chapter_0128

128 – Zoobee Never Cry

128 – Zoobee Never Cry

Thinking back, I realize I know almost nothing about Bajubi, despite having exchanged contact information.

Typical of Koreans.

When they meet, they start by revealing their ages, introducing themselves, and confirming their hometowns and university backgrounds, checking the connections of blood ties, academic ties, and regional ties between you and me.

Someone as reserved as Bajubi tends to shrink back and just observe in such an atmosphere.

Even the person who was about to ask a question ends up hesitating, thinking, “Is it okay to ask this…?” and ultimately avoids asking anything until the end.

Fortunately, our team has Young-gun, a remarkably extroverted individual, which meant Bajubi did become a subject of questions at least…

“But how old are you, Ms. Jubi? Should I call you ‘noona’?”

“………”

I didn’t get a proper answer.

For some reason, I thought there must be something she couldn’t say, so we quietly moved on.

Thus, aside from guessing, there was no particular way to find out about Bajubi’s personal details.

She was a career woman in her late twenties, with a height similar to the Boss, and despite her hunched posture, she had a considerable presence that left Young-gun speechless from our first meeting.

That was the conclusion I reached about Bajubi, who had left early on the day our team had a gathering.

In fact, the outfit she wore that day gave off a strong office worker vibe.

Her avatar, which she used for streaming, seemed to have adult features with ears and a tail attached, and her RP indicated she was a single woman of marriageable age, though she had no daughter.

So everyone thought the same.

She must be quite popular at work, but perhaps she became reserved because of the pressure?

However, who said one should not judge a person by their appearance?

“Oh my… where did you find such a cute friend?”

“Well… not quite.”

“If you haven’t seen someone in years, they’re a friend, right? Anyway, friend, have you eaten? I’ll prepare something right away, so just wait a bit.”

“… Ah, yes. This is a small gift, but I heard strawberries are really delicious these days.”

“That explains the refreshing scent I’ve been smelling since earlier! I thought it was the scent coming from our friend!”

Following Bajubi’s suggestion that it’s better to eat together at home than to go out for a meal, we went to her house, where I found her mother, who looked just like Bajubi, waiting at the entrance.

If you looked closely, you could definitely sense a difference in maturity, but at a glance, they looked more like sisters than mother and daughter, which was quite confusing.

Fortunately, Bajubi was wearing a hoodie and shorts, making it easier to recognize her.

“… I’m sorry. I told Mahn that I didn’t have to be home. … I was bullied a bit at school, so… it’s fine.”

Perhaps because it wasn’t a gathering with many people in reality, I could hear Bajubi’s voice quite well today.

I expressed my sympathy, revealing my concern.

“I’m really sorry to hear that. Are you okay now?”

“……… I’m fine since I’m on break from school.”

“Oh dear. If you took a break during the semester, what about the tuition?”

“…?”

I paused, wondering if I had missed something in Bajubi’s words, but she was staring at me intently.

She really hadn’t said anything.

… Did I say something wrong?

Seeing her resemblance to her mother, I assumed she was an adult, estimating her age to be in her late twenties.

When she mentioned school, I thought she might be a college student, so I adjusted my estimate to her early twenties.

Thinking it might be a misunderstanding, I asked Bajubi.

“Ms. Jubi, you’re not a college student, are you?”

I was left dumbfounded by her response.

“… No, I’m in middle school. … I’m sorry. … I didn’t mention it.”

She’s in middle school.

… Middle school?

Of course, if I thought about it, there were hints that Bajubi was a minor.

Her fandom was a crazy group of hardcore supporters.

They always said things like “Protect Bajubi!” and “Protect the baby!”

But I never thought that “the baby” would actually be a real child.

Honestly, who would call someone like Bajubi, who uses an avatar, “the baby,” and believe it was a genuine term for someone young?

It sounded like a joke from those hardcore supporters trying to protect their streamer.

What sent chills down my spine was that as soon as I learned Bajubi’s real age, all the various things Young-gun had said on the day of the gathering flashed through my mind.

Ah, Young-gun, I only thought of words like “Farewell” for violating the Child and Youth Protection Act.

Suddenly coming to my senses, I spoke to Bajubi with a very serious expression.

“Do you perhaps want to sue Young-gun…?”

“… No! That’s not it. … He hid it on purpose. He never said anything that bad…!”

“That’s true, but if you ever need help, please contact me at my number. I will actively assist you.”

“……… That’s unlikely, but yes. … If I ever need it, I’ll definitely reach out.”

“Absolutely.”

But why did I like the Slow Train selection so much back then?

Unable to let it go, I asked, and this was the response I got.

“… When my grandfather was alive, he used to drink and sing that song often. … It just reminds me of my childhood…”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to touch on a painful subject.”

“… It’s nothing to apologize for.”

Bajubi, who often said “I’m sorry” when bored during streams, seemed to have that role taken over by me today.

I felt indebted to Ena without meaning to.

If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have known about all the messages.

Three months of feeling this guilty is one thing, but thinking about it being over six months is staggering.

How much emotional turmoil must this reserved girl have gone through alone?

The home dining prepared by Bajubi’s mother was extravagantly delicious.

It was truly the taste of a mother’s cooking that one could feel at a Korean dining table.

Sweet braised short ribs, freshly grilled seaweed, soybean paste stew, steamed eggs, lotus root stir-fry, and cockle salad. It was filled with things that one usually can’t eat.

Since Bajubi said she preferred eating together at home, I switched from a meal invitation to a box of strawberries as a gift, but during the meal, I understood why.

Bajubi’s mother began to share stories from the past.

“Honestly, I was a bit skeptical when she said she was going to stream to practice making friends and restoring her social life. But it’s amazing that it actually worked.

I watched the whole tournament a few months ago. She said she got lucky with a chance to participate, but the scale was just too big. I was so nervous, thinking, ‘What if my child makes a mistake?'”

Now, Bajubi’s exact reason for debuting was being revealed.

I could understand why she thanked Young-gun for creating a good team for her.

Except for Young-gun, everyone else was well-known busybodies.

Including the somewhat aloof Kamik, there were four people—KraeMang, Ena, and Majiya—who consistently took care of Bajubi.

Bajubi’s mother was speaking on her behalf.

She said that if it had been another team, Bajubi would have hardly spoken and might have been blamed as the reason for the team’s loss.

“I was really amazed to see how well Jia and Serena understood our Yubin, who couldn’t even raise her voice properly.”

“I’m quite sensitive to sounds, so it just turned out that way.”

“Be humble. Anyway, I’m really grateful. Please come visit often. I can’t let such grateful friends go without treating them to a meal.”

Majiya felt a bit guilty, but Bajubi was equally embarrassed.

“… It’s embarrassing, so stop talking.”

“She should definitely express her gratitude. You always say how grateful you are to everyone.”

“…………”

Bajubi’s hands moved slowly, noticeably red in the face.

She couldn’t say it directly, but it seemed she felt shy about using her mother’s voice.

Anyway, I couldn’t avoid talking about the collaboration we were going to have today, so when Bajubi’s mother finished her meal and stepped aside, I slowly brought up the topic I had prepared.

“First of all, it seems like we’re going to have an all-nighter stream today. Are you okay with your stamina?”

“… An all-nighter?”

“Yes. I feel bad just doing the Parallel World Cup, so I thought we could play a game together too.”

The average time to conduct the Parallel World Cup from the round of 64 is about 4-5 hours.

If we add a game in the second part, an all-nighter is almost guaranteed.

As soon as I mentioned this, Bajubi shook her head vigorously.

“… You don’t have to go that far…!”

However, Majiya was quite firm.

It was a heavy mistake to have ignored her messages for three months.

“I can’t do that. I don’t want to just brush off three months of not seeing your messages, so please don’t feel too burdened. I took a day off tomorrow, so you really don’t have to worry.”

“… Ugh.”

“Just pick a game you want to play, Ms. Bajubi. Regardless of the type of game, I will definitely play with you.”

Bajubi’s contemplation didn’t take long.

Since she had a specific collaboration content she had dreamed of since she first saw Majiya.

“… I want to play ‘Never Cry Princess’ together.”

Never Cry Princess.

A sequel to the original Queen Maker, which was the pioneer of raising a daughter, released as a spiritual successor after the original’s discontinuation.

In a fantasy world, the goal is to raise a ten-year-old daughter until she turns eighteen.

Compared to the original Queen Maker, it features a wider variety of unexpected events and choices, with over fifty bad endings, while only five true endings and happy endings are incredibly difficult to achieve.

However, what Bajubi wanted was not to see a happy ending by working together.

“… I want to be the mother. And Jia can play the daughter…”

“?”

Though she was a middle school student, Bajubi was clearly establishing her RP as a woman of marriageable age, including the introduction on her channel.

So, if Majiya, who had a cute avatar, took on the role of the daughter, it seemed Bajubi wanted to experience being the mother raising that daughter.

To be honest, Majiya was already feeling dizzy at this point.

On Children’s Day, Majiya, who is not a child, would take on the role of a child.

And the one closest to being a real child, Bajubi, would take on the role of the mother.

Of course, the viewers wouldn’t care about what kind of person Bajubi was; they would just flock to see Majiya doing another fun stream in celebration of Family Month.

But from Majiya’s perspective, it was hard not to feel a bit of self-loathing.

Since I came to seek forgiveness for the mistake I made against Bajubi, this wasn’t the time to be picky about roles.

Still, performing as a child in front of a middle school student felt like something Majiya’s heart simply wouldn’t allow.

“Wouldn’t it be better to do it the other way around? Even though I look like this, I’m quite far from being a child, so I might not be able to do the dubbing well…”

Bajubi shook her head.

“… Not every daughter can be the same. … You’re that kind of daughter, cynical and mature. … I don’t want to make an unreasonable request for you to do a dubbing that’s completely different from your usual personality…”

Usually, Bajubi would retreat, saying “I’m sorry,” “No,” or “Please pretend you didn’t hear that,” but now she was showing a very firm attitude.

It was a pure expression of desire.

She wanted to proceed with this content with Majiya as much as possible.

Since she said there was no need to force a tone for acting, Majiya felt somewhat relieved.

“Okay, if that’s what you want, let’s give it a try.”

As soon as I agreed, Bajubi flashed a mature and sultry smile, with one side of her bangs hanging down, and seeing that made Majiya’s feelings quite complicated.

Having lived with her mother, it seemed she had been greatly influenced by her.

But how on earth could she be a middle school student?

… ─ — Ppajijik Gallery ─ ─ — …

[What is Majiya?]

(Ppajijik – Bajubi)

https:https://www.pazizik.com/bar_zoo_bee

What is she doing on someone else’s stream without any notice? Haha

[Comments]

— Ppajijik835: Nowadays, they promote like this, haha

– Ppajijik835: No way, this is real

… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

A word from the author (Author’s note)

I’ve been unable to continue the series due to personal matters lately.

Seeing the increasing demands for updates, I can’t help but feel my malicious instincts boiling like Jia. What should I do?

Hehe.