Hobbyist VTuber

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Chapter

Haeun was clinging tightly.

There were no other words to describe Haeun’s current state more accurately.

Overall, her face was a rosy hue.

Her forehead was pressed right against Jeongmaria’s chest.

Her arms were wrapped snugly around Jeongmaria’s soft waist.

Hands interlocked behind Jeongmaria to prevent her from escaping.

And then…

“I really, really liked Cream… We used to talk often because I liked her…”

Muttering that had been whispered at some point.

“Ever since that day… She never calls first… Why is there distance…?”

Faced with Haeun’s completely different demeanor, Jeongmaria was flustered and sought assistance from the other members and Ji Hyemin.

However, the others were only watching with excited expressions.

Even Ji Hyemin was busy capturing video on her phone without anyone noticing.

“There’s definitely something Haeun’s upset about. Just hear her out~.”

At that moment, Ji Hyemin expressed that she had no intention of intervening.

Others crinkled snack packets, resembling those who had discovered an amusing spectacle, no different from Ji Hyemin.

Realizing she needed to resolve this situation on her own, Jeongmaria gently patted Haeun’s back.

She was reminded of a time when she used to comfort her cousin who cried long ago.

“Um, um… What could possibly be making our Haeun so sad…?”

Her voice was awkward at best.

Nevertheless, Haeun, whose reasoning had completely shut down, once again let out words she’d buried deep inside.

“Everything! I made mistakes, apologized, and said I was fine… But shouldn’t we go back to how things were…? Why doesn’t she call…?”

Haeun’s voice trembled slightly, filled with unshed tears.

This left Jeongmaria in shock once again, yet ultimately, she didn’t offer any help.

Instead, she just kept repeating words of apology like “I’m sorry, sister” or “Ah, I see now, you were really hurt because I didn’t call.”

Anyway, it was true that ever since the incident with Dia’s real voice, she’d been very careful about calling Haeun.

It seemed Haeun had noticed this change in Jeongmaria’s attitude.

This continued on for quite a while, the monologue that wasn’t really a monologue from Haeun.

Being firmly held by Haeun, Jeongmaria could only respond to her mumbling, waiting for Haeun to calm down.

And thus, how long had it been?

Suddenly, Haeun’s head, which had been resting on Jeongmaria’s chest, slowly dropped onto Jeongmaria’s shoulder.

Then came another mumble.

“Cream… You really don’t hate me… right?”

In a voice as soft as a whisper, it felt like Haeun was asking Jeongmaria.

Jeongmaria nodded again, assuring her that there was no reason to hate Haeun.

Almost simultaneously, a whispered sigh of relief came.

“Phew, what a relief… At least you don’t hate me…”

Up until that point, Jeongmaria had thought Haeun was calming down.

She thought Haeun would loosen her grip around her and step back.

But then…

“Then can you tell me you love me…? Just once would be fine…”

Haeun, raised from Jeongmaria’s shoulder, looked straight into Jeongmaria’s face and made another request.

Jeongmaria was understandably flustered by Haeun’s request.

After all, all she could feel looking at Haeun’s serious face was her earnestness.

“…Heh.”

“Haeun, when drunk, is so adorably needy. Maria must be so lucky~!”

The members were still watching with amusing expressions, dissecting Haeun and Jeongmaria’s interaction.

Ji Hyemin’s phone continued capturing Haeun’s drunken state.

Just then, Jeongmaria, slightly turning her head away from Haeun, was biting her lip in frustration, glaring at the others.

-Tap.

-Tap. Thud.

“…Huh?”

Something warm began to drop onto Jeongmaria’s thighs.

Almost simultaneously, a sobbed voice reached her ears.

“Please… Just once. Just once would be enough…!”

That beautiful face, which had once seemed so steady, now appeared momentarily unsteady.

It was as if it would collapse if touched.

Tears had started flowing from her eyes unknowingly.

The decisive moment was the trembling eyes that had turned thoroughly red, looking emptier than ever before.

“Love you, I do! Our Haeun, I love you so much!”

Jeongmaria, who had doubted her own eyes for a moment, hurriedly fulfilled Haeun’s request.

Within just a few seconds came a softly relayed laugh.

“Haha.”

However, everyone apart from Haeun soon sensed something was off, and the laughter faltered.

Ji Hyemin’s phone gradually shifted downward.

“Such an easy thing to say… yet I could never…”

Hunched down in her seat.

Her hair drooping.

Her shoulders heaving slightly.

Tears plopping silently onto the floor.

“Because I couldn’t say it once… What on earth is so difficult… Damn it…”

At first, it was clearly acting, or so she thought.

Yet, no matter how she pondered, it wasn’t so.

If this moment were truly an act…

Then no one would be able to differentiate between Haeun’s lies or truths.

“Ow, ahhh…”

She was genuinely in pain.

The familiar bitterness, which had once felt familiar but was now foreign, weighed heavily, exhausting her until she fell asleep.

And so, that sorrowful crying filled the room for quite some time.

Finally, after Haeun fainted and fell asleep, the others besides Jeongmaria began to show signs of panic.

“Uhh… what do we do? What should we do, Representative?”

“First… let’s move Haeun to the bed.”

Thus, after they moved the crumpled Haeun onto the hotel bed, the remaining members began guessing about the situation Haeun had been hiding.

They finally concluded.

“Before we leave tomorrow, let Maria talk to Haeun alone for a bit…”

“M-Me?”

“I think you’ll be better than me, after considering for a long while.”

For some reason, it seemed like they all liked Maria the most.

The statement murmured by Ji Hyemin was agreed upon by everyone except Jeongmaria.

However, Haeun, in the end, completely forgot what words and actions she had manifested.

And it was no wonder.

“Ughh…”

She woke up earlier than anyone else as usual and was the first to be ensnared by her hangover.

It felt like the pounding in her head would never subside.

The only fragments of memory she had were the colors of the cans she had drunk the night before.

Thus, to understand this unexplainable pain, she moved toward the stacks of empty cans piled on the hotel table.

And just shortly after finding a can that matched her blurry recollections…

-Thud.

“…This is bad.”

Realizing the reason for Haeun’s memories having completely vanished due to her first time drinking, she slumped to the floor.

The various incidents Ji Hyemin had said could happen if Haeun ever got drunk swirled through her mind.

While neither Ji Hyemin nor the members of Fantasia would make a big deal over Haeun drinking, she had an ominous feeling that drunk Haeun had caused complete chaos.

A few hours later, during Akihabara shopping, she was constantly glancing at others due to that feeling.

But for some reason…

“H-Haeun. Aren’t you going to buy this? You said you’d definitely buy this one…”

Compared to the day before, the voices surrounding her had become notably awkward.

It seemed they were trying to avoid her gaze even more.

Her already confused mind twisted further into chaos.

Of course, she had shopped for all the subculture goodies she wanted.

She had even packed an extra suitcase for this very moment.

“W-Wait, Haeun. Can you really take all that back to Korea? It seems like you won’t be able to fit everything…?”

“It’s okay. This time I came with an extra suitcase just for goodies.”

“G-Goodies?”

“Yup.”

“Are you a wholesaler?”

***

Ultimately, the vlog from the third day of the trip became a dramatically toned-down version compared to previous days.

The fatigue built up from traveling was beyond overwhelming, and the unexpected events from the night before left her unable to raise her spirits.

“Well then, see you in Korea. Bye-bye…”

And with that, the filming of Haeun and the others was cut short just as their shadows reached out toward the Japanese airport.

Next was Ji Hyemin’s signal.

“I’ll be looking into some things at the airport, so when I call, everyone come inside.”

The rest, excluding Jeongmaria, scattered like arrows as soon as Ji Hyemin finished her statement.

Park Misoo and Kim Eunhye hastily vanished towards the restroom, while Lee Yena dashed to the nearby convenience store.

Hence, left by Haeun’s side was only Jeongmaria.

Caught off guard by such a sudden and chaotic scene, Haeun understandably grew flustered.

However, she couldn’t help but be even more alarmed when Jeongmaria, saying she had something personal to discuss, pulled Haeun into a nearby café.

Upon reaching the café, Jeongmaria wore an unexpectedly serious expression.

“Hey Haeun… is there something going on?”

Such a worry-laden look it was.

Yet, despite Haeun sifting through her own memories, she couldn’t find any pressing incident.

“Nope?”

“I won’t tell anyone, so tell me.”

“…Really nothing happened…”

Then began an awkward silence.

Jeongmaria began analyzing Haeun’s demeanor.

However, just moments later, the bizarre words that emerged from Jeongmaria’s mouth were utterly strange.

“Is your relationship with your parents… not good?”

“??”

With rounded eyes, Haeun, taken aback, countered with confusion.

Only then did she learn about the events from the previous night.

“Haeun, you cried really sadly.”

“M-Me?”

“Yup.”

The following conversation revealed that Ji Hyemin and the other members were indeed worried about Haeun.

Given that they’d do anything to help Haeun, they were asking for her true feelings.

For Haeun, however, the memory of her drunken weeping was an absolute source of embarrassment.

After all, anything related to her past parents was beyond what Jeongmaria or the others could assist with.

Thus, she first had to find a way to alleviate the awkward atmosphere they had.

Yet, any sharp solution eluded her.

Ultimately, she had to fabricate a nonsensical excuse.

An excuse so flimsy that anyone familiar with Haeun at school would recognize it as a falsehood.

“Well, so… I’m really on great terms with my parents…”

“Then why were you crying?”

“Um, um… It’s because of my boyfriend.”

“Y-You had a boyfriend, Haeun?!”

In a split-second, Jeongmaria shot out of her chair, causing attention to concentrate on Haeun and Jeongmaria.

Giving herself a moment to settle, Jeongmaria slowly returned to her seat as Haeun awkwardly continued her fabrication.

“I-I liked him a lot. But he didn’t care about me at all and ended up cheating on me in the end.”

Thus, the moment Haeun’s fictitious boyfriend was transformed into the lowest of the low.

After deep contemplation, Jeongmaria uttered a rather strong word.

“That guy’s a total jerk!”

“Um, well… he wasn’t exactly great…”

“He’s an absolute scum! How could he cheat on our Haeun?”

Jeongmaria seemed to be angrier than Haeun herself.

Over the next thirty minutes, Jeongmaria unleashed a torrent of insults upon Haeun’s imaginary boyfriend.

Of course, from Jeongmaria’s perspective, every word she said was meant to comfort Haeun.

At the same time, she secretly felt relieved knowing the issues Haeun had weren’t connected to her family background.

Haeun, who had fully deceived Jeongmaria with her lies, likewise felt relieved.

Haeun certainly wished to avoid her real parents being misunderstood.

Ji Hyemin’s call for all members of Fantasia came shortly thereafter.

Having learned the basic outline of the situation—entirely fabricated!—from the text Jeongmaria sent, she embraced Haeun tightly.

Then, leaning down slightly towards Haeun’s ear, she spoke softly.

“Don’t trouble yourself too much. Just say what you can tell me. I’ll always be on your side, Haeun.”

Ji Hyemin promised to resolve any issues Haeun might have faced or any emotional scars she carried.

To that, Haeun could only awkwardly smile and say thank you.

‘…Well, at least I got a “thank you.”’

At that moment, Haeun thought mere words would be sufficient.

She had believed Ji Hyemin’s genuine heart would be enough.

But, just two weeks later…

Haeun found herself desperately wishing for Ji Hyemin’s assistance due to an astounding situation that dawned right in front of her.

“D-Dayan.”

“Why?”

“This… even so… it’s the acting awards.”

Carrying a keychain of a VTuber in her handbag didn’t seem quite right.

To Haeun’s extremely cautious concerns, Dayan responded in a manner that unfortunately dismissed her worries.

“It’s cute! Who cares?”

“No, it’s not that it isn’t cute. I just thought there might be problems if the reporters see it when taking pictures—”

“I’ll handle it.”

“…Okay…”

Thus, Dayan vanished off in the distance.

Hours later, she would be adorned in a beautiful dress and carrying a rather expensive designer handbag for the KBC Acting Awards.

The issue, however, was that a Dia keychain was dangling from that designer handbag.

When Dayan stood at the photo line for the KBC Acting Awards, that designer handbag would inevitably catch the cameras too.

Yet, Haeun lacked the ability to resolve these issues at the moment.

I mean, actress Lee Haeun was a person entirely unconnected to VTuber Dia.

Even acknowledging the Dia keychain felt absurdly difficult.

‘This is insane…’

As time ticked by…

Finally, with less than two hours remaining until the KBC Acting Awards broadcast, Haeun’s groans were far from over.

“…Ugh…”

Was that why…

“…What’s wrong?”

A slightly concerned voice came from Yuseongjae, who was sitting right beside Haeun.

However, with only seconds away from officially entering the KBC Acting Awards alongside Yuseongjae as the male lead of [Moonlight Between Clouds], she…

“No… it’s nothing…”

Realizing that whatever was concerning regarding Dayan was already spilled water, a bus that had already departed, she sensed there was no point in discussing it with Yuseongjae.

Eventually, it was time for her to truly enter the KBC Acting Awards.

-Creeeeak.

Finally alighting from the limousine, she interlocked arms with Yuseongjae, the male lead of [Moonlight Between Clouds].

Simultaneously, the camera shutters exploded.

-Snap!

-Snap! Snap!

Nonetheless, the blindingly bright lights focused alternately on Yuseongjae’s tuxedo and Haeun’s dress.

It was true that she had dressed up beautifully for those cameras with first-rate makeup and an eye-catching dress.

“Let’s take it slow. Be careful not to trip.”

“…Okay.”

As they began walking together down the red carpet in sync with Yuseongjae’s leisurely pace, the camera shutters continued incessantly.

The thought of the Dia keychain likely being captured by those countless cameras made Haeun shiver from head to toe.

“…Sigh…”

“…Did I walk too slowly?”

“It’s not a sigh because of you, really.”