Chapter 3 : Do you want to try running a YouTube channel with me? (3)

I really get up from my seat to go home.

Getting involved with Yoo Chaeryeong is incredibly troublesome, so I have to humor her nonsense to some extent.

“Hey, wait a second! Seriously! Please, just once. Just a moment~!”

She tries to stop me from leaving, but there’s no chance.

I cleanly ignore her words and put my hand on the doorknob.

Grab.

Something wraps around my waist from behind.

“Are you really going to leave like this? Even when I’m begging you like this? What happened to our 15 years of friendship?”

I feel like I can’t breathe.

Not because she mentioned our 15-year friendship.

That’s only natural.

Because the girl I like just hugged me from behind.

My heart races even when our hands brush—if she suddenly does this, it feels like my heart will explode.

It’s soft, warm, and gentle.

I can clearly feel that this is a girl’s body, different from a guy’s.

And her large, well-shaped breasts press against my back, halting my steps.

“…Hey, let go.”

“What’s wrong? Are you mad?”

“I’m not mad. I’ll listen to you. So let go.”

I’m scared she might hear how fast my heart is beating.

I’m terrified she might see how red my face is getting.

I’m afraid she’ll figure out that I like her because of this.

It’s just sad, the pitiful nature of a man who gives in to something like this.

“I let go. Happy now? You’re not gonna run away the moment I stop, right?”

“I’m not running. Do I look like you? I’m not a kindergartener.”

Barely calming my pounding heart, I sigh and sit back down on the bed.

I really thought my heart would burst.

Why does she do this kind of stuff like it’s nothing?

If it weren’t me, but some other guy, he might’ve totally fallen for this innocent fox-like act.

No—turns out I did fall for it.

“So? What else did you want to say?”

“Right, right. Everything I said until now was basically just the introduction, like the prologue of a movie.”

“…”

“So you only heard about us starting at the same company, but not the most important part—the contract details. Geez.”

Like she didn’t expect me to just walk off like that.

Chaeryeong looks dumbfounded, but from my perspective, just listening to her rambling already counts as top 1% level friendship.

Practically untouchable.

She pulls out her phone and says to me:

“I know what I said probably sounded ridiculous.”

“You knew?”

So she said all that knowing? Amazing.

But then, Chaeryeong looks at me with pleading eyes.

“But… you know, right? Doing YouTube has been my lifelong dream… All I need is for you to just help me this once. It’s not even hard—just go on a fake date once or twice a week and edit the videos… that’s all…”

“That is hard.”

“Even though it’s your best friend’s lifelong wish? Seriously?”

“I mean, it’s weird to begin with. It’s a couple vlog, but we’re not even a couple, and you want us to act like one.”

“So what? All those romance reality shows are scripted too. It’s acting. Just acting.”

Chaeryeong looks at me like she’s frustrated.

“I’m telling you, if it’s you and me, it’s guaranteed to be a hit! Just think of it like acting in a simple web drama, okay? Didn’t you say before that you wanted to be an actor?”

She even brings up my childhood dream to persuade me.

It’s easy for her to say.

If I had no feelings for her, maybe it’d be fine.

Then I could probably just treat it like acting.

“Please, I’m begging you… You know I don’t have any other guy I could ask for this…”

And as I listen to her desperate plea, one thought comes to mind.

Could she ask another guy if I say no?

As far as I know, Yoo Chaeryeong isn’t that close with any of the guys in our department.

She talks to them politely, but never lets anyone get too close.

If there’s any guy she’s close to, it’d probably be just me.

But if I coldly turn her down now, she might take this idea to another guy.

She really looked desperate.

And if that happens—whether it’s a couple vlog or whatever—some guy who’s into her might accept just to get close to her…

It’s a ridiculous thought, but the moment it crosses my mind, I can’t help but waver.

Yoo Chaeryeong shooting a fake couple vlog with some other guy.

I don’t think I could stand to watch that.

“Fine! I’m not asking you to do it for free. If I’m casting an actor, of course I have to pay.”

While I’m lost in my useless thoughts, she seems to think I’m hesitating for that reason.

She takes out her phone, taps away with her long nails, and then—

“Here, check. I just sent the signing bonus.”

“What? I didn’t say I’d do it yet.”

“Just take a look. My dad always said, if someone rejects your offer, it means the money wasn’t enough.”

That’s… such a business-like mindset.

Thinking I can just return it if I refuse, I take out my phone and check my account.

Ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million…

…Wait, what?

“Excuse me? You didn’t send the wrong amount, right?”

“Our rent deposit is ten million won. Do you get how serious I am now?”

She transferred me an amount equivalent to her monthly rent deposit in one go.

Of course, she gets a decent allowance from her parents, but even for Chaeryeong, who is still a student, it wasn’t a small amount of money.

It was the kind of amount that showed how serious she was about her dream.

“I won’t even ask you to keep doing it. Just for one year. And I won’t take up too much of your time either. Please. Yoon Taeo…”

She lowered her head and gently grabbed my arm.

Seeing how desperate she looked, even I started to lose the urge to tease her.

She must really want to do this.

It’s not like she’s asking me to do it for free, so… maybe it’s okay to help her?

When someone you like begs you that earnestly, it’s hard to keep saying no.

In the end, I was the one who gave in again.

“Haa… fine. Alright. I’ll do it. Okay?”

“Really? Seriously? Like, seriously seriously?”

“Yeah. I said I’ll do it. You already gave me the deposit, right? There’s no backing out now.”

It’s not like I did it for the money. Ahem.

It’s also not because I can now toss out our broken computer and replace it with a brand-new full set.

“Thank you… Yoon Taeo… seriously, thank you… I’ll repay you someday… I’ll definitely make it up to you…”

Watching her express her gratitude so dramatically, I accepted her proposal.

But maybe, deep down, my biggest motivation was something else entirely.

Maybe by doing this… Chaeryeong might start seeing me as a man.

—That kind of foolish hope.

“Hey~! Over here! Here!”

“You don’t have to yell, I can see you. Calm down.”

We’re at the main gate of the campus.

Today was the first day that Yoon Taeo and I were going to film a vlog together.

As I waved my hand around, people nearby started turning to look.

They glanced at us, a little surprised by our appearance, then walked away.

And then a guy approached me, his expression turning sour.

Why is it so funny?

Seeing his annoyed face?

Taeo’s face, always uncomfortable with attention, came into view.

Slightly taller than me.

And in terms of romance, his looks are more of the “cold handsome guy” type.

With his sharp and chic expression, people often found it hard to approach him.

You know how it’s even harder to talk to someone if they’re good-looking and look cold?

Sometimes, girls would come to me saying they wanted to be friends with Taeo but were too scared to approach him.

He’s not scary at all, though—what is it that intimidates everyone?

“You really showed up?”

“What, did you think I’d bail?”

“Honestly, I was kinda nervous you’d take the money and ghost me.”

“Want me to leave now?”

“Ah~ don’t be like that~!”

I was surprised.

He usually found things like this annoying, so I wasn’t sure he’d actually agree to it.

That’s why I had the money ready to persuade him.

No matter how close we are as guy friend and girl friend, pretending to be a couple isn’t easy.

Even if I’m a total couple-vlog addict and really wanted to film one…

If it weren’t Taeo, I probably wouldn’t have even thought about doing this.

Handsome guys are even rarer than pretty girls, so there’s definitely a demand.

Besides that, I just didn’t think I’d feel gross doing this with him, no matter what we did.

…Why is that?

As we walked side by side, I found myself staring at his face.

“What are you looking at?”

“Your face?”

“Yeah, but why?”

“Because it’s ugly?”

“You wanna die?”

That annoyed, cold expression of his somehow felt totally harmless to me.

Probably because we’ve been friends for so many years.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense.

Anyway, I have to act all sweet and even do skinship with a guy I’m not actually dating.

If it weren’t Taeo, but some other guy…

I wouldn’t have suggested filming this—or even come up with the idea in the first place.

Taeo was my closest friend.

Maybe even closer than my parents, and definitely more than most girls I was friends with.

We’ve been together for so long that it feels more awkward not being around him.

So maybe it’s only natural I feel so comfortable with him.

Like how you wouldn’t be embarrassed kissing a dog you’ve raised for ten years.

“Heh.”

“What? Why’re you laughing while looking at my face?”

“Oh, nothing. Just thinking about my old dog back home.”

“Are you saying I look like your dog?”

“Just a little bit?”

“You ever been bitten by your dog?”

I chuckled to myself at the thought.

A quiet college campus on a weekend.

A perfect place for a university couple to shoot their first vlog.

“Should we start here?”

“Yeah. Let’s do it. Couple vlog or whatever. You brought the equipment, right?”

“Of course! I’ve got everything planned, and ta-da! I even bought a GoPro just for this.”

When I pulled the newest GoPro out of my mini bag, Taeo’s eyes sparkled slightly.

Typical guy—can’t resist new gadgets.

Or maybe it just makes sense for a media studies major to be into cameras.

I powered it on and adjusted a few settings.

Then I looked at him and gave him a serious reminder.

“Alright, from now on, we’re a couple, okay? Got it? Just think of this like a drama or a movie. Understood, Mr. Actor?”

“Yeah, yeah. So what do I do?”

“Just film me while we walk around the campus trail, show a few buildings, that kind of thing?”

“That’s enough?”

“For the first video, yeah. It’s more important to show who we are without making it too heavy.”

As someone who’s watched vlogs all day, I considered myself an expert.

First videos should be short but solid.

Enough to spark curiosity about who these people are.

“Alright then, we’re starting. Once this turns on, we’re officially a couple, okay?”

“Got it.”

I had no idea then—

That this vlog, which we began so casually,

Would end up changing our relationship forever.