Chapter 186: Seo ji woo is a country tanning female

BGG Company’s dedicated recording studio, Forest Sound.

“Okay! Recording complete!”

The owner gave a cool thumbs-up.

“It’s done!”

“Hooray!”

Hayoon and Seo Ji-woo cheered.

After a long recording session, they had finally finished the Z Tab promotional CM song, “Z-Generation.”

The reason the song was titled “Z-Generation,” Hayoon had heard, was because the person in charge at the advertiser’s side had strongly insisted on it.

Hayoon and Seo Ji-woo tilted their heads, wondering why it had to be “Z-Generation” and not just “Generation” or “generation,” but…

They weren’t so inflexible as to not concede that much.

“It feels so good to belt it out like that. I think this kind of song really suits me, Hayoon!”

“Yeah, I don’t just bring you high-energy, refreshing songs for no reason, you know?”

The two of them figured the song title was ultimately up to the advertiser anyway.

More importantly, now that the work was done, holding hands, giggling, and jumping around was more important.

As is typical of women in their early twenties.

Anyway…

“I really don’t know why the song is called Z-Generation, but the lyrics talk a lot about the sea, so it reminds me of my Ulleungdo days, which is nice…”

“Not nice?”

“Uh, it’s not exactly nice, I guess. It’s more like, um…”

“Nostalgic?”

“Yeah, that kind of feeling? It makes me think of the old days, so it’s kind of refreshing?”

“You’re definitely not saying it’s good.”

“It actually wasn’t good…”

“Ah…”

“Ah…”

Seo Ji-woo and Hayoon chatted idly for a bit, then bid farewell to the owner and stepped out of the semi-basement recording studio, where they had spent hours over the past few days, into the sunlight.

“Nghaaa.”

“You worked hard, Ji-woo.”

This time, they were working with a very famous conglomerate, so even the owner of Forest Sound had approached the project with a serious attitude.

Just finishing without any accidents was an opportunity to make a name for themselves in the industry.

Thanks to that, Seo Ji-woo had recorded more than usual, and even now, she was intermittently coughing and drinking water.

“My throat hurts, Hayoon.”

“Yeah, I can imagine.”

“Eeeing…”

Seo Ji-woo clung to Hayoon’s side like a sloth.

With a height difference of about 20 centimeters between them, they almost looked like a mother and daughter.

“I want to eat meat.”

“To lubricate your throat?”

“Yeah, my throat hurts from shouting so much these past few days. When a song has a shouting part, it feels refreshing and satisfying when I belt it out, but the aftermath… ugh…”

“I know what you mean.”

“Hehe…”

Hayoon gently scratched Seo Ji-woo’s chin, treating her like a kitten, as they got into a taxi.

It had been about three years since Seo Ji-woo moved from Ulleungdo to Seoul, but she didn’t have any real connections in Seoul.

Her paternal family was in Ulleungdo, and her maternal family was in Ulsan.

Besides, since she usually streamed 7 days a week, she barely knew anyone in Seoul besides the BGG Company members.

Ultimately, Hayoon was the only one left to take care of Seo Ji-woo.

“Alright, alright, let’s grill some meat. Meat.”

“Grill it for meeee.”

“Okay, okay.”

“Yay!”

Thanks to this, Hayoon felt like she had gained a younger sister of the same age.

Of course, that feeling wasn’t bad.

For some reason, Seo Ji-woo still had her distinctive tan lines, which, combined with her small and cute physique, made her look like a stereotypical mesugaki from a Japanese manga.

Perhaps because she didn’t feel like a friend of the same age, just indulging Seo Ji-woo’s childishness seemed to make Hayoon feel good too.

“Later, after the meat, if I order naengmyeon, will you eat it?”

“Uh, uh, yeah, yeah. Let’s eat naengmyeon. Naengmyeon.”

“Should I order bibim naengmyeon?”

“Bibim naengmyeon, bibim naengmyeon. I love how Hayoon knows everything without me even saying anything.”

When Hayoon subtly suggested a combination Seo Ji-woo usually enjoyed, the giggling and delight were an added bonus.

She had a frequent and beautiful smile, so from Hayoon’s perspective, there was no reason to dislike Seo Ji-woo.

In fact, she tended to view her favorably.

“Oh, right. Ji-woo, can I have a drink?”

“Huh? Yeah, go ahead. Drink.”

Hayoon asked Seo Ji-woo for permission and ordered a drink to celebrate.

The contract fee for this CM song advertisement was in the hundreds of millions.

Taxes would reduce the amount somewhat, but as the head of the company, there was no question that this called for a celebratory drink.

“What about you, Ji-woo?”

“I don’t like alcohol. Not really.”

Seo Ji-woo firmly refused the drink.

Somehow, Hayoon thought that Choi Arin or Hong Seo-hyun would have accepted the drink…

‘Why am I thinking of those two?’

Strange things happen, she thought, and laughed it off.

Seo Ji-woo’s streams generally flowed with a ratio of about 3 parts singing, 3 parts gaming, and 3 parts Just Chatting.

The remaining 1 part could vary depending on the day, but her regular streams usually followed this pattern.

Since Seo Ji-woo herself was the type to make a lot of evaluations, her Just Chatting streams were generally…

“Have you seen your CEO drunk? You haven’t, right?”

– How would we see that?

– Did you have a company dinner?

“Ah, we had a company dinner. The CEO took me to a meat restaurant, bought me meat, and when it seemed like I had eaten enough, she ordered bibim naengmyeon, and oh, right, right, she even grilled the meat for me. Pork belly and pork neck? No, it wasn’t pork neck, it was marinated ribs. Uh, uh.”

Hmm, yeah, yeah.

– Your way of speaking is all over the place today too.

It was roughly like that.

Should one say she conducted her broadcasts centered around Seo Ji-woo’s unique, bubbly personality?

However, even if her speech was all over the place, Seo Ji-woo’s tone itself was deep and low, a boyish tone.

So, there was considerable demand stemming from the incongruity between her weighty voice and her rambling way of speaking.

It was said that over 20% of viewers watched Vtuber Lucy’s live broadcasts because of the so-called “gap moe,” so that said it all.

Well, anyway.

“But, the CEO was drunk, you know? At first, she was debating whether to drink beer or soju, then she chose soju, saying it had been a while since she drank, and then, then…!”

– Then?

– What?

– What did you do with the CEO?

“She cried?”

Cried?

– Why?

– Why did she cry?

“The reason she cried was um… Ah, it’s under embargo, sorry.”

– Ah!

– No!

– Aaaargh!

Of course, due to her unique way of speaking, viewers often missed the climax of the most important parts because of reasons like, “Ah, embargo.”

However, this was also part of the fun of the broadcast, so Seo Ji-woo’s Just Chatting streams were quite popular.

‘I’m glad I grew up well.’

Seo Ji-woo thought it was fortunate that her broadcasts, with her clumsy aspects, had grown so well, and she nodded her head with a knowing look.

The reason Hayoon cried was because of BGG Company.

Honestly, the past two years could be called a disaster for Hayoon.

She had raked in money centered around Hong Seo-hyun’s Scarlet and Seo Ji-woo’s Lucy, but…

AGC, solo concerts, duet concerts, and so on.

She had repeatedly reinvested to grow the company’s scale.

As a result, there was no money left in the company, and after paying employee salaries, the money Hayoon received was sometimes not as much as she expected…

This time, by finally securing the Z Tab CM song advertisement, she had proven the sustainability of BGG Company’s business model.

From Hayoon’s perspective as CEO, this moment could only be seen as a turning point that would determine the company’s fate.

And there was no doubt that they would be on an upward trajectory starting with the Z Tab CM song ad.

It wasn’t strange for her emotions to run high and for tears to flow after having a few drinks.

If it hadn’t been so bad, would Hayoon have resorted to stock investments using her future knowledge, something she had sworn not to do?

The company’s financial pressure had been that strong, so the happiness Hayoon felt now, with everything practically resolved, must have been beyond imagination.

And.

“Are you streaming?”

“Ah, ha…”

“Ssp.”

“CEO!”

Hayoon peeked into the soundproof booth and put a finger to her lips, signaling Seo Ji-woo not to say her name.

Then.

“My virtual, please.”

“Yes.”

She asked Seo Ji-woo to bring up Haru’s virtual avatar.

As a characteristic of BGG Company members streaming from the Igloo, their computers were equipped with the necessary gear to display Hayoon’s virtual avatar at any time.

Hayoon, after confirming that the facial tracking was working properly, cleared her throat with an “Ahem” and entered the screen.

“Alright, hello, our Moon Shrimps.”

For reference, Moon Shrimp was Lucy’s fandom name.

It came from the fact that a shrimp with its back bent looked like a crescent moon, and since Seo Ji-woo’s hometown was Ulleungdo, that became her nickname.

“The embargo Ji-woo just mentioned has been lifted a bit. So, if I can give you a temporary short notice, Ji-woo probably won’t be able to stream in the fourth week of March.”

– …

– Why?

– The ice age is not allowed…

“Our Ji-woo is going to America. With me.”

“Huh? Me? Why?”

Hayoon dropped an embargo bomb that surprised not only the Moon Shrimps but also Seo Ji-woo.

“We have to go to the Z Tab showcase event. I didn’t tell you on purpose because I thought you’d talk about it.”

“Eeeeeh?”

Although Hayoon cherished Seo Ji-woo like a younger sister, when it came to an embargo clause worth billions, there were no younger sisters or friends.

[₩10,000 Donation]

– Pitiful
… Completely untrusted.

“Ah, no, huh? Really? Hayoon?”

“It was an embargo clause that only the representative could know. This showcase.”

“You heard her, right? She said no!”

This picture was better for broadcasting purposes too.

Anyway, this time, it’s America!