Chapter 106: Help

「OMG! It’s the one and only, global superstar Luka~」

I joined the Voicecord group chat after a long time.

As soon as I joined, the Unnies welcomed me, making all kinds of fuss.

「Luka. I heard you’re doing really well these days? Your viewer count is insane.」

「Being a popular streamer while having a handsome boyfriend~ Must be nice, for real for real~」

「Oh, c’mon, stop this~ Seriously though, keep doing this, and I’m not coming back here again, hmph~」

Their compliments that were mixed with envy felt good, but at the same time, it was burdensome.

Because it felt like that the people I used to be close with were treating me as if I was some kind of distant figure and I didn’t like that.

「So how are you these days? Bet you’re real busy?」

The person who was practically responsible for my relationship with Taemin oppa…

Hanbit unnie, asked with a giggle.

「Yeaa, no kidding… I’m so busy, I’d run away if I could…」

「C’mon, at least you earned as much as you’re busy, Luka-tan~ I saw the Christmas stream. The donos back then were just…」

She was right, I hit the jackpot that day, but that shouldn’t become the standard to gauge my earnings.

Like, the days that were better than that day could be counted on one hand.

「Nah~ I don’t even know that yet… They still haven’t calculated the split…」

Manager Unnie hinted at it a little, but I didn’t need to reveal the exact number here.

But, it was true that the number was too big for a 21-year-old college student to handle.

「Anyway, how’s your love life? Is your boyfriend treating you well?」

Right after I briefly shared my current situation, the love talk followed.

As expected, I instantly became a fish on a cutting board.

「A-Ah… U-Um… W-We’re doing fine…」

The problem here was that I listened to them talking about their boyfriends and such, so I couldn’t just tell them to stop asking me.

When they did that, I’d listen to what they had to say happily, since I found it interesting, so it would be weird if I was the only one left out. That was why I tried to give them an answer as sincerely as possible. Of course, I wouldn’t tell them everything.

「So, what did you do on Christmas?」

I could tell the lewd undertone dripping from that question.

But at least I could answer this one proudly.

「Well, I streamed until really late at night, so we only met briefly during the dawn..」

「That’s it?」

「Also, I gave him a present, hehe.」

「Huh? You gave him a present? He didn’t get you anything?」

Hanbit unnie’s sharp observation struck me painfully.

Ugh… Why was she so perceptive about these things?

「I mean, we didn’t really talk about preparing anything… I just surprised him with a gift…」

When I answered hesitantly like that, no one said a word.

「…Break up with him.」

「That’s just…」

「What’s wrong with that guy?」

All sorts of criticism against Taemin oppa came out of their mouths.

「No, Luka-tan, that’s not it! What did you give him? Don’t tell me you got him something expensive again?」

The more I tried to explain, the more I felt like I was sinking into a swamp.

And the more that I wanted to just disconnect from the call.

「W-Well…」

「Be specific. Tell us exactly what you did.」

I had hoped they would just let it go.

But in the end, their persistence got me to answer their questions.

When I confessed I gave him a VR headset, the unnies’ reactions became even more intense.

「Wow… No, no, that isn’t it!」

「Are you sure you aren’t being played by that handsome guy?」

「Luka… Looks aren’t everything, you know?」

「N-No, it’s not like that!」

Unable to listen anymore, I raised my voice, which was rare for me.

「I-I just wanted to give it to him! A-Also, he treats me…really well…」

I burst out because I couldn’t hold it in anymore, but…

The silence that followed was very painful.

A feeling between embarrassment and self-loathing struck me.

「Pfft.」

Suddenly, Haetsal unnie started to laugh, and the other unnies followed suit, teasing me.

「Oh my~ Luka’s all grown up now? Back in high school, you couldn’t even say a word back to unnies~」

「Love is a disease. A disease, I tell you.」

「You know, we’re just worried about you, that’s all.」

Hanbit unnie tried to smooth things over while giggling, but my cheeks were already puffed up.

「Anyway, will you go on a trip or something, Luka? You’re on vacation now, right?」

「Yeah, actually, we’re planning to go to a ski resort soon.」

「Oh~ A ski resort, nice nice~ Wait. Does that mean…? Kyaa!」

A loud scream came through the earphones.

「Oh my gosh!」

「Wow, Doah’s finally losing it~ She really has been holding onto it for a while, hm~?」

「Make sure to bring condoms. Knowing your boyfriend, he might not bring any.」

Jeez, they needed to stop treating me like a baby!

I am an adult now!

「…It won’t be our first.」

The moment I threw that hint, since I was tired of their constant dismissive comments, the atmosphere changed again.

「Kyaaaaaa!」

Just like that, I was stuck in that place for another hour.

“Ugh… I feel so tired…”

After turning off Voicecord and taking out my earphones, I dragged my limp body back to the bed.

Blanket… Where… My blanket…

I unplugged the charger off my phone and noticed that I had a missed call.

[Manager Unnie]

Huh? What was it about this time?

I thought about calling her back, but I didn’t have the energy to talk anymore. So, I opened my Messenger and sent her a text instead.

[sorry I was busy for a bit. is something wrong?]

It seemed like she was looking at her phone.

Since her reply came immediately.

[Ah! Luka-ssi! Have you talked with your classmate?]

[yes.]

Ah, so this was about Taemin oppa, not me.

[Did he say anything?]

[um… he said he’d think about it, but he’s not sure.]

I just told her exactly what happened.

It was true that he said he wasn’t sure.

[Is that so? Luka-ssi, do you think you could ask him if he’d be willing to have one last call with me?]

Though I knew that the ‘read’ mark had appeared, I still didn’t reply for a while.

I honestly felt that her persistence was a little too much.

Also, I didn’t want to keep pressuring Oppa about this.

As if she was reading my thoughts, Unnie added another line.

[Also, please let him know that if he still refuses after this one call, we’ll wrap it up from our end.]

Still, Manager unnie was someone who had helped me a lot.

After rubbing my face, I reluctantly sent a reply saying okay.

But I made sure to set a clear condition.

That after this, she would never talk to me or oppa about casting again.

I sighed and opened my chat with Oppa.

[oppa… you know…]

Oh… He wouldn’t like this at all…

I’m angry.

This manager or whatever was no different from a traffic accident for me.

It was like I was just walking normally on the street, but suddenly a car came and hit me.

So, this whole thing felt like they were packaging that car accident as some kind of great fortune.

The fact that they were pressuring Doah instead of me about this made this twice as annoying.

[Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.]

I didn’t speak strongly to Doah.

Because there was someone else I needed to speak strongly to.

I took out my wallet from inside my coat and pulled out the business card.

Without hesitation, I called the number printed there.

「Hello?」

「Ah, this is Han Taemin. I received your contact through Doah.」

「Ah~ Yes~ We were unable to get in touch with you at all.」

She greeted me very cheerfully.

「Thank you so much for contacting us!」

「Is there any chance you’d be willing to have one last proper talk with us?」

「No.」

It might have sounded really rude, but I didn’t care.

We were strangers after all.

「Please don’t be like that. How about listening to our conditions at least?」

「I’m sure that someone like you, Taemin-ssi, could get a contract with very favorable conditions!」

I almost blurted out something nasty out of anger, but Doah’s face flashed in my mind. Thanks to that, I barely managed to hold myself back.

「I appreciate your offer, but I’m still a student, and I have absolutely no interest in entering that industry.」

That should be enough to make her back off.

「Ah… I see…」

After noticing that I didn’t leave any room for compromise, the manager finally seemed to give up.

「That’s a shame. If you had collaborated with us, it would have been a big help to Luka-ssi too.」

I was about to press the end call button, but hearing Luka’s name, my hand just froze in place.

「…Luka?」

「After all, if we could bring in a new talent like you through Luka-ssi’s introduction, the company would naturally treat her more favorably. It’ll improve Luka-ssi image.」

Hearing her mention that this could be an opportunity for Doah to be looked favorably by the company, I started to waver.

Did she notice that this was my weak point?

Or had she prepared this line in advance?

「Just think about it, an interview between a virtual idol and you would be great, no? It would definitely create a lot of buzz too!」

「What if we meet in person and chat? You don’t need to sign a contract with us, we just want to have a talk with you!」

After that, I didn’t even remember what happened.

She explained a little bit more, but I didn’t think that they were particularly important.

「Alright! We’ll see you on Friday afternoon! Thank you for your time!」

After that, a red screen, indicating the end of the call, popped up on my phone.

And then I saw Doah’s brightly smiling face on my phone’s wallpaper.

…Can even someone like me be of any help to you…?