Hobbyist VTuber

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Chapter

“Hmm, I think it would look great on you too, unnis! You guys should try it on─!”

Ha-eun, still maintaining her signature high-pitched voice, made this request.

In the end, Ji-hae-min and the other members headed to the kimono rental shop that Ha-eun had mentioned to find kimonos that suited each of them.

The rental fee for the kimonos was unexpectedly high, causing us to gasp involuntarily.

Finally, when we exited the rental shop and reunited with Ha-eun, a natural expression of awe escaped our lips.

“Wow. No, whoa….”

To exaggerate a little, the members looked absolutely enchanted in their kimonos.

The actress aura from earlier when Ha-eun had her photo taken in a kimono was now completely hidden away.

Soon after, Ha-eun made a very desperate request for a group photo.

Mile quickly switched her phone from vlog mode to selfie mode.

“Alright, here we go. 3, 2, 1!”

-Click.

Mile’s selfie stick, raised high, snapped several more shots afterward.

Ha-eun, not satisfied with just one picture, kept asking for more poses.

Thus, we had a photo time that continued until Ha-eun was happy and then immediately sent the photos.

A few days later, when we returned to Korea, Ha-eun’s earnest voice followed, saying that she would print the photos right away to keep them as mementos.

“Wait? You’re not printing my photos, right? It’s our photos?”

“Why would I print my photos? If I print anything, it should be the unnis’ photos.”

“…Are you numb to your own photos or what?”

Naturally, Ha-eun and the other members couldn’t understand each other.

Their views on each other’s photos were too different.

From the perspective of the other members, Ha-eun’s atmospheric solo shots were the real treasures.

After all, she was the genuine model here, so the quality of the photos was bound to be different.

On the other hand, Ha-eun believed the group photo of the Fantasy Team in kimonos was the real keep-worthy gem.

After all, it was a photo that only Ha-eun among countless fans could have.

Anyway, since the group trip to Japan for the Fantasy Team had just begun…

Now that we had changed into kimonos, we decided to explore a bit more seriously.

We enjoyed our time visiting souvenir shops around Senso-ji in Asakusa and dining at places selling simple snacks, all while checking out famous photo spots.

“Oh, fortune-telling!”

Upon reaching the fortune-telling booth that many people had already tried, we decided to draw our fortunes.

With less than a month until the new year, I secretly wished for a good fortune, hoping it would bring only good things in the next year.

After paying 100 yen, what I drew was a long wooden stick.

I had to find the drawer that matched the number at the end and pull out the piece of fortune paper inside.

“Number 33, where is it… Ah, found it!”

I could see Ha-eun, still maintaining her cheerful voice.

However, the moment she realized what her fortune meant through the translation app on her phone—

“Wait? It’s the great fortune─! Jackpot─!!”

Ha-eun transformed into an even livelier version of herself, immediately showing off her fortune paper to Ji-hae-min and the other members.

Of course, Ha-eun’s excited voice was fully recorded in Mile and Lia’s vlog.

Nonetheless, from the other members’ perspective, at present, Ha-eun was already living a pretty successful life.

“Hm, what does our maknae have to do to become even more successful?”

“True that.”

It was hard to imagine Ha-eun doing even better than she already was.

In the end, joking about outrageous things like breaking 1 million simultaneous viewers filled up the audio of the vlog.

Mile and Lia kept filming their vlog until around three hours later.

More precisely…

“Yap! Diving onto the bed─!”

After finishing dinner at a gyukatsu restaurant, they had just returned to their hotel room.

The scene of Ha-eun leaping onto the wide bed with a selfie stick was the last shot of Day 1 of our vlog.

Once the cameras of Lia and Mile turned off, Ha-eun could revert back to her original voice.

Thanks to having drunk water several times in between, her throat didn’t hurt that much.

Before long, we had arrived in dreamland.

Since we had to head to the ski resort early on Day 2, she wanted to make sure to get enough sleep.

However, the other members hadn’t fallen asleep yet.

In retrospect, it was Ha-eun’s first time seeing the others sleeping.

Perhaps that was why…

-Ding!

“DIA’s Sleeping Sounds ASMR, starting now…!”

The members began secretly recording Ha-eun’s sleeping sounds without her knowing.

To be precise, at that moment, what was recorded was just Ha-eun’s white blanket and her faint breathing sounds.

Ultimately, that short scene was destined to become the most popular moment in the Japan trip vlog.

No one knew exactly why, but…

Time passed slowly.

When the completely set sun began to show itself again…

“Oh, is that the Shinkansen!”

“Wow, Lia unni looks so much like an otaku─☆”

“What?”

Now that we had just arrived at the train station, Ha-eun and her group started filming the vlog again.

For some reason, filming the travel vlog made everything feel more fulfilling, leaving no gaps in the audio.

However, we had to pause the vlog filming after arriving at the ski resort.

Since it was the first time for us to come to a ski resort, we had to learn how to ski from the very beginning.

This was also true for Ha-eun.

However, perhaps due to having relatively good athletic genes compared to the others?

-Swoosh.

-Swoosh.

“Wait, you’re already doing aショートターン (short turn)?”

“Um, is that difficult?”

“A ton! It doesn’t happen in just a day or two.”

She quickly surpassed the beginner stage and perfectly adapted to the new sport of skiing.

Meanwhile, the other members weren’t skiing or snowboarding, they were just rolling around in the snow.

Could this be why?

Every time Ha-eun encountered familiar faces lying in a pile of snow while skiing, playful voices inevitably escaped her lips.

“Wow, how adorable! Living snowman─!”

“Ugh, it’s not that extreme~!”

“You’re covered in snow from head to toe, so what do you mean it’s not~?”

This wasn’t even while filming for a vlog.

Even so, Ha-eun kept her high-pitched voice, showing off her mischievous side that was uniquely DIA.

“Well then, I’ll go ahead~. Lia, you just roll down like a snowman~.”

-Swoosh!

“…If I get caught, I’m dead!!”

Needless to say, Ria never even once tried to catch Ha-eun at all.

No matter how she tried to maintain her balance, she ended up falling quickly, turning into the living snowman that Ha-eun had mentioned.

-Pfffft.

Each time Ria fell, laughter could be heard from afar, proving it was not just a figment of her imagination.

The corners of Ha-eun’s lips curling up were evidence enough.

***

-Tap.

“Uh…?”

“Oh, it’s snowing!”

It was after the ski resort time had ended.

To be more precise, it was while we were taking a taxi to a nearby famous onsen.

“Wait, if this keeps up, we might really be able to catch snow in the onsen!”

“Are we fulfilling DIA’s wish~?”

White snowflakes began to fall from the high sky.

Truthfully, I was aware through the weather forecast that there was a possibility of snow.

Yet, since weather forecasts have never been reliable, I only had a slight glimmer of hope.

Hence, I genuinely wished the falling snow would keep coming.

Today, one of Ha-eun’s bucket list items, [Snowing Onsen], could finally be realized.

Soon enough, we arrived at the onsen.

Fortunately, it was still snowing.

So, we hastily finished all preparations and headed out to the outdoor onsen faster than anyone else.

-Hot!

“…!!”

It was far too hot to even compare with the outdoor baths experienced during the school trip, causing me to instinctively retreat.

Yet, somehow, I still fought to get into the onsen, and eventually succeeded in submerging my entire body excluding my face.

Raising my face briefly, snow began to pile on Ha-eun’s forehead.

Thanks to that, I could truly feel what the romantic experience of catching snow at the onsen was like.

At that time, while slowly relieving the fatigue accumulated from the ski resort with the warm waters of the onsen…

“Ha-eun, come here for a second.”

“?”

Ye-na, who had suddenly entered the onsen with the other members, called Ha-eun over for a moment.

As Ha-eun stepped into the warm water a few steps away and reached Ye-na’s side, she leaned in closely, as if whispering into Ha-eun’s right ear.

“…DIA mid is just amazing~.”

“!!!”

This time, Ye-na, who directly told Ha-eun words that she had previously heard from one of the other girls, blurted this out.

In an instant, Ha-eun’s face turned crimson, with her flailing arms desperately trying to cover her chest from Ye-na’s gaze.

To put it bluntly, it was a sight that was tempting from head to toe.

Despite my best intentions to avoid being too mischievous, there was absolutely no way to refrain from teasing when such delicious reactions came out every time.

However…

“Why, why are you saying this to me…! If you knew the truth exists separately—”

Just as Ha-eun was about to clue in Ji-hae-min next to her, clearly feeling wronged.

“…What?!”

In an instant, Ji-hae-min’s eyes opened abnormally wide, conveying a hint of danger.

-Slap!

“Mph! Mph mph!”

“Oh, it’s nothing at all.”

In the end, Ye-na had to cover Ha-eun’s mouth with her hand to stop her from digging her own grave.

Regardless of the situation, if we talked about Ji-hae-min’s impressive assets once more, the smoke would only extend to Ye-na.

She really didn’t want to experience that strong grip again like at the airport café.

Until we finished showering with warm water after coming out of the onsen, Ye-na stayed right next to Ha-eun to monitor her mouth.

“By the way, Ha-eun, you have a really good body.”

“…Thanks.”

“I’m not trying to tease you or anything. Really, your shape is just─”

-Swoosh.

-Tap.

“I’ve never seen someone so well-defined before. There’s absolutely no body fat.”

“Um, I really don’t need you to touch that…”

“Come on, when else would a sister get to touch a girl’s abs? So, just flex your ab muscles once!”

“………….”

-Jolt.

-Thud─!

“Oh, for real, you’ve got some muscle!”

“…Even I think you’re teasing me.”

After finishing getting dressed and coming out of the onsen shortly after, Ha-eun was somewhat satisfied since she had achieved her goal of experiencing snow while in a hot spring.

However, the day was still far from over.

As they could chatter as much as they wanted through the night that they couldn’t or hadn’t the previous night, Ha-eun began to ponder.

“Um, what should I buy?”

Like the other members who were selecting late-night snacks at the nearby convenience store, Ha-eun also filled her basket with various goodies.

Coming off the experience during the school trip, Ha-eun knew what items were her kind of snacks, so choosing was easy.

Just, the other members, now adults, bought a substantial amount of Japanese beer that Ha-eun couldn’t buy at all.

Even Ji-hae-min.

“Ha-eun, you know that if you buy alcohol, it would be a serious matter, right? Like internet articles would pop up, and it’ll cause a huge stir?”

“…I know….”

With a voice that felt like it was teasing Ha-eun, Ji-hae-min bought several cans of her favorite brand of beer.

This made Ha-eun feel somewhat isolated.

So, when they finally arrived at the hotel…

When the end-of-the-year party began with the various late-night snacks they had bought from the convenience store…

-Crack.

-Creeeeeak─.

“Ugh─. This is it.”

Ha-eun was stuck sipping her solo can of cola, watching Ji-hae-min and the other members reveling in the so-called ‘adults’ pleasure.’

In the midst of it, the chatter continued.

“If, hypothetically, if it turns out that Ha-eun blushed red, would they think we’re all celebrities too?”

“Oh, now that you mention it, that might actually be true.”

Though the conversation held no more significance than quick chit-chat, it touched on the upcoming year-end Fantasy Team collaboration broadcast that would take place in about two weeks.

“Honestly, I’m still pondering what we should do during the collaboration broadcast. Maybe start with a year-end review?”

“I think rolling paper would be nice too!”

“Oh? Each member could have their own rolling paper? That sounds great!”

Or maybe, they discussed the approaching anniversary for the Fantasy Team’s two-year mark coming next spring.

Moreover, the conversation extended to next year’s recruitment for the second generation of the Fantasy Team, filling the hotel room with animated chatter.

‘…Hmm….’

However, for some reason, my vision kept spinning and spinning.

Was it the fatigue from the ski resort that still hadn’t been alleviated?

-Sip.

-Drop.

“Ah, I’ve finished…yeah. Maria unni, could you hand me another can of cola…?”

“…? What? Why does she seem like this?”

Expressing a look of confusion, the unexpected sound followed just a few seconds after.

“Wait! Why is my Jack Coke over there?!”

Jack Coke.

To be precise, it was Jack Daniel’s Coca-Cola.

“One, two, three…. How many cans did I drink?!”

Strictly speaking, cola was still true, even though the label read Coca-Cola.

“Unni, it’s cola…. Can’t find the rest…?”

That true identity was whiskey containing about 7 percent alcohol.

“…Hic.”

At the sound of Ha-eun’s hiccup, an instant of silence fell.

Yet, without caring at all, Ha-eun began to crawl over to Maria, her expressions falling in a baffled manner.

“Unni, I drank cola…. and want more….”

“Um, Ha-eun, that cola isn’t really…!”

At that moment, showing a look of utter shock, Maria tried to calm Ha-eun down.

-Embrace.

-Slur.

“Ha…Ha-eun?”

Suddenly hugging Maria tightly, Ha-eun dove into Maria’s embrace.

As expected, the next words that followed were…

“Cream, cream…. Hic….”

It was completely out of it.

A clear sign that Ha-eun was drunk.