Chapter 109: Small Hobbies, Part 3

Even though she appeared this way, Hong Seo-hyun wasn’t a pushover like Choi Arin.

She had experience vying for dominance with Hayoon and even pushing Hayoon back.

However, regardless of that, she still felt excitement.

She was competitive, not emotionless.

‘Let’s stop by the club room one last time before going home. It’s really the last time. I’ll go ahead.’

The reason for calling her to the secluded club room after a nonchalant cheek kiss…

She wasn’t so clueless as to not guess the reason.

“Ha, honestly… I’m speechless… I guess she can’t confess in front of everyone?”

Still, since she was on the receiving end of the confession, she decided to let it slide and went up to the main building where the club room was located.

“Hmm, hmm…”

She hummed as she climbed the stairs and walked down the hallway.

It was her first confession.

Her first time, from both men and women.

It was a bit strange that her first historical confession was from a woman, but she didn’t feel entirely bad…

“Ah…”

There was an uninvited guest.

No, not an uninvited guest.

‘Jumping to conclusions,
… ’

Min Hayoon was just affectionate enough to give cheek kisses to any girl without thinking too much about it. She was the fool for misinterpreting it as a romantic signal.

‘This is so frustrating.’

She felt annoyed, but she still had to take pictures, so she scratched the back of her head and entered the club room.

This was the last time she would be here.

She wanted to capture the memory with pictures.

Choi Arin and Hong Seo-hyun graduated from Yongsan IT High School.

Now, Hayoon was the only person left at the school who was affiliated with BGG Company. Do Jin-ho was working on a recruitment ad for additional chat moderators who would officially start working in December.

He had to find people who, like himself, understood, respected, and cared for Vtubers, yet were willing to dedicate themselves for a low salary.

‘The biggest difference between individual streaming and corporate streaming is that the managers are company employees.’

This was Do Jin-ho’s belief.

Corporate streaming required the company to manage almost everything, making it difficult to operate. However, as someone who received 50% of the revenue, he felt obligated to do so.

If he treated them like disposable tools, there would eventually be limitations. He wanted to recruit competent managers.

“What did the 3D modeler say?”

–They said they’ll work on Lucy, Shiro Yuki, and Vivian in that order, as long as the price is right. They’ll try to finish by the first week of November. Oh, Scarlet’s schedule was assigned to someone else.

They were making rapid progress with the 3D modeling as well.

The original 3D model based on Lucy’s completed Live2D model was already in production, and Baek-seol’s Shiro Yuki and Jo A-young’s Vivian were scheduled to be produced sequentially…

“It’s insanely expensive…”

The government subsidy was poured entirely into this production cost.

Hayoon had planned to save it for rent…

Excluding the 10 million won already spent on purchasing additional soundproof booths, the remaining 40 million won was poured into outsourcing the original 3D models.

–Well, it can’t be helped. It’s not just the three of them debuting, we changed the plan to have Scarlet make a surprise appearance during the opening. We need to use the few million won left over for studio rental fees on that day…

“It’s nerve-wracking, huh?”

–Yeah… It’s
nerve-wracking.

Do Jin-ho, who also acted as the general manager and handled some of the accounting, muttered dejectedly.

–If it weren’t for the subsidy, we would have had to spend 40 million won of our own money. Wouldn’t that be a bit tight, even for you?

“Definitely… I also have to renew the Igloo’s lease soon, so I have to pay the 40 million won deposit with my own money…”

It would have been fine if they had compromised here and there, but if they started compromising from their debut stage, astute Vtuber fans would think, “Ah, they’re trying to save money.”

Who would become a fan of a company’s Vtuber who was clearly trying to cut corners on events?

It was better to do it properly from the start. In that sense, the 40 million won government subsidy remaining in Hayoon’s pocket was used in an incredibly efficient way.

“Anyway, I’ll leave the 3D modeling and additional manager recruitment to you. I have to continue raising funds, so I need to work on illustrations today…”

–Of course, I’ll handle it. My turtle neck is getting better since I’m not developing games, so I’m really happy these days. You can keep giving me work, just don’t make me do programming.

Do Jin-ho also…

Didn’t want to return to his game development days, pleading for more work.

Hayoon ended the call with Do Jin-ho, saying she would consider giving him more work soon and let him know.

“But what kind of work should I give him?”

However, Hayoon couldn’t think of anything specific to assign to Do Jin-ho.

Although their RPs were established, the four Vtubers of BGG Company didn’t have enough time in their schedules for voice acting or acting lessons.

Using voice actors would reduce immersion, and if they did it themselves, the game would probably end up with worse quality than amateur recordings. The development of a visual novel based on the Vtubers’ RPs was put on hold due to these practical limitations.

“There are no more Vtubers to contract, and he’s already in charge of outsourcing the new managers and 3D models…”

There was the 2022 AGC booth and stage contract, but a proper announcement for that wouldn’t be made until October.

That meant…

“There’s nothing to assign him…?”

There was no more work for Do Jin-ho.

The employee wanted more work, but the boss had nothing to assign him…

“Well, should I just let him rest… He’ll be incredibly busy towards the end of the year anyway, whether he likes it or not…”

Hayoon decided to leave him be and closed Do Jin-ho’s DM window.

He would be busy later anyway, whether he liked it or not.

She decided to show generosity as a boss, considering it his last break.

“Hmm, hmm…”

A familiar humming sound came from outside.

It was Choi Arin.

It seemed the alcoholic had bought more alcohol.

“Hmm, hmm…”

Choi Arin had recently started drinking.

Of course, she didn’t particularly like alcohol, so she bought and drank 3% fruit-flavored alcoholic beverages.

She didn’t understand why people drank beer; it just tasted like barley tea with carbonation. And soju was just bitter.

So, Choi Arin’s compromise was fruit-flavored alcoholic beverages.

“I bought a week’s worth. A week’s worth…”

She hummed carelessly, putting seven cans of the drink in the refrigerator.

Well, now it was six cans.

She was going to drink one right now.

“Hello!”

“Welcome, Unnie.”

As soon as she entered the studio, Choi Arin greeted Hayoon, holding a can of the drink in her hand as if to show off.

Then…

–Tsss.

She opened the can, the sound of fizzing carbonation filling the air.

The refreshing peach scent filled the studio, and Choi Arin glanced sideways at Hayoon without saying a word.

‘You can’t drink this, can you? You can’t, right?’

This was her way of showing off.

The biggest difference between Hayoon and Choi Arin.

The biggest difference, legally distinguished, despite being only a year apart.

Adult and minor.

Using this gap, she would drink the fruit-flavored alcoholic beverage right in front of Hayoon…!

Of course, she only drank one can a day.

It was drinkable, but not delicious.

By the same logic, she didn’t smoke.

She felt like she could quit drinking anytime, but smoking was a definite no.

The smell…

–Gulp.

Thinking these random thoughts, she took her first sip.

Then…

“Ah, delicious.”

Like in a commercial, she exaggerated her enjoyment.

You can’t drink this, can you?

I can drink this.

Are you jealous?

Are you jealous?

This was her unspoken message.

‘Hehehe…’

It was only a one-year limited show-off, but at least she could do this much.

This was Choi Arin’s attempt to reclaim her Unnie status.

One can wouldn’t affect her animation work, and she could drink it like juice.

She drank it to boost her damaged Unnie pride and farm self-esteem whenever Hayoon was around…

“Why do you keep doing that? Making me curious.”

“Huh…?”

Suddenly, Hayoon moved.

She bounced out of her chair, walked over to Choi Arin, and stood next to her…

–Smack.

Like at the graduation ceremony, no, even more intensely than then…

Lip-to-lip contact.

“Ah, so you like this taste.”

Hayoon smirked.

She grinned as if saying, “Why do you keep doing things you can’t handle?”

Then, she went back to her seat and said just one thing before starting her work.

“Maybe I should start wearing peach-flavored lip tint.”

“Uh…?”

It felt like she was melting.

Her face was burning.

‘I’m going to explode.’

She heard the phantom sound of steam whistling.

She felt feverish, as if she was already drunk after just one sip.