chapter_0064

64 – Following Momo

64 – Following Momo

As I was dragged out like a cat caught by the nape of its neck, the first-year students puffed up their cheeks and strode towards me.

I thought I was about to be laid down on the floor and get my back smacked, but what was this?

“Sister. If you were going to prepare something like this, you should have told me in advance.”

“Exactly!”

“I was really surprised~.”

“I was a bit pissed off. But it was good. Great.”

The four of them surrounded me, hugging me from all sides.

A siege closing in from all directions.

Help me, guys.

I’m so small that I can’t breathe.

“Guys, I can’t breathe, Jia.”

With my mouth covered, I couldn’t even speak properly, but at the Boss’s words, the four of them stepped back in unison.

140 cm is a direct hit to the chest.

I almost suffocated just now.

As I shook my head to clear my mind, Maru lowered his voice.

It was a tone similar to when he apologized after the “I’m Wolf” collaboration last week.

“I’m sorry…. I almost hurt you for trying to pull a prank….”

“A prank?”

“Everything about isolating you during meals was a prank, and if that made you feel bad, I apologize for all of it. I made everyone do it. I’m the worst….”

Majiya, a mysterious first victory.

So that was what isolation meant.

I was glad I could quietly enjoy the well-cooked shrimp.

Could it be that I was being isolated back in school too?

I thought I was a voluntary loner.

Anyway, seeing Maru looking sad, I reflexively blurted out that I was at fault too.

Chapter 1 of Managing Maru.

When Maru is about to cry and apologizes, lie and say it’s mutual.

Fortunately, I had a surprise gift prepared as well, so I had something to say.

“No, I tricked you all to show this. So it’s okay.”

But I was in no condition to soothe her gloom any further.

I had recovered somewhat with the shrimp, but the accumulated fatigue from the praise showered by the members in the afternoon hadn’t completely disappeared.

Just as I thought I had finished everything, I felt drained, and drowsiness washed over me, my eyes fluttering.

As I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand, Maru gently placed his hand on my shoulder and asked.

“Are you sleepy?”

“Yeah. I’m starting to feel sleepy.”

“Already?! No way. Just hang on a bit.”

“… Is there something left to film?”

At those words, Maru hesitated, fidgeting with his hands.

“Well, not really…. We have something prepared separately…”

They wouldn’t have prepared something special for my birthday, right?

It seems everyone had something prepared for the one-year anniversary besides me.

That must be it.

Fireworks and all, that’s how you celebrate a one-year anniversary, right?

Vlogs aren’t fun if filmed only during the day; they should be shot against a beautiful night view too.

“Do you want me to help? Just say anything.”

At that moment, the Boss shook his head from a distance, looking at me.

Maru said something similar.

“No, it’s okay. Just sit here and rest.”

It was a bit disappointing that my help wasn’t needed.

But if the Boss says to stay still, then I should.

“Okay. I’ll be here. Call me if you need anything.”

Majiya stared into the crackling campfire.

That was the signal for the operation to finally begin for the six of them.

Majiya, who had been running away the whole time, finally recognized that she was the main character and sat still.

At a distance from Jia, the six of them set the cake on the table and gathered their prepared gifts.

Rain grinned.

“It’s totally booming. I thought it would be a disaster. Isn’t this good enough?”

Komari laughed incredulously.

“Well, I didn’t think it would go well from the start.”

“You’re not trying to blame me again, are you?”

“Why are you getting all defensive? Did I say anything?!”

Dora, who was watching the banter between Komari and Maru, muttered.

“Anyway, I’m glad we can do this~. Let’s give the gifts quickly! I hope Jia likes it. Hehe.”

Thus, Dohee and Team Leader Kang advanced with the disposable table holding the cake towards Majiya.

The others followed with gifts in hand, starting to sing.

“Happy birthday to you~.”

Jia, who had been dazed while sitting in a chair, suddenly sprang up.

She looked surprised as the cake with lit candles approached her.

As she gazed at the cake with round eyes, she subtly glanced around and began to clap in time with the rhythm.

Seeing that, smiles spread across everyone’s faces.

“Happy birthday to you~.”

And so, the climax of the birthday song unfolded.

Beloved Jia, Majiya, Jia-nim.

Happy birthday!

Although the different titles calling out to Jia were mixed, wasn’t Jia someone who could distinguish sounds while watching multiple broadcasts at once?

Only then did Jia realize that the cake was for her, and she cautiously asked, rolling her eyes around.

“Was this mine?”

Dohee, who had set down the table, patted Jia’s head and said.

“Yeah. Blow it out. You have to make a wish.”

At that moment, everyone sighed in unison at what Majiya said.

“This isn’t the one-year anniversary cake.”

As if that was more important than her birthday cake.

Everyone had something they wanted to say, but they were hesitant to bring it up, fearing it would ruin the mood, so they passed the baton to Dohee.

Reluctantly, Dohee asked on behalf of everyone.

“Do you really say that even after seeing us bring gifts…?”

“Wasn’t it supposed to be random gifts for each other for the one-year anniversary?”

“?”

“…?”

Dohee stared intently at Jia, while the first-year students exchanged glances, but ultimately they could only look at Majiya.

Logically, Majiya’s words were incomprehensible.

No.

It was her birthday.

It was obvious that the cake and gifts were prepared.

How could she not think that they were for her?

Dohee, licking her lips, sighed heavily and muttered.

“If we were going to exchange gifts, I would have told you to prepare something too….”

“Why should I? I’m not even a first-year student.”

“Seriously. Then why did Team Leader Kang and I prepare something?”

“Because you see them often….”

“You too?! Right now, the only people who see you four in person are me, you, and Team Leader Kang.”

As her head started to ache, Dohee snatched the box from the gift basket Maru was holding and forcefully handed it to Jia.

“Just take it. It’s your birthday gift.”

“Ah. No—.”

Majiya’s intention to refuse was dismissed by the continuous shower of gifts.

“Shut up and take it.”

“Take the gift!!”

“Happy birthday~.”

“Congratulations, Jia Part Leader.”

Majiya, holding a pile of gifts, muttered.

“Um. I don’t have hands to carry this. My bag is already full.”

“Ugh!”

Cheon Dohee huffed and pulled out a holographic projector and battery pack from Majiya’s bursting bag.

Setting the empty bag next to Jia, Dohee said.

“That projector is nice. So I’ll buy it secondhand. I wanted to set it up at the company entrance with safety measures. Oh, then the bag will be empty, right? You can put the gifts in the bag. Right?”

“Huh? No, it’s my projector.”

“I’m buying it. Just tell me the price.”

Finally, Majiya, who hadn’t shown a smile while holding the pile of gifts, finally smiled.

“If you come to the game room with me this weekend, I’ll just give it all to you.”

“Are you kidding me? Just open the gifts first.”

“Um. I don’t think my reaction will be good. Can I open them alone at home?”

Cheon Dohee squeezed her eyes shut and said.

If I listened to Majiya’s words, this wouldn’t be a birthday party but rather a place for persuasion and coercion.

“Open them here. Or say thank you and read the letters at home.”

Fortunately, Majiya listened well to Dohee, which was a relief.

“I’ll open them here.”

The gifts I received unexpectedly each reflected their own colors.

Dora gave me an animal onesie with warm, soft cat ears and a tail made of fleece.

Rain brought sweet champagne, saying that rap and soul come from alcohol and that it’s good for the kids to drink.

Komari gifted me a game coin card that can be freely used on the package game platform, Sitdim.

Maru gave me a wide paddle brush and high-quality hair essence, saying that I need to brush my hair often to keep it from getting tangled, and that I could even play ping pong if I flipped it over.

The Team Leader gave me a comfortable hairband and hair clip set, saying that it bothered him when my bangs kept falling down while I was working.

Lastly, the Boss gave me just a piece of paper.

… Of course, if it were just a simple piece of paper, I wouldn’t have liked it.

It was more valuable than any other gift I received.

[Cheon Do-hee Free Pass]

[Expiration Date: Until next year’s Majiya’s birthday]

I carefully stored it inside my phone case.

I’ll save it until next year’s birthday and use it right before.

Anyway, I expressed my gratitude to everyone, but I’m not sure if it was conveyed properly.

Everyone seemed happy, but….

People who often receive gifts know how to express their thanks in a way that the other person will appreciate.

Someone like me, who isn’t used to receiving anything, can only respond like a parrot.

Thank you, I appreciate it, I’ll use it well.

Those were all the expressions of gratitude I could muster.

Maybe that’s why,

I couldn’t fall asleep.

It was a bit suffocating as Komari and Maru, who occupied both sides of me, kept encroaching on my space. But the same thought kept swirling in my head.

If I express my gratitude carelessly, someone like Maru would surely feel hurt. Isn’t there a way to express it that suits each person?

Thinking that I needed to be a bit freer to think, I got up cautiously from my sleep, trying not to step on anyone’s feet, and stepped outside the tent….

“… What’s up? You were tired earlier, why are you up again?”

The Boss was sitting blankly in front of the dying campfire, tilting her head back to look at the stars.

Suddenly feeling playful, I took out the letter from the Boss that I had tucked away in my jacket pocket.

“Hey. If you hold a reading session here, you’ll really die.”

“It’s a joke.”

“… Go read it at home. It’s embarrassing.”

With a grin, I put the envelope back in my pocket and dragged a camping chair over to sit next to the Boss.

Then, I wrapped an unused log in a few sheets of newspaper and placed it on the log that was burning red at the edges.

Whoosh.

The fire spread as the newspaper burned, slowly transferring flames to the dry log.

Returning, I perched next to the Boss and casually asked her.

“Receiving gifts seems really difficult.”

“Why?”

“If I don’t like a gift, it shows on my face. A few times when I was younger, my friends started avoiding me.”

The Boss’s words paused for a moment, but the rustling sound of the windbreaker she was wearing indicated that she had turned her body towards me.

“You didn’t do that today.”

“I’ve socialized now. I can at least tell a white lie.”

“Good for you.”

“That’s true, but I still can’t express my gratitude well. If it’s a gift I really love, I can say a few words… but for the rest, ‘thank you’ is about my limit.”

The Boss chuckled and turned her head back towards the fire.

“That’s enough. How much more do you need to say?”

“Short phrases feel too inadequate compared to the effort the giver put in.”

Hmm.

The Boss gave an example.

“How many times do you think I should say thank you when you send support?”

“You don’t have to say anything.”

“Exactly. That’s it. Just my reaction as your Favorite is enough.”

“That’s true.”

“Others feel the same way. They give you gifts because they like you. Just saying ‘thank you’ is enough. If you think, ‘Heh, I gave a gift and all I got was a thank you? I’m going to turn dark…’ then that’s Darkened Simps.”

“Oh. I understand right away.”

But as I listened, I thought about something.

“But that’s only when you give a gift to a Favorite. And I don’t broadcast, so I can’t be everyone’s Favorite.”

“There’s a similar concept among ordinary people too. Like someone you’re really grateful for. A benefactor.”

“Is that so?”

The Boss sighed deeply and patted my head.

“Why do you think we went this far for you?”

“Like a loyalty chocolate feeling…?”

“Are you kidding me? Who goes this far for loyalty chocolate?”

The Boss now grabbed my cheeks tightly.

“Simply put, you’re like our Favorite, you know?”

“……?”

“If you don’t understand, just take it that way. I also… it’s hard to explain. I’m grateful. Thankful. It’s complicated.”

Then she hurriedly stood up and began to scoop sand around the campfire with a small shovel to put it out.

As soon as the fire went out, a cold winter wind blew.

Only the moon in the sky shone down on us, who had jumped into the cold.

“… Anyway, let’s go inside. It’s late.”

Honestly, I didn’t understand.

I had been working hard for the Boss. For the company. Just out of my own greed, and now that was something to be thanked for.

Even being compared to a Favorite?

Even after the Boss went into the tent, I sat in the camping chair and thought for a long time.

It was a story that I couldn’t comprehend at all.

Then, when I finally crawled into my sleeping bag because I was cold, I came to a conclusion of sorts.

‘… So I’m like a Favorite.’

Favorites aren’t made by wanting to be one.

It’s when someone hits your cheek hard enough to turn your head, and you glare at them, only to fall in love at first sight—that’s a Favorite.

So I can’t tell them not to like me. Not to look at me.

The same goes for those who become fans; they didn’t choose to be that way.

I, too, came this far following the Boss for that reason.

To forcibly break that feeling? That doesn’t make sense.

In other words, as the Boss said, it’s clear that I’ve become something akin to the Favorites of Virtual YouTubers. Denying it won’t change anything.

But I’m lacking.

I was a lacking person.

Favorites are objects of admiration. I’m not someone worthy of admiration.

… But I won’t run away.

I was in Parallel.

And I will continue to stay in Parallel.

Second-year students, third-year students, fourth-year students. Until the day I can see with my own eyes when we stand shoulder to shoulder with Batchu Batchu.

So even if I can’t be perfect, I shouldn’t become someone lacking for those who have made me something like a Favorite.

That’s something I can learn from role models.

My Favorite, who works hard on broadcasts.

Momo, who tries to show something to the viewers and makes an effort to interact with them as much as possible.

I flipped my phone over and stared blankly at the Boss’s birthday gift stored in the case.

[Cheon Do-hee Free Pass]

[Expiration Date: Until next year’s Majiya’s birthday]

… I guess people don’t become fans for no reason.

Following in the footsteps of a Favorite, it seems you naturally arrive at that path.

The next day, I handed out crudely torn coupons to the six of them.

[Majiya Free Pass]

“Just say the word anytime. No time limit, no usage limit.”

The six of them, momentarily speechless over the bubbling morning ramen.

Something about their gazes towards me felt sharp, and naturally, it turned into a mirror therapy.

I see.

This is how it feels when you give a gift and there’s no reaction.

“… If you don’t want it, just return it.”

A word from the author (Author’s note)

At some point, I ended up with too many drafts and couldn’t express my gratitude every time.

Always, thank you very much.

I’m very happy these days.

But starting Monday, it’s back to one piece a day.

Please wait for the stock to pile up. ㅎㅅㅎ