chapter_0060

60 – Petting the Majiya Roughly

60 – Petting the Majiya Roughly

To be honest, I’m a bit of a twisted person.

As my birthday approaches, I find myself wondering why we even celebrate birthdays.

This year, I’m just contemplating how to let it pass quietly.

Of course, I don’t want to take charge of the party myself.

I’m not used to someone noticing and unilaterally giving me gifts or favors without me saying anything.

The biggest influence must have been my parents, right?

They had this mindset that it’s natural for the birthday person to give more to those who come to celebrate.

I don’t remember when it started, but at some point, our family skipped the gifts altogether, and it became a tradition for the birthday person to make birthday seaweed soup and prepare the cake, saying, “Let’s gather at this time.”

But now, my parents are in America.

So, I really have no reason to celebrate my birthday.

I thought it was only natural to attend the Boss’s birthday party or the first-generation birthday party, and I participated diligently.

But I’ve never appealed to people with “When is my birthday!”

So, even though the morning of November 22nd dawned,

my birthday had already slipped my mind, and only the schedule for the first-generation anniversary trip remained.

In fact, the items packed tightly in my hiking bag, which is more than half my size, are all things I prepared to celebrate the first generation.

As I waited for the Boss to come pick me up, I finished getting ready and called my mom, who is in America.

Ding ding, didi ding.

After a brief moment, I heard the cheerful voice call connection tone.

Maybe she was free, as my mom picked up right away.

[Daughter. How have you been! Why do you only call on your birthday if I don’t contact you first?]

The word “daughter” felt quite awkward.

Maybe it was because I had been subjected to so much sisterly massage from Komari recently that I adapted quickly.

“Mom, it’s your child’s birthday, and you haven’t even come to Korea once.”

[You don’t want me to come, so I’m not going. Anyway, you’re just thinking of nagging me as soon as I pick up the phone, right?]

“Forget it. Did you eat seaweed soup?”

[Your dad somehow knew and took care of it. So I was waiting for your call, knowing you would call.]

“… Together?”

I thought our family hadn’t changed much, but something felt warm.

Before, it felt like they left everything to me since I could handle my own affairs, but now it seemed like they were speaking with a more worried tone.

Even if they knew I had a habit of calling on my birthday, I had never experienced my parents waiting for my call as if it were a promise.

It was always either my mom or my dad who answered.

[Anyway, should I pass you to your dad? He’s been dying to talk to you.]

“Ah. Yes.”

It was definitely a different situation.

[Daughter!!]

“Yeah, Dad.”

[Why does your voice sound like that? Why does it sound so dry and withered?]

“… What?”

[I told you to eat well. You’ve lost weight from your vocal cords. What’s going on?]

Is this really my dad?

For a moment, I had to think ten times that it might be a dream.

“Yeah. Eat well. Contact me if anything happens.”

The usual repertoire that followed the phrase “You’re doing well on your own” was nowhere to be found.

There was one silly uncle who couldn’t sleep at night worrying about his daughter.

… Even if I had no excuses, saying I lost weight from my vocal cords was a bit much.

I thought it would be best to just convey the facts clearly, so I summarized my recent situation.

“I’ve actually been a bit sick lately. I went to the hospital and am taking care of my health. I’m fine now, so don’t worry.”

If it had been before, they would have worried a few times after hearing that.

They had seen me manage my household affairs perfectly before I left for America a few years ago…….

[Honey. I don’t have a schedule for a while, right?]

[Huh? That’s true. Why, are you planning to come to Korea?]

[I’m worried, so I can’t help it. I’ll just sneak in and take a look.]

Is this person out of their mind?

Even for an economy ticket, the round-trip airfare is over a million won.

Coming just to see me for a day or two is a bit much.

“I’m fine, so please don’t come. If you do, I won’t open the door for you.”

[Jia. Do you really want to see your dad shivering on the street?]

“I can report that a foreigner with black hair is illegally staying here to the police.”

[Jia!!]

“Please don’t come. If you do, I’ll really ignore you.”

It seemed like my mom caught on to my intentions and started to persuade my dad.

[Calm down, honey. Calm down.]

“Anyway, thank you both for giving birth to me. I’ll contact you again.”

[Jia! Do you really dislike your dad that much?]

[Your dad will take care of himself, so don’t worry and take care of your own business. I’ll text you when I calm down. Got it?]

Call ended.

I had just made a birthday congratulatory call that felt like an annual event.

… Something already feels off.

Is it a sign that something bad will happen on today’s trip?

I hope nothing happens,

but soon my phone rang again.

As soon as I saw the name, my anxious heart calmed down immediately.

– Incoming call: Boss –

The Boss’s car must have arrived in front of the house.

Where shall we go?

The great shrimp of the West Sea, just right.

I’ll go and devour you all.

–

The surroundings were entirely a one-room village, and since it was a weekday, it was quite deserted around 10 AM, after the commuting and school hours had passed.

A small Majiya walked out into an alley wide enough for two cars to barely pass and looked around.

She soon spotted Dohee’s car and ran over.

Dohee smiled as soon as she saw her.

With a large bag sticking out beyond her body width, it was wobbling.

Even though it was just a day trip for camping, she packed a lot.

She walked over and gently placed her bag in the trunk before getting into the passenger seat.

Having commuted together every day until last week, I felt it again.

Her legs are quite short.

The car was high, so she had to jump with all her might, and even though I had lowered the seat as much as possible for her, her feet barely reached.

“What on earth did you put in that bag? Are we going to war tomorrow?”

“I packed what I needed.”

“What is it?”

“You’ll find out later.”

“Hmmm…”

“You absolutely must not open it. It’s a surprise.”

Since Dohee was preparing a tear-jerking operation with the first generation, I felt a little guilty in one corner of my heart.

“Who says a surprise so openly?”

“The Boss asked what I packed so much in the bag first.”

Ah, so this is my fault?

Today, Majiya’s skill in teasing was artful.

Dohee chuckled as she set the navigation to a stopover.

It was a drive-thru Starbucks located a bit further away.

Not long after, the two received a drink each, and at the next first signal, Dohee asked.

“So, is the review content preparation going well?”

“The handover speed from Seungyeon is really fast, so we have quite a bit of time left. I think I’ve prepared almost everything.”

After doing a collaboration with I’m Wolf, Majiya gained confidence and resolved to try hosting it alone.

Looking at her expression, she seemed like she would do well, but still, since she seemed like a child put out in the water, Dohee promised to help her as a training wheel for the first few times last Friday.

“Already? It’s only been four days since you properly started preparing.”

“That’s true, but it’s just a look back at October. Since they are the most memorable recent events, they come to mind quickly.”

“Hmmm. What content did you pick the scenes from? Tell me briefly now.”

Majiya recited the October content included in the review content she was preparing, officially titled .

October 6th, Find Rain.

October 13th, Joint broadcast of Rain, Momo, and Majiya at the Battle Colosseum.

October 18th, Dora’s horror game.

October 27th, Enduring Naore commentary with Komari.

‘… Huh?’

Somehow, looking at what she picked, it felt like a Majiya mad movie.

Dohee suddenly realized that Majiya had worked quite hard in October.

After realizing that she had worked without rest, the feelings of betrayal and shock were overwhelming.

“It might be a coincidence, but all those days were when you were out.”

Majiya scratched her head as if she hadn’t considered that point even after picking them.

“… Ah. That’s true. I didn’t think of that.”

“Doesn’t that mean you supported the kids well enough? If you hadn’t been there, I doubt those fun scenes would have come out.”

For some reason, Majiya didn’t respond.

I expected her to shoot back something like, “If the Boss had supported me as much during the Battle Call, we would have won a lot more.”

But she just stared out the window in silence.

Her cheeks seemed slightly flushed.

‘Oh.’

I couldn’t tell if she took Dohee’s praise as a professional acknowledgment from the Boss or if she accepted it as recognition of her talent from a top-tier broadcaster.

But what mattered was that Majiya reacted to the praise.

The girl who always made sharp remarks and was eager to torment Dohee.

‘Gotcha.’

It was the first time Majiya showed a gap like that.

Unable to hold back, Dohee immediately offered another compliment.

“Hey, hey…. After the review broadcast, won’t the kids look for you more? You just did a great job on I’m Wolf last week. Jia, you’re going to be a total collaboration cheat key, aren’t you?”

But if she kept quiet, she wouldn’t be Majiya.

When given the chance to bite Favorite, she never holds back.

“True. As the monitoring person, I must say that the reactions were better than when the Boss collaborated with the kids.”

“… What?”

“It’s true. Looking at the broadcast metrics for October, the days I picked had significantly higher numbers than usual. Subscriber growth, donations during the broadcast….”

“No, that’s because you’re a new face, and people have high expectations—.”

“And for the pre-show broadcast, there were a lot of posts analyzing the differences between me and the Boss. I think I understand the viewers’ hearts better.”

“Ugh.”

Hitting only the painful spots is a skill in itself.

But the last remark hurt the most.

“Honestly, I think the Boss should take better care of his own broadcasts before taking care of the kids’ collaborations. As a fan, I’m worried; I feel like your broadcasting sense has been declining since you became the Boss—.”

“Hey! Stop! Stop!!”

Even if it felt like I was just getting beaten up by Majiya, Dohee’s prediction was accurate.

With her cheeks flushed from the cold weather, Maru spoke seriously in front of the members gathered at the place the Boss had decided to pick them up.

“I didn’t get to say this last week, but how about we only call Jia once a month from now on? Anyone who breaks that rule gets a universal coupon for anything.”

I thought there would be question marks, but Komari was the quickest to laugh and joke.

“Wow. If Dora unnie makes a mistake, we should immediately suggest playing a horror game together.”

“Eek. Komari, are you a devil? How did you come up with horror games right away….”

Soon, Rain pondered Maru’s words a few times, then placed her sunglasses on her head and said.

“Mi, mi one question. Why are we making it fixed? Only calling once a month?”

It was also about sharing Majiya amicably.

In a way, it was like a pledge to prevent the incoming second-generation students from calling Jia too much.

They started joking around, but Komari, who understood Maru’s intention, spoke up.

“The second-generation students are coming soon. If we call Jia unnie too much, they’ll probably do the same.”

“Komari is right. We all heard that she got sick while helping us with the broadcasts recently, right?”

Rain twisted her lips.

“October was just a special episode for the first anniversary, wasn’t it? Jia is basically unfriendly. Even if the second-generation students come, it’ll be like ice.”

In reality, there was some truth to interpreting it like Rain did.

Even though Majiya seemed to be treating the first generation well recently, it was because the first anniversary overlapped.

But Maru, who had direct experience, added a supplementary explanation.

“It may seem that way, but it’s clear that Jia has opened her heart to us recently. Even though she was cold, she let her guard down and spoke casually since we’re the same age.”

“What? What’s with the cutting in? There’s a hierarchy in casual speech, you know?”

“Rain unnie already spoke casually….”

“Jia hasn’t spoken casually to me.”

“That’s because you’re older, Rain unnie.”

“Oh, the hierarchy in Korea. I don’t like that. Just park it with casual speech.”

As the atmosphere began to get noisy, Maru made a final request to calm things down.

“Anyway, I brought this up so we wouldn’t fight over Jia. I think that way we can successfully pull off today’s hidden camera.”

Everyone nodded, but the eyes of two people sparkled particularly.

One of them, Komari, clenched her fist and started the conversation.

“If we’re not going to fight, we should first decide who sits next to Jia unnie, right?”

Maru swung his fist around and shouted unexpectedly.

“…… Rock, paper, scissors!”

A word from the author (Author’s note)

I majored in rock-paper-scissors during my college years~