I Want to Be a VTuber

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Lee Ji-yeon covered her head at the sight of her friend rolling on the floor.

Different situations aside, the Seo-yeon from middle school and the Seo-yeon now had their similarities.

For example, the unpredictability of where they might bounce.

And, the way Seo-yeon just woke up looks oddly similar to that.

“Is Seo-yeon that strong?”

“Shh.”

After seeing a beer can explode, Seo-hee asked in disbelief, and Ji-yeon made a gesture for her to be quiet by putting her finger to her lips.

Having subtly averted her gaze, thankfully, Seo-yeon was still rolling on the spilled beer.

She was mumbling something as she rolled around, but that wasn’t particularly important.

‘What’s Seo-yeon’s drunken state like?’

Honestly, Ji-yeon didn’t know either.

How would one know what kind of drinking habits a person shows when they get drunk for the first time?

It would be nice if she just peacefully passed out, but judging by her current state, that didn’t seem to be the case.

There are various types of drunken behavior.

People who become violent, those who become chatty.

Some who cling to those nearby for no reason.

Among these, Ji-yeon thought Seo-yeon might fall into either the first or the last category.

“I once played a game with Seo-yeon.”

“A game?”

“It was a game about catching dinosaur-like monsters… You had to set traps and all.”

Ji-yeon picked up a few empty cans that were lying nearby.

“Somehow, it feels a bit similar to that.”

Seo-yeon has keen hearing.

Not just a little keen.

If it were the usual Seo-yeon, she would’ve been able to hear everything we were whispering.

But seeing her not react now meant she probably didn’t hear us.

It was clear that alcohol had dulled her senses.

“But it’s kind of cute. She’s like a cat.”

Seo-hee said while watching Seo-yeon, who was diligently trying to clean the floor with her pajamas.

There was something about her movements that resembled a cat.

She was saying something earnestly, but it was a bit far away so it wasn’t very clear.

‘Should I go a bit closer?’

As Seo-hee thought this and stealthily moved, Ji-yeon raised her hand to stop her.

“Wait. Let’s observe this first.”

“Uh? Observe? But why the can?”

“Just be quiet.”

Anyway, since she was drunk, we needed to see how she’d react.

Feeling like a trainer handling a wild beast, Ji-yeon rolled a can she picked up at a distance toward Seo-yeon.

This was to check her reaction distance.

The can rolled about three meters.

And as it came within two meters…

Thud!!

“Uuung?”

Seo-yeon’s palm smacked down on the can that had quietly rolled in from behind her, and she looked puzzled.

The flattened can was caught in Seo-yeon’s hand.

Caught off guard by the loud thud on the floor, Seo-hee swallowed hard.

That was a sound no human hand should be able to make!

It sounded like a hammer hitting a nail into the ground.

Actually, it even seemed like a wild animal when it moved.

“Roughly, the reaction distance is about two meters.”

“Then that’s almost the entire room.”

“If you move to the corners, she won’t react.”

The good thing was it seemed like she wasn’t totally unable to control her strength.

Thinking back to middle school, this was pretty manageable.

Anyway, when she moved slowly from a distance, thankfully Seo-yeon didn’t react much, just babbled absentmindedly.

The can that Ji-yeon rolled earlier.

Seo-yeon was playing with the flattened can, folding it like origami, but that was neither here nor there.

“A tiger is part of the cat family, too.”

Ji-yeon mumbled, falling into thought.

They couldn’t just leave her as she was.

Anyway, it needed to be cleaned up, but there were a few problems.

Firstly, Seo-yeon was heavy.

She might get mad if she found out, but it was the truth.

Well, even if there were two of them, maybe they could manage it? But that wasn’t certain.

And there was no guarantee she would stay still, making it impossible to carry her in the first place.

“What if we just leave her like this?”

“We still need to move her. Her clothes are soaked; she might catch a cold!”

At Ji-yeon’s nonchalant remark, Seo-hee looked at her, shocked.

Seo-hee’s words bewildered Ji-yeon as well.

Did she really think Seo-yeon would catch a cold after seeing her like this?

Ji-yeon had never seen Seo-yeon sick.

Never in a hospital, nor had she ever been injured.

However, seeing Seo-yeon rolling around on the beer made Ji-yeon wonder about her humanity.

‘What to do about moving her…’

As Ji-yeon pondered, she suddenly looked at Seo-hee’s face.

She had such a pretty face.

Maybe it was because she was an actress, but surrounding Ji-yeon were only beautiful girls.

Especially Seo-yeon and Seo-hee, their actress heritage gave them significant presence.

However, what was important now wasn’t that.

“Seo-hee, come here. I think this will work.”

“Uh? What’s that?”

Seo-hee’s blank reply was not what Ji-yeon hoped for.

When she was with others, her expression was arrogant, but around them, she was strangely vacant.

Ji-yeon gently swept Seo-hee’s hair forward to cover her face.

Then, she turned off all the lights in the surrounding room.

Finally, she positioned her phone’s light under Seo-hee’s face.

“This is it.”

“What’s this?”

“Like this, go toward Seo-yeon.”

“?”

What am I supposed to do?

Seo-hee turned back at Ji-yeon, utterly clueless.

At that moment, Ji-yeon couldn’t help but freeze at Seo-hee’s face.

‘Whoa, this kid looks scary.’

It was astonishing how well-connected she was.

She had a face that made it hard to make friends.

“You can’t just leave her like this, right? If you go like this, it’ll be safe. Just bend your back a bit.”

“Uh? Why the back?”

“There’s a reason for everything. Just make sure your hair falls forward.”

Seo-hee didn’t quite understand, but she decided to do what Ji-yeon asked.

After all, they couldn’t leave Seo-yeon like this; she needed to be moved to another room.

Change her clothes and tidy up the messy room.

As Seo-hee thought about this, she walked toward Seo-yeon.

As she stepped into the two-meter reaction range where Seo-yeon had reacted earlier.

The moment she entered that radius, Seo-yeon swiftly turned her head.

Seo-hee couldn’t help but flinch at Seo-yeon’s reaction.

It reminded her of the beer can Ji-yeon had rolled earlier.

Could she react to her too?

At that moment, Seo-yeon began to slowly back away.

‘Huh?’

What’s going on with her?

As Seo-hee approached, Seo-yeon flinched and started to flee.

Every time Seo-hee tried to move closer, Seo-yeon naturally moved further away.

It was like Achilles and the tortoise.

There was no way to approach her.

At their interaction, Ji-yeon realized her assumption was correct.

‘Seo-yeon really can’t handle scary situations at all.’

Honestly, even Ji-yeon was scared.

Seo-hee walking toward Seo-yeon with her hair entirely forward, illuminated by the phone light, looked like something even a ghost would run away from in fear.

It made sense that people said Seo-yeon looked like she belonged in a horror comic.

Ji-yeon had only recently learned that Seo-yeon was weak to ghosts.

She had guessed from her appearances on variety shows.

‘Guide her to Seo-yeon’s room.’

Ji-yeon desperately sent signals to Seo-hee with her hands.

Meaning to spin around in the room and lead Seo-yeon to another room.

‘? What’s she talking about?’

Of course, Seo-hee didn’t have telepathy.

She understood roughly that Ji-yeon wanted her to lead Seo-yeon out.

But.

‘Is she asking me to bring her just like this?’

Honestly, at first, Seo-hee was shocked by Seo-yeon fleeing from her, but now she felt something strange watching Seo-yeon slowly withdraw.

‘Kuh, cough.’

Especially since Seo-hee could see Seo-yeon’s face well due to the phone’s light.

Seeing Seo-yeon, whose expressions were more pronounced than usual, looking startled and retreating, it gave a rather tickling feeling.

Perhaps that’s why she felt a bit more playful.

Seo-hee took a big step toward Seo-yeon and exclaimed.

“Ah!!”

And Seo-yeon literally jumped and dashed out the door.

“Huh?”

Ji-yeon, who was standing at the door, couldn’t help but be startled at Seo-yeon running toward her.

What the heck, Seo-hee, I just told you to bring her out, and now you scare her!!

“Ramiel, help me!!”

“No, I’m not Ramiel…”

Ji-yeon couldn’t finish her sentence because Seo-yeon barreled into her.

***

“Hey, Seo-hee. Are you going to get off now?”

Ji-yeon sighed as she looked at Seo-yeon stuck to her body.

As Seo-yeon clung to Ji-yeon, she felt momentarily dizzy, but fortunately, nothing serious happened.

As she had confirmed earlier, it seemed like she wasn’t totally unable to control her strength.

She was just quietly snuggling against Ji-yeon.

However, she wasn’t just staying still.

“Huhuh.”

With a strange snorting sound, she kept moving around, which was quite bothersome.

She looked like a squid or octopus.

“I practiced romantic acting recently. Should I show you?”

“No thanks.”

“That’s harsh.”

Anyway, the two of them smoothly moved to another room on the cart Seo-hee had brought.

Ji-yeon found it hard to understand what was happening.

While Seo-hee was busy taking pictures with her smartphone of them.

“Why are you taking that?”

“I’m going to show it to Seo-yeon once she wakes up.”

“What are you saying?”

A lot happened after Seo-yeon hugged her.

Mumbling about Ramiel being scary while looking adorable was cute, but it also made it feel terrifying, like having a tiger hug her.

“Honestly, I think she’s half asleep-talking.”

“Seems like she’s a type that falls asleep when drinking.”

“…That’s a good thing.”

Ji-yeon was relieved that Seo-yeon fell asleep after being moved to the cart.

As Ji-yeon looked down at the softly snoring Seo-yeon, she sighed again.

That was seriously nerve-wracking.

She hoped Seo-yeon would either let go of her or just stay still.

Even when she tried to push her away, she didn’t budge, which was quite frightening.

What if she accidentally broke her while sleep-talking?

“…Mom.”

At that moment, Ji-yeon heard a small murmuring from Seo-yeon.

Seo-hee flinched when she heard that.

Seo-yeon’s voice, saying “mom,” strangely sank in the air.

“…Next time… I’ll do better….”

There was a peculiar nuance in those words.

As Seo-hee’s eyes narrowed at that, Ji-yeon waved her left hand, which was the only one she could move.

“That’s not what you think. Don’t get it twisted.”

“Uh? Oh, no, I just found those words a bit concerning.”

Well, it was definitely worrying.

Ji-yeon could relate to the feeling.

This was only the second time Ji-yeon had seen Seo-yeon in this state.

Specifically, it was when she said things in her sleep.

At that time, she too, just like Seo-hee, made a bit of a misunderstanding.

‘Probably that time at the retreat when we did something weird with candles at night.’

They said such events no longer existed nowadays, but back then, they did.

Anyway, during that time, Seo-yeon had murmured something similar in her sleep.

‘So, I may have made some wild assumptions back then.’

Until that point, Ji-yeon had never met Seo-yeon’s mother, Min Suah.

That’s why she began to think, perhaps…

It led her to unwittingly do something rude back then.

Of course, after that, she had been completely unable to look Min Suah in the eye.

“Just simple sleep talk.”

Ji-yeon looked down at Seo-yeon sleeping in her arms and eventually couldn’t help but pat her back gently.

Then, Seo-yeon’s previously troubled expression gradually softened.

“Geez.”

What should she do with her?

Ji-yeon thought as she patted Seo-yeon through the night.

Meanwhile, Seo-hee naturally fell asleep next to them.

Of course, during the sleep, Seo-yeon hugged her tightly, almost suffocating her, but that’s another story.

***

And the next morning.

“…Huh?”

Seo-yeon woke up in shock at the sight before her.

When did I move to another room?

More importantly,

‘Why is everyone sleeping on either side of me?’

And crucially, she was tightly hugging Ji-yeon.

What on earth happened?

What on earth happened last night?

Seo-yeon jumped, slowly distancing herself from the sleeping duo.

‘Surely, I remember drinking beer…’

Did I blackout and lose my mind?

Oh, is this what they mean when they say the film is cut?

Seo-yeon found that fascinating yet frightening.

She could feel cold sweat trickling down her back.

‘…I hope I didn’t cause any trouble.’

She worried whether her drunk self had made a scene.

After all, she was practically treating Ji-yeon like a pillow.

‘Once they wake up, I’ll definitely have to ask them.’

If she really did cause a scene, would they be sleeping together like this?

They’d probably be in a police station instead.

Uuung.

Thinking like this, as she returned to the room where she had played with them yesterday, her phone began to ring.

Apparently, she must’ve left her phone behind when moving to the other room.

Seeing the screen of her smartphone, Seo-yeon was startled.

That was because the call was from her manager, Park Eun-ha.

Seeing the missed calls, it seemed there were at least ten.

“Hello?”

[Seo-yeon, what happened? Why haven’t you answered your phone?]

“Oh, I fell into a really deep sleep….”

[Hmm, well, it can’t be helped. I’m not scolding you. There’s just some surprising news.]

“Surprising news?”

[Oh, that…]

Park Eun-ha paused for a moment before speaking calmly.

[Seo-yeon, do you know the name Ash E. Baldwin?]

Suddenly mentioned, that name caught Seo-yeon completely off guard.

The two-time Academy Award-winning director.

She never expected to hear that name today.