Illustration (2)
"I'm still thinking about it."
That was the answer I got when I asked if she would draw me.
Should I take it as good news that there was still hope?
After that brief reply she said nothing more, just sipping her coffee. At first I waited patiently. But when the silence stretched on for minutes, I finally couldn't stand it and spoke up first.
"...Um, excuse me."
"Hm?"
"Have you finished thinking?"
"Are you rushing me?"
"Ah, no! I was just curious, that's all..."
When I scrambled to explain myself, she let out a small snort of laughter and said,
"Is there anything you're curious about?"
"Eh? Etto..."
Was this some kind of interview? Was this whole conversation a trap to test me?!
Honestly, though, there was one thing I was dying to know.
"...Um, what does your nickname mean?"
"My nickname? It means exactly what it says."
"Hiik...!"
Exactly what it says—that could only mean...! So she really did name it that! How filthy!
"That's ecchi!"
"Hm?"
Noona tilted her head, looking genuinely puzzled. Then she asked, as if she truly wanted to know,
"What's wrong with SAX? It's just an instrument."
"...Eh?"
"Short for saxophone. You didn't know?"
"Deh... sonna...!"
"Then what did you think it meant, if you called it ecchi..."
"Ah, nothing! I was mistaken! Completely mistaken!"
Thankfully, Noona let it slide without pressing further. Maybe she didn't know the word ecchi because it was only used in Japan? I desperately wanted to believe that.
"Then, SAX-sama, can you play the saxophone too?"
"Yeah. I've been learning since I was little. And just call me unnie. Relax."
"...I, I'm more comfortable like this, though."
"Call me that."
"Yes, ma'am."
I couldn't refuse. Anyway, thanks to Noona's insistence, I would be calling her unnie from now on.
Still, the fact that she'd been learning saxophone since childhood was pretty amazing, so I found myself asking all sorts of questions without meaning to. A niche instrument like the saxophone isn't generally easy to pick up—especially in Korea. Realistically, the only instruments people learn here are piano or guitar. Which naturally led to a certain thought.
Was she born rich?
That suspicion hardened into certainty when she mentioned she'd gone to America to study saxophone.
"Then why do you draw now?"
"Hmm. Just because? Drawing's fun too."
"Heeh..."
That was impressive. If it were me, I would have clung to the saxophone and never let go. Going all the way overseas to study and then achieving a completely different dream... that couldn't have been easy.
"Ano... I want to see your art!"
"She didn't show you?"
"Hai."
The "she" Noona meant was definitely Lucia. After all, Lucia was the only person who connected the two of us.
"Alright."
Noona readily agreed and pulled a tablet from her bag to show me. There were quite a lot of pieces. As I looked through them one by one, I couldn't help gasping in admiration with every new image.
"Sugee!"
"Fufu. Thanks."
The art was incredible. I couldn't deny it was far better than the illustrator whose work I'd liked before. One unusual thing: contrary to what I'd expected, her style was closer to a hardcore otaku aesthetic. I'd naturally assumed it would be more semi-realistic.
"Isn't that obvious? You've got to draw in a style that works for streaming. And I like this kind of illustration myself."
"Naruhodo."
As we looked at the pictures, I realized our distance had closed without my noticing. In the physical sense, I mean. Noona had come around to sit beside me so naturally that we'd ended up looking at the art together. The whole thing had flowed so smoothly I'd completely failed to notice until it was too late.
"...Y-you're too close."
"Are you the bashful type?"
Bashful doesn't even begin to cover it. I'm a socially inept, shut-in hikikomori.
Thinking that, I was a little surprised. This morning, when I'd left the house, I'd been completely at a loss about what I was even supposed to do when we met. And yet now that we were actually together, everything was proceeding without any real trouble. Maybe it wasn't only the physical distance that had closed.
Once we'd talked enough and the timing felt right, I glanced at her and carefully brought it up.
"...S-so, will you draw me?"
"I told you. I'm still thinking about it."
"Ah..."
The answer hadn't changed. I still hadn't gotten a definite yes. Had I been the only one who thought we'd gotten closer...?
If it was taking this long, maybe I was going to get rejected after all. If she were going to want to draw me, wouldn't that feeling have come already? It had been over an hour since we met, and she was still "thinking about it." That probably meant her heart was already leaning toward no.
It was sad, but there was nothing I could do. I couldn't cling to her pathetically. I should just be satisfied that I'd managed to have a conversation with someone I'd never met before. But I couldn't hide the gloom welling up inside me. I hung my head and forced myself to repeat that thought.
And then a voice slipped into my ear.
"I'm trying to figure out how to design the character. It's harder than I expected."
At Yewon's words, Hana lifted her bowed head and stupidly repeated,
"...Deh?"
"I was sure of it from the moment I first saw you. You're going to be the best character I've ever drawn."
"...F-fueee?!"
"What's with that weird reaction."
Yewon had been smiling dryly at Hana's sudden whimper—until she got a genuine shock. Because Hana was actually looking up at her with tears welling in her eyes.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"I-watashi...! I thought you weren't going to draw me...! So I..."
"What are you even saying."
A bizarre, indecipherable loop of watashi, watashi, watashi. But the person hearing it—Yewon—felt cute before she felt frustrated.
Yewon was certain. A character like this had an originality and charm you couldn't find anywhere else. This was not something you could manufacture with acting or a concept. Just being Japanese wouldn't be enough to succeed in the oversaturated streaming world. But this girl in front of her—Yewon was sure she could do it. Even outside of streaming, this was a kid with a magnetic pull that drew people in.
"So what you're saying is, you freaked out because you thought I wouldn't draw you?"
"...Ko, kowakatta."
"Hmm. Then should I draw you right now? Just a sketch."
"Right now...? Hai! Onegaishimasu!"
She had her tablet with her, and there was plenty of time, so there wasn't any real problem. A rough sketch wouldn't take that long anyway. There was just one issue. She still hadn't decided on the character.
When designing a character, it wasn't something the artist decided alone. Naturally, you had to ask the client who would actually use the character, and work it out together. And since the client happened to be sitting right across from her, Yewon asked for her opinion immediately.
"What kind of character do you want?"
"Me? Hmm... just something that feels like me?"
"What's that supposed to mean."
Hana answered with surprising seriousness.
"Because I am me!"
It was, depending on how you looked at it, a disappointingly hollow answer—and at the same time a maddeningly philosophical sentence. But Yewon, seeing the look in Hana's eyes as she said it, roughly understood what she meant.
"Okay. Got it."
Yewon began capturing the girl on her tablet.
Normally, a character meant for streaming needed a striking feature. To catch people's eyes, you needed a personality that set you apart from other streamers. Commonly, that meant accessories or animal ears. Sometimes people went non-human for the sake of uniqueness, or came up with characters so original they bordered on excessive. Every one of those elements was a desperate struggle to make even a name stick in someone's memory.
But the character Yewon was drawing now was different.
Long, straight black hair falling past the shoulders. Gentle eyes holding large, clear irises. A face that looked innocent overall, paired with an outstanding figure. And on top of that, a spotless, sunny smile. The character on the screen didn't really have any standout features. To put it crudely, she was the kind of black-haired, well-endowed heroine you'd see in any anime.
But Yewon was certain this was the character that suited her best. And only after she'd finished drawing did she fully understand why Hana had said what she said.
A character was nothing more than a doorway to show her charm. Everyone who watched her streams wouldn't fall for a pretty character—they'd fall for the charm of Hana-chan the streamer herself.
"Hmm..."
Still, maybe this was a little too plain?
Yewon tweaked the finished sketch slightly. From a simple smiling pose to a scene of her happily eating. The food was sushi. There was no need to completely throw away the Japanese angle. This was the line. If she added any more distinctive features, the original charm would start to disappear.
"Done."
"Eh. Already?"
When she showed her the drawing, Hana's reaction exceeded all imagination. She burst into tears on the spot. Watching her, Yewon filed away a new fact in her head: this kid cried more easily than she'd thought.