Chapter 83: Fanservice (3)

"Oh, man! I believe in you!"

"..."

They raised their glasses to Ju-Hyeok's strange toast.

"Kumph!"

"Urgh."

"Kya."

Each of them made a different face and noise. Then they began eating their kimchi stews.

"This place is pretty good," Ju-Hyeok said while eating some octopus. He had been suspicious because the stew contained octopus, but that only made it more refreshing.

"Yeah," Sang-Hyeon replied while eating the tofu in his stew.

Only Ji-Ah remained silent. She continued eating without a word.

"J-Ji-Ah, you must like kimchi stew a lot."

Ji-Ah swallowed her food and looked up at Ju-Hyeok, "It's good, no?"

"

Ah

, yes! It's good!"

"Hey, just pour some drinks."

Their dinner together still felt awkward and Sang-Hyeon knew that alcohol would solve it.

"Okay!" Ju-Hyeok excitedly opened the soju bottle.

Trickle…?

Their glasses filled up again.

Gulp.

They emptied their shots without any hesitation. A hangover would definitely hit them tomorrow, but they could rest at home due to their jobs.

"Pour some more!"

Sang-Hyeon stuck out his glass again. They should've moved to a bar by this point, but he didn't want to. He wanted to stay here where no one bothered him anymore. He didn't want to risk meeting more people outside.

He liked being recognized, but wanted to avoid being interrupted while drinking.

"Good, good."

Ju-Hyeok poured some more and the three continued drinking.

Alcohol had solved their awkwardness.

***

The solution worked too well. Some awkwardness should’ve remained, but they had gone beyond that.

"Hey! Almond...!"

Fwip.

Ji-Ah pointed her finger in front of Sang-Hyeon. He couldn't tell if he was losing his balance or she was.

"You... sure are popular!"

Ju-Hyeok tried to hold her back, "H-Hey, Ji-Ah?"

"

Ah

, frick."

Thud.

She tried to push Ju-Hyeok away, but fell instead. She was too drunk and small.

"Luuuucky you! But who makes your videos!?

Huh!?

"

"You make them," Sang-Hyeon spoke informally to her and must’ve been drunk too.

"Yeah!

Huh?

"

"So what do you want me to do?"

"So you should... you should...

ah!

I don't know! Frick!"

Thump.

Ji-Ah fell to the side again, but opposite Ju-Hyeok this time and towards the hallway.

Ju-Hyeok grabbed her by the neck and pulled her up. "

Woah

, Ms. Ji-Ah. I mean, Ji-Ah. You're still young. What are you doing?"

"Lucky you for being old, Old-Hyeok!"

“Pfft,”

Sang-Hyeon burst into laughter.

‘Old-Hyeok.’?

He felt satisfied just seeing Ju-Hyeok's expression.

"A-Ahem."

"Yeah, Old-Hyeok. Don't talk about age!"

"You too? You're thirty too!"

"Actually, I'm 28."

"What?" Ju-Hyeok made an astonished expression that seemed to say,

‘What is this guy saying right now?'?

"W-What are you talking about?"

"I was exempt from military service because I was the only provider for my family. Didn't you ever think it was weird? I missed two years of military service and didn't even go to university."

"W-What the fuck? I thought you were just screwing around for two years or something!"

How could that be? Yu Sang-Hyeon was only 28 years old.

"T-Then why did you lie and say you were in your thirties during the stream?"

"Because everyone around me thinks so, 28 or 30. Same thing."

Ju-Hyeok wanted to hold Ji-Ah by the neck and Sang-Hyeon by the head at the same time if he could.

"T-This guy is 3 years younger than me?!"

"I'll turn 29 soon anyways."

"I’ll be 32 soon! What the hell is with your logic?!"

"Who told you to travel overseas?

Puhahahaha!

" Sang-Hyeon joyfully laughed it off.

'This crazy devil.'

If Ju-Hyeok had the choice between the red pill or the blue pill, he would choose the blue pill right now to forget everything. He still wanted to believe that Sang-Hyeon was only a year younger than him.

"Hey, who cares? You knew I was younger anyways."

"It's not the same as a one year difference!"

"It's the same thing. You're from overseas. You're basically a foreigner. Who cares?"

"I'm the one who traveled overseas, not you—"

Thud!

Seo Ji-Ah suddenly got up with wide eyes and accidentally bumped Ju-Hyeok on the chin.

"Kugh!"

She got up so quickly that Ju-Hyeok lost his balance despite his bigger size. Sang-Hyeon burst into laughter again. Meanwhile, Ji-Ah focused on her phone as if nothing happened.

"Jeon... Jeon!" she muttered while staring at her notifications.

"Jeon? Jeon what?"

"Jeon... JeonJa..."

"?"

Ju-Hyeok and Sang-Hyeon scratched their heads and stared at each other.

"JeonJaPa turned on his stream."

***

Previously, Sang-Hyeon wouldn't have cared if some streamer began streaming.

'Didn't they say he hasn't streamed in over three years?'

JeonJaPa had gone on a hiatus for three years. He featured in ads from time to time, but that was it. It was hard to call him a streamer because he barely played video games anymore.

'No way.'

The username PaPaPa came to mind as Sang-Hyeon quickly opened the Treevy app on his phone. JeonJaPa's stream played on the main screen when he opened it.

'How many viewers?'

The number didn’t show up yet since JeonJaPa just turned it on. Sang-Hyeon quickly clicked on it.

"Huh?"

[This channel is currently not streaming.]

What the? Didn't the stream just start? Was it an error? Maybe the wifi caused an issue?

"

Uh...

It turned off."

Ji-Ah said the same thing, which meant it had indeed turned off.

"The stream turned on for a split second, but then it turned off."

"..."

“Sigh…”?

Sang-Hyeon took a deep breath and subconsciously felt nervous at the fact that JeonJaPa began streaming.

'Do I think of him as a rival?'

That seemed about right. He was a rival.

Sang-Hyeon might not be worthy yet considering JeonJaPa's achievements, but they were definitely rivals. How many times had their records been compared already?

His achievements as a pro gamer couldn't match up yet, but Almond had a chance as a streamer.

"What the? Must've been an error." Ju-Hyeok set his phone down and leaned back in his seat. He felt slightly nervous too as Almond’s manager.

JeonJaPa's character clashed with Sang-Hyeon's, which Ju-Hyeok considered a potential threat.

"Phew,"?

he sighed in relief.

"Urgh..."

Thud.

Ji-Ah's head fell on the table and she went to sleep. She had already been out of it, but JeonJapPa's stream momentarily woke her up.

'Was she also a fan of JeonJaPa?'

It wasn't odd to picture Ji-Ah as a fan considering her personality. It would make sense if she moved on to Almond due to the long hiatus.

"Let's go."

Sang-Hyeon got up first. He went to the register to pay their bill.

"

Ah

, we won't be taking any payment."

"Sorry?"

The manager declined his money.

"W-Why?"

"Because you're the model for our franchise!

Hahaha!

"

The owner's expression seemed to say,

'Understand?'?

‘What?’

"I didn't accept yet."

"!?"

Sang-Hyeon was still debating whether to be their model or not.

"

Ah...

I-Is that so?

Hahaha!

Our CEO gets a little ahead of himself sometimes..."

"Here you go."

Sang-Hyeon gave him the card, but the manager still shook his head.

"Then that's even better! Please remember our Hoogye location!

Hahaha!

"

He refused to receive any payment to the end.

"Please! Consider being our model one more time! Our CEO would love to hear the good news!!!" He bowed 90 degrees until they left.

It was a little much, but Sang-Hyeon felt good about it.

"Hey, I always wondered why boomers liked to be sucked up to."

"Why?"

"You can't tell? I can because I'm in that position now!

Hahaha!

"

Ju-Hyeok felt so overjoyed by Sang-Hyeon’s words that he grabbed Ji-Ah and piggybacked her.

Sang-Hyeon shook his head, "Hey, I'll carry Ji-Ah."

"

Huh?

You're drunk too."

"

Nah

, I'm not drunk."

"It's okay. I'm taller anyways."

"I'm stronger."

Of course, Sang-Hyeon was stronger as an athlete. Ju-Hyeok hesitantly handed Ji-Ah over to him.

"Don't regret it, okay?"

"Just help me put my hood on."

"Alright."

Sang-Hyeon put on his jacket hood so no one else would recognize him.

"What's gotten into you today? You've never agreed to take any female co-workers home."

Sang-Hyeon hesitated for a moment. He also wondered why he offered to carry Ji-Ah home.

"Fan service."

That was his answer.

"Huh?"

"What

huh?

She's like my first fan."

"

Ah

, that's right."

"This is the least I can do."

Almond's fan Seo Ji-Ah, that was their first encounter with her. She had been an avid Almond fan before becoming their editor.

‘You... sure are popular! Luuuucky you! But who makes your videos!? Huh!?’

Sang-Hyeon smiled as he recalled Ji-Ah’s words. She must've thought he was only being nice to the other fans and not her.

"Let's go," Sang-Hyeon smiled and led the way.

He tossed Ji-Ah to Ju-Hyeok when they reached the long, hellish staircase.

***

Ji-Ah woke up with a severe headache at 2 A.M.

"Urgh…"

The hangover gave her a headache, but she was used to it. She instinctively walked to her fridge, reached into the pile of hangover cures, and downed a bottle.

"Phew."

She could finally open her eyes thanks to the placebo effect.

‘Hey! Almond...!’

“Huh?”

Ji-Ah's eyes shook. Who's drunk voice was that? Why did the voice sound so similar to hers and why was she trying to sound cute?

‘You... sure are popular!’

Ji-Ah turned red as if she took a tequila shot instead of the hangover cure.

‘Luuuucky you! But who makes your videos!? Huh!?’

She just wanted to die from the embarrassment. Ji-Ah opened the fridge again, but couldn’t find any rat poison. She should've bought some for a time like this.

"Sigh,"?

she took a deep breath from the bottom of her soul.

Why did she drink alcohol?

'Because I like it! It's good!'

Her other conscience answered. No lie could be found in the response.

"Really..."

She sat in front of her computer and shook her head. She had a pile of work left to do.

‘Please write: I love you, Lee Ju-Hyeon!’

However, she didn't want to work as another memory popped into her head. It wouldn’t matter if that damn nut's video came out a day late.

'Let's just watch a movie.'

She turned on LetFlix and saw a movie called,

Pandora's Box

. What a boring title.

‘Fan service.’

Ji-Ah suddenly recalled something Almond said. His voice almost sounded as if it came from her computer, but she also recalled the warm sensation of someone's back.

‘She's my first fan.’

'What... the?'

Ji-Ah froze and simply stared at the screen.

The movie's preview automatically played and Pandora's box opened. The bad things came out one after another, but something big and shiny slowly came out too.

Beep—?

Ji-Ah turned it off and booted up her video editor. She checked the time.

'Is 7 hours enough?'

Would it be ready by 9 A.M? By then, Almond would’ve woken up and checked the video.

A faint smile formed on her lips. Her condition felt terrible, but her fingers lightly moved for some reason.