away. I shuffled inside, and the place was fairly crowded — popular, apparently. I looked around, but with nothing to go on, finding SAX was not going to be easy. I gave up searching and sent a message.
Following those directions, I spotted someone sitting alone by the window. The odd thing was they were sitting with their back turned. Don't people who arrive first usually sit facing the entrance?
Anyway, I headed over, looking at the back of the person I assumed was SAX. Even though I had already messaged that I had arrived, they did not turn around at all, just kept looking forward.
"Ano... SAX-sama?"
"Oh."
"Eh."
I went around in front of them and offered a greeting, and the moment our eyes met we both let out a sound of surprise. The gaze that looked me up and down was full of interest. The exclamation that had slipped out naturally definitely felt positive, which should have been a good thing — but this was not the time to dwell on something so minor.
The reason I had been startled was simple. They looked nothing like what I had imagined.
I had not been able to tell with the hat and their head leaned back against the chair, but up close, their hair was incredibly long. And it was not just the hair. Vivid red lips. Sharp, sanpaku eyes. Plus a beauty mark under the right eye. Overall the impression was sharp enough to be a little scary, but the whole atmosphere was so striking I could not help but be impressed — she was a genuine beauty.
"Etto..."
"Sit."
"Hai."
I plopped down across from her before I even realized it. She rested her chin on her hand and stared at me. The faint smile that crept onto her lips had a predator-like quality that was a little frightening.
"Hmm..."
I froze like a statue and could only try to avoid her eyes.
"Seo Yewon. Nice to meet you."
"...Watashi no namae wa Yukino Hana desu."
"What's with you. I watched yesterday's stream and you speak Korean just fine."
"...Yes. I'm Hana-chan."
I was so nervous my pronunciation felt worse than usual. Was my Korean originally this bad? Honestly, I had a feeling I would have been stammering the same way whether I was Japanese or Korean right now.
"I already ordered. Iced Americano okay? Ah, you might not know if I say it like that. I mean iced americano."
"Yes. That's fine..."
"Sorry. I suddenly asked to meet, so it was a little uncomfortable, right?"
Yes.
Of course I could not say that out loud.
"Ah, no! I-i-it's fine?!"
"You're not very good at lying."
This is hard. Among all the trials since I changed, this is as hard as telling Sea the truth!
The biggest reason was that SAX was nothing like the person I had imagined. How do I put it. Between the nickname and suddenly asking to meet, I had pictured some weird guy who liked slightly pervy stuff. But when I actually came out and met her, here was an unnie so cool she was almost scary. Is this what they call reverse charm?
Then the buzzer on the table went off and she stood up.
"I'll go get it. Wait here."
"Wa-watashi will!"
"Wait."
"Yes."
I waited obediently, and Unnie soon came back with two coffees and a slice of cheesecake.
"Eat."
"Yes."
And I realized something. The best thing to do was not talk back and just say yes quietly.
I picked up the coffee first and took a sip.
Ugh. So bitter! I cannot believe coffee tastes this bad. I had not been a big americano drinker to begin with, but right now it was so bitter it was astringent, enough to make my tongue tremble.
"You don't like coffee. You're not being a little too obvious about scrunching up your face?"
"N-n-no! Watashi coffee daisuki...!"
"Hmm. Then do you not like cheesecake either?"
I don't know. Will this new palate of mine like cheesecake? With a slightly trembling heart I picked up the fork, scooped a bit of cake, and put it in my mouth.
And.
"Uhehe."
"You like it. A lot."
It's delicious. A happy flavor that made a smile leak out of me before I could stop it. This is what cake is. This is what dessert is!
After that I ate with blatant discrimination between the cake and the coffee. I did not even touch the coffee and just kept eating the cheesecake, so of course she noticed, but luckily she did not say anything about it.
"Listen while you eat."
"Nom nom."
"There's a reason I called you out to see you in person."
"Munch munch."
"The thing is, I have one condition when I draw."
"Om nom nom."
It's so good. I unconsciously held out my fork, then stopped. And I could not help but be startled.
"You already finished the whole thing?!"
"...I'll buy you more, so stop making that drowned-puppy face."
"Ehehe."
She was not kidding — she actually went to the counter and bought more. Thanks to that, I realized something. Unnie was not a scary person. She was an angel who just did not have wings! I mean, buying cheesecake this readily for someone she had just met. She was definitely an angel.
"Anyway, to continue, I only draw when I actually feel like I want to draw something."
"Eh? Isn't that obvious?"
How many people force themselves to draw when they don't want to?
"The nuance is a little vague, but in a word, just getting paid isn't enough to make me want to draw."
"Aha."
"So when she asked me, I was a little surprised. She knows my personality well, so if she was asking anyway, she must have thought you had some charm that would catch my interest."
Listening to her, I felt a sense of unease. In other words, it was not that she would automatically say yes just because Lucia asked. I had to win Unnie over and meet her conditions. So I set down my fork and asked carefully, my heart trembling.
"...Th-then, are you going to draw watashi?"
"Hmm. What do you think?"
"Answering a question with a question is a bad habit."
"......"
Ah, did I just lose points with that answer? The thought made me suddenly sad.