Chapter 74: The Night before the storm September, Part 4

The next day.

Hayoon heads to school as usual.

It should be familiar by now, but the path to school in the morning was still as arduous as ever.

Hayoon felt a deep gloom as she got off at the Yongsan IT High School bus stop and passed through the school gates.

The autumn sky was so blue.

A clear, blue sky with no end in sight, oblivious to Hayoon’s feelings, remained calm without a single cloud.

“Haaa….”

Hayoon lowered her head and followed the familiar path up to the club room.

And then…

“What kind of illustration should I do this time?”

She tapped the tablet screen with the pen tip, contemplating the rough sketch for an all-ages illustration to upload to Pixiv.

Although she posted less frequently than before, Pixiv was still the cornerstone of an illustrator’s work.

Especially for Hayoon, who was diligently adding watermarks in preparation for the coming AI shock.

Unless something drastic happened, her posting schedule for Pixiv and Patreon wouldn’t change much.

“Lamias are always a solid choice.”

Soon, Hayoon’s pen started moving busily, as if possessed.

She was drawing a lamia, a snake monster with a snake’s lower body and a human upper body.

It was Hayoon’s favorite monster type.

Skin color, scales, vulnerability to heat and cold, and so on.

She could customize it to her liking and create a fitting situation.

What a versatile species.

“Ahhh….”

Indeed, she was happiest when drawing monster girls.

Hayoon, who had just been frowning, started grinning and working on the lamia illustration’s rough sketch.

This time, she would draw a lamia lying in bed, lifting the covers, saying she had warmed it up.

Of course, since lamias are based on cold-blooded snakes, they can’t properly warm up a blanket.

Someone else would have to get in to warm it up.

And to enhance this composition.

What if she added a speech bubble saying, ‘Let’s warm up the bed together.’?

“Ah, so good.”

Of course, the dialogue needed some refining.

But the composition alone guaranteed a certain level of appeal.

Hayoon couldn’t stop smiling as she worked on the rough sketch.

“You’re early again today?”

“Ah, unnie.”

Around the time Hayoon was finishing the rough sketch, Choi Arin arrived.

Do Jin-ho had been working overnight lately, making it increasingly difficult to see him in the mornings.

It was a pity, but since he said the platform registration would be possible after about a week of hard work, Hayoon decided to cheer him on from afar.

“The facial tracking keeps getting better. Want to see?”

“Oh, sure.”

Choi Arin showed off the facial tracking, with what seemed like hundreds more dots added in the past few days, and grinned.

It was no empty grin.

The virtual quality was superb, even to Hayoon, a non-expert.

“I was right not to add more illustrations and to let you focus on this.”

“Right? I’ve added another skill to my repertoire.”

“You have. Good job.”

Hayoon praised Choi Arin, who seemed to be seeking validation, and gently hugged her from behind.

As a result.

‘Wow…. so soft….’

Choi Arin marveled at the softness she felt on the back of her head.

Naturally, Hayoon, oblivious to Choi Arin’s inner thoughts, continued to gently press her chest against her while checking the facial tracking.

“What happens if you put your hand in the middle? Does the expression get messed up?”

“Ah, th-that…. If you cover your eyes with your hand, the eyes are basically not recognized, so I made them close. 3D could handle the hand-covering, but 2D can’t, you know?”

“Right?”

“So, I thought it would be better to have the eyes close when they’re not recognized, to at least make the viewers understand that she’s not looking at the screen.”

“What if your eyes are covered by your bangs?”

“Well… you just have to use a hair roller then. It’s not like Vtubers have to look pretty in real life.”

“That’s true.”

Hayoon continued to unintentionally press her chest against Choi Arin while discussing facial tracking with her.

Perhaps due to frequent physical contact with Hong Seo-hyun, its effects were inadvertently spilling over to Choi Arin.

And Choi Arin, the victim, or perhaps beneficiary, of this.

‘Sh-should I say something…?’

She was flustered by Hayoon’s actions and didn’t know what to do.

Even if physical contact between girls was common, pressing one’s chest against someone else’s head was not.

‘Hmm….’

It was awkward to bring it up, but it was also a bit uncomfortable to just let it be.

As she tried to think of a way to change the subject.

“Oh, unnie, do you want to see our photo book?”

“Huh? Photo book?”

“Yes, the cosplay book. It’s finished.”

Fortunately, Hayoon moved away on her own and brought over the photo book she had put in her bag.

This was the box Yoon Suhee had placed by Hayoon’s room last night.

It was the cosplay photo book they had shot at Studio Yoon.

“Ah, this, uh, how did it turn out?”

Even though she had taken photos for people who asked her before, this was her first time making a proper photo book.

Choi Arin chuckled awkwardly and took the photo book from Hayoon.

“Wow….”

On the first page of the photo book.

She saw Hayoon in a maid outfit, trimming roses, and let out a gasp of admiration.

As expected, it was impressive.

Choi Arin was confident in her own looks, but she didn’t think she could beat Hayoon in front of a camera.

Hayoon had something that drew people’s attention to her, like she was born to be a model.

Since that something was strongly felt even in the photos in the photo book, how could she possibly compete with such a model?

“It’s too much. Too much. How can you be so pretty all by yourself?”

Choi Arin shook her head and flipped through the pages.

Page after page of Hayoon in a maid outfit.

Every shot was absolute perfection.

Choi Arin felt herself shrinking in the face of Hayoon’s overwhelming presence in the photos, which were so well done that even empty praise felt inadequate.

As she turned to the next page and finally saw her own face.

“Well, you were definitely prettier.”

“Wh-what…?”

Hayoon started grooming her, as if she had been waiting for this moment.

Hayoon knew that Choi Arin was sensitive to praise and a bit timid, unlike their first meeting.

When she was feeling down like this, it was time to shower her with morale-boosting words.

“Honestly, I felt like the chest was a bit lacking back then. To really pull off an outfit, you need a chest like yours, unnie.”

“D-Don’t be silly…. It wasn’t that small back then, either. It would overflow if you held it with one hand…”

“Hey, you think I’d say that just to be nice? You really pulled off the outfit better.”

“R-really….”

Hayoon then slightly hugged Choi Arin from behind and gestured for her to flip the page.

This time, it wasn’t the back of her head but her shoulder that was supporting her chest.

Choi Arin, unable to say anything, turned the page of the photo book.

And she saw herself inside.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it…?”

“Right? I told you.”

Maybe it was because Hayoon was hyping her up, or maybe Yoon Suhee had done a good job with the editing, but it was indeed very pretty.

Choi Arin coughed and turned the page again, and Hayoon giggled and praised her looks some more.

Before they knew it, it was almost time for the morning assembly.

“I guess Do Jin-ho will be like that, but why is Hong Seo-hyun so late today?”

“Ah, she’s really busy right now, too.”

“Busy? Why?”

“She’s studying streaming. And building hype for her debut by occasionally tweeting on Bluebird.”

“Ah-ha?”

Choi Arin nodded in understanding and got up.

“Here you go. We have class now.”

She stretched and handed the photo book to Hayoon with one hand.

“Ah, no. It’s okay. Mom made an extra copy, so I brought it to give to you, senior.”

“R-really?”

“Yes, she said it’s to commemorate your first shoot.”

“Oh, ahaha…. Th-thank you….”

Hayoon waved her hands and put the photo book in Choi Arin’s bag for her.

“Don’t mention it. I haven’t even looked at it properly yet, so let’s look at it together during lunch break later.”

“S-sure.”

Then she naturally made a lunch appointment with Choi Arin.

She hadn’t been able to talk much with Choi Arin lately because she was busy taking care of Hong Seo-hyun, so she wanted to make up for it this way.

“Then, see you later!”

“Yes, see you later.”

As she was about to part ways with Choi Arin and go to her room.

-Vtuber Scarlet’s photo shoot successful!

-You have been awarded a random box draw!!

The one she had been waiting for had finally arrived.