Chapter 28: Summary (2)

After a successful showcase, every day felt like a dream for Jeonga.

Her broadcasts as the VTuber Ajung were more vibrant than ever, and the time spent with Rinne-sunbaenim, no, Jungyeon-unni, under the name ‘Starlight Project’ was also enjoyable.

Amidst the pouring attention and support, the shadows of the past seemed to be fading.

Yes, until just yesterday, she had believed so.

Last night’s broadcast was also successful.

The viewer count was still high, and praise and donations for her new avatar poured in endlessly.

After finishing the broadcast and leaving a thank-you message on the fan cafe, she habitually searched her name or group name.

Among the positive reactions, a link to an unfamiliar community suddenly caught her eye.

– [Domestic VTuber Gallery] Starlight Ajung’s Red Pill Level LOL

Her heart sank.

Red pill?

Her real appearance?

She had vaguely anticipated that such talk might arise after the showcase, but facing it directly made her fingertips turn cold.

With trembling hands, she clicked the link.

The screen was filled with a photo of a woman she didn’t know at all, along with ridicule and criticism directed at her.

‘This is the real face of Ajung you guys simp for’, ‘Her original face is ugly, so she got famous by plastering it with money LOL’, ‘VTuber face average LOL’.

Her breath caught in her throat.

The woman in the photo wasn’t her.

It was someone she had never seen before.

But that wasn’t what mattered.

What mattered was that, once again, baseless malice was directed at her.

Her fingers moved rapidly clicking on other posts.

– [Bottom-Tier Streamer Gallery] Didn’t Ajung and Rinne get famous by sleeping with Zelnaga?

‘Unknown bottom-tier,’ ‘slept with,’ ‘rushing over every night.’

Each word felt like a dagger piercing her heart.

Her vision blurred, and she felt nauseous.

Memories of the past, the nightmare of that day she wanted to forget, came flooding back vividly.

‘Hey, Han Jeonga, I heard she’s super promiscuous behind the scenes, right?’

‘No wonder… she doesn’t have any luxury items, but strangely, she never seems to worry about money.’

‘Someone said they saw her near a motel district? Arm in arm with an older man…….’

University hallways, lecture halls, even in front of the professor’s office.

Wherever she went, whispers followed her.

At first, she tried to explain that it was a misunderstanding, that it wasn’t true.

But no one believed her.

No, they didn’t want to believe.

They just needed an interesting story; the truth didn’t matter.
Her close friends drifted away one by one, and even her professor called her in to say things like, ‘It’s better not to engage in behavior unbecoming of a student.’

As if Jeonga herself had actually done those filthy things.

No one was on her side.

She felt thrown out into the world alone.

She trembled with a sense of injustice, betrayal, and a deep disgust for humanity.

Eventually, Jeonga took a leave of absence from school as if fleeing and confined herself to her small studio apartment.

The despair of that time, the suffocating loneliness.

It was a memory she never wanted to recall.

“Heu-euk… heuk… No… I… I’ve never done that…….”

Tears burst out unknowingly.

She collapsed onto her studio apartment bed, burying her face in a pillow.

The success of the showcase, the increased viewers, the new avatar—none of it mattered.

In the end, Jeonga was once again crumbling under people’s malicious words.

‘Why does this only happen to me…… What did I do so wrong…….’

She knew in her head that she should ignore it.

That she should ignore malicious comments on the internet.

But it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

Once a trauma formed, it clung to her persistently, refusing to let go.

Jiiing-

A messenger notification chimed.

It was Jungyeon.
[Rinne (Yoo Jungyeon)]: Ajung Ajung! Whatcha doin’ whatcha doin’? You know you have to come to the boss’s house tomorrow for the contract, right? When you come tomorrow, let’s eat something yummy together! (ง •̀ω•́)ง

Company.

Contract.

It was the day she had to meet Zelnaga-nim in person.

She couldn’t see him in this state.

She didn’t want to disappoint him.

[Ajung]: I’m not feeling well, so I’m resting.. Tomorrow.. I’ll be there on time..

She tried her best to reply nonchalantly, but her fingertips were still trembling.

Jungyeon-unni sent a worried reply, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell her honestly.

I didn’t want to show this miserable state to anyone.

That night, Jeonga stayed up all night with her eyes open.

In the darkness, the ghosts of the past and the malicious comments of the present mixed together, tormenting Jeonga.

When she closed her eyes, the faces of mocking people appeared, and when she opened them, the malicious words on the monitor flickered.

She felt like she had fallen into a swamp she couldn’t escape.

---

The next morning, I received a message from Jungyeon.

It said Ajung-ssi was acting a bit strange.

Her message replies were curt, and she seemed to lack energy.

Along with a worried guess that perhaps she had seen the community posts from yesterday.

“Obvious.”

I replied curtly.

She had shown such a tendency once before on stream.

No, she wasn’t like that.

Ajung might have her own trauma that I didn’t know about.

In that situation, if she had seen those kinds of posts yesterday, it was entirely possible for her mental state to break down.

[Rinne (Yoo Jungyeon)]: Then should we postpone today’s contract meeting? Ajungie doesn’t look well..

[Seo Hajun]: No. Proceed as scheduled. I’ll meet her in person and talk, so just tell her to come on time.

Troublesome things are troublesome in their own way.

When it came to Ajung’s matters, there was no such thing as annoyance.

Rather, it was worry.

Especially if that flaw was due to external factors.

Since we were going to meet for the contract anyway, I judged it better to check her condition directly on this occasion and take necessary measures.

When the appointed time came, Ajung arrived at the penthouse with Jungyeon.

As I waited in front of the study door, Ajung looked far paler and more unstable than usual.

She tried to force a smile, but the corners of her lips trembled, and her eyes darted around nervously.

Her precarious state was all too clear to my eyes.

Not just her outward appearance, but also the turmoil of anxiety and sadness within her.

I didn’t want our first meeting to be like this.

It was a meeting with Ajung that I had waited for and anticipated.

“Sit down.”

Instead of stiff contract talk, I gently gestured towards the sofa.

Jungyeon tactfully helped Ajung sit down, and I sat opposite them.

“This is our first time meeting in person, right?”

“Yes, yes? Ah, yes…….”

I greeted her gently, but Ajung still looked uneasy.

“Did you see the posts from yesterday?”

Beating around the bush wasn’t my style.

I asked her directly.

Ajung’s shoulders flinched, and then she hung her head low.

Her small shoulders began to tremble faintly.

“……Yes.”

Her voice was as small as a mosquito’s.

She looked like she was about to burst into tears at any moment.

“Why do you even bother looking at things like that? There are far more people who say nice things. You’re not exactly a person with strong mental fortitude, Ajung-ssi.”

It was meant as a form of comfort, but perhaps it was too blunt, as Ajung’s shoulders trembled even more violently.

Jungyeon, beside her, fidgeted restlessly, glancing at me.

Ah.

I got too worked up.

I clicked my tongue inwardly.

I wasn’t used to this kind of situation.

I had never learned how to comfort someone.

“Um… It’s just, something similar happened in the past… I… I had a really hard time back then… So… Sob.”

Eventually, Ajung burst into the tears she had been holding back.

Jungyeon patted her back comfortingly, but Ajung’s crying didn’t stop easily.

I watched her for a moment, then stood up.

I took a cold bottle of water from the mini-fridge in the corner of the study and placed it in front of Ajung.

“Drink some water first and calm down.”

Ajung nodded, sniffling, and took the water bottle.

I sat down again and thought for a moment.

What should I do?

“Ajung-ssi.”

I tried to make my voice as gentle as possible and spoke again.

“I don’t know what happened in the past, but things are different now.”

“……”

“Now, you have me, Jungyeon-ssi, and CEO Yoon by your side, Ajung-ssi. And there are countless fans cheering for you. It means there are far more people on your side than those trashy people saying weird things somewhere.”

At my words, Ajung slowly raised her head.

Her reddened eyes still welled with tears, but she seemed a little calmer than before.

“Those fabrications? CEO Yoon is gathering evidence and preparing to sue them all right now. Those cowards hiding behind keyboards, nameless and faceless, who slander others – we’ll make an example out of them this time. So they can never do such a thing again.”

I slightly exaggerated what I had instructed Yoon Taesoo.

Even though I knew legal punishment would be difficult, I wanted to give Ajung a definite sense of reassurance.

I continued to list things that would reassure Ajung.

Safety and protection that money could buy.

That was the best promise I could make to her.

“So… don’t struggle too much. Ajung-ssi, just keep smiling brightly, streaming, singing, and doing everything you want to do, just like now. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Perhaps it was a little calculated.

It might have been an act to prevent my precious collection from being damaged.

But in that moment, I genuinely hoped she wouldn’t be hurt anymore.

I hoped her shining talent wouldn’t be engulfed in darkness again.

Did my words have an effect?

Ajung finally wiped her tears and looked straight at me.

Anxiety still lingered in her eyes, but beneath it, a small hope and a deep trust in me seemed to have taken root.

“……Is it really okay for me to do that?”

“There’s no reason why it wouldn’t be okay.”

For the first time, I offered her a faint smile.

“Instead, for me to protect you properly, Ajung-ssi, this issue needs to be clearly resolved first, you know?”

I pushed the contract, which had been lying on the table, towards Ajung.

The original purpose of coming here today.

But now, the contract no longer felt important.

Rather, it felt like a new link between me and her, something to hold onto Ajung’s wavering heart.

Jungyeon quietly began to explain the main contents of the contract beside Ajung, and I watched them silently.

Today, it felt like my relationship with Ajung had begun to move in a slightly different direction, beyond the mere boundary of the owner and his collection.