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“Is it coming out today?”

[Yes, it’s not long now.]

Today is the day Hyeon-su’s new album “Reality,” which he’s been preparing for, is released.

I heard it’s going to be announced around the afternoon?

Thinking back to when he first mentioned preparing for the album… it’s happening really fast.

His work speed is ridiculous.

There’s still no news about Celestial Realm’s third album, though.

I think I heard something about the second generation’s first album being made.

This is a company, but it feels like it’s slower than Hyeon-su’s personal stuff.

“How do you feel?”

[Feel? Honestly, I don’t think much about it, like I said last time.]

“Really? After all that variety show appearance?”

[….]

He may say that, but Hyeon-su has been on so many variety shows promoting the song.

I’ve seen his face more than once on my YouTube algorithm.

And that’s across different shows too.

[Since it’s made, it’d be good if many people listen to it.]

“Of course.”

But honestly, watching those variety shows, he now looks completely like a celebrity.

Now that he’s an adult, he must be having a blast.

“It’s a nice time, for sure.”

[Oppa, how much older am I than you?]

“Watch your words, you little twenty-year-old.”

How dare he talk back at twenty.

I’m already twenty-two.

If I count my boyhood years, that’s about twice as much.

[So I heard you’re having a celebration today, but of course you won’t be coming, right?]

“Well, you know me.”

We met last time; is another celebration necessary?

Looking closely, those people really love to have fun.

I guess that’s typical of a band.

[I expected as much.]

“And today, even if I wanted to go, I can’t.”

[What?]

“I have an appointment.”

Saying that, I looked at the apartment complex before me.

It should be around here.

Since I’m on the phone, I can’t check the map.

“Hyeon-su.”

[Yeah.]

“I’m hanging up now; I need to check the map.”

[…Got it.]

Anyway, I’m done with this call.

I ended the call with Hyeon-su and opened the app to check the map.

Is this the right place?

Since it’s my first time visiting this neighborhood, I’m not sure.

It’s not that far; I could take the bus in no time.

Let’s see… Building 112.

I raised my head and read the building number in the apartment complex.

Oh, there it is.

But there are quite a few people around.

Is it because the apartments are clustered together?

I spotted quite a few people in uniforms, from lunchtime students to older folks, wandering about.

Seeing this unfamiliar scene, so different from the somewhat quiet residential area I live in, I walked into the building.

I lightly greeted the security guard, who didn’t seem to mind an outsider entering, and headed inside to take the elevator to the corridor I had been told about.

Is this it?

Ding-dong—

– Who is it!

I pressed the bell at the door, and as the voice rang out, the door opened.

“Um… wh-who is it?”

Standing in the doorway was a middle-aged woman.

Hmm, could it be Eun-ha’s mom?

“Are you Eun-ha’s mother?”

“Ah, yes. Who…?”

From the way she seemed a bit cautious due to my unusual appearance, I politely bowed my head and spoke.

“I’m Kim Soo-hyun, Eun-ha’s workplace senior.”

“Huh? Ah… Eun-ha’s workplace senior.”

Eun-ha’s mother hesitated briefly while saying that, during which Eun-ha, who I had met once before, appeared from inside.

“Hey, Mom, come out…!”

“Eun-ha.”

Seeing my welcome junior, I waved and smiled slightly, and Eun-ha also hesitated before awkwardly raising her hand.

“Ah, um, please, come… in…”

With her demeanor more timid than in the broadcasts, I couldn’t help but sigh internally.

Moreover, while it is awkward, I guess the reality of Seo Eun-ha’s shy side plays a part too.

Where did the assertiveness from kicking seniors and wielding swords go?

What’s the term for this? Gap? Something like that?

“First, please come inside.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Anyway, I followed the guide and entered Eun-ha’s home.

The interior of the house felt somewhat stable.

Family photos were hung on the walls, and the living room had a bit of a lived-in vibe.

It reminded me of visiting a friend’s house back in elementary school.

I passed through that friendly living room and entered Eun-ha’s room.

To my surprise, her room was quite spacious, featuring a computer and desk that looked typical of a broadcaster.

What caught my attention more were the soundproof materials sticking to the wall.

“Is this soundproofing material good?”

“Y-Yes? It’s f-fine.”

I had thought of buying some soundproofing materials for my own room, but should I have done that?

While a soundproof booth is great, sometimes I feel a bit stifled inside of it.

“By the way, your room is nice.”

“R-Really?”

With that, I sat down on the dining chair I had brought from the living room.

“It’s even better than my room! It’s cleaner than I expected.”

In my mind, I pictured a room filled with all sorts of goods, messy as hell, but it was actually quite tidy.

“Ah, my mom cleaned it up.”

“Aha.”

I see.

Thinking about it, she’s definitely at that age where she should be cleaning her kid’s room.

Because I’m the same way.

Every time, Mrs. Jang scolds me to clean my room.

“What are we doing today?”

“The J-Pop Live World Cup…”

“Right, you remember well.”

While I was thinking that games could be a good distraction to loosen up the awkwardness, looking at Eun-ha’s state, I doubted it would feel like a game, so I decided to go ahead with the World Cup.

If we kept conversing about various topics, it might ease the tension.

If we go on for a while, the awkwardness should fade.

“Okay then, shall we start the broadcast?”

“Right now?”

“The scheduled time isn’t far off, you know?”

“Ah, y-yeah.”

I really can’t shake off the anxiety…

Today, I decided to broadcast on Eun-ha’s channel.

Eun-ha had said it was fine to use my channel, but doing it on my channel during an offline collaboration would be incredibly exhausting.

My broadcasts tend to have rougher chat interactions.

Still, it’s easier in a rookie room with stricter regulations.

“So, shall we start the broadcast?”

Breathe in, breathe out… I’ve gotten too tense.

Can I even manage this broadcast properly?

Did I jump the gun by coming here?

Even in reality, I’m somewhat timid; at this rate, I might end up with a trauma.

“Relax; I’m not going to eat you alive.”

So, I gave her a light pat on the back of her head to ease her nerves.

“Ugh!”

…However, seeing her stiffen up even more afterward made me sigh internally.

I wonder if today’s broadcast will go alright?

I might end up having to do a one-man show.

Regardless, I couldn’t back out, so I just went ahead and started the broadcast.

[Miro’s offline collaboration]

“Ah, h-hello?”

I just sat quietly in the chair, watching Eun-ha conduct the broadcast.

In a way, the host is Eun-ha, so I, well… am kind of like a guest.

“Today, Miro sunbae is… Yes, haha, just arrived.”

To be fair, I can see a sharp change in our junior’s demeanor as soon as the broadcast started.

Is it that she’s just a natural at this broadcasting thing?

Though she doesn’t seem completely relaxed, I felt a bit better seeing her confidence.

“So, Miro sunbae, would you like to introduce yourself?”

As Eun-ha, who had been running the show alone, subtly shifted her seat, she seemed to convey that I should join her in the broadcast.

Nodding my head at how comfortable she looked, I moved forward.

“I’m Miro. Nice to meet you today.”

– Unenthusiastic

– Not doing it right?

– Hmm…

– Let’s bring Eun-ha back?

“Haha.”

It’s Eun-ha’s room, but the chat is a bit harsh, isn’t it?

Glancing over, I recognized familiar usernames.

Then again, just because it’s someone else’s broadcast doesn’t mean my viewers won’t tune in.

In fact, since they’re from the same Celestial Realm, they’ll probably come effortlessly.

“Well, if you guys misbehave like in my broadcast, just know I won’t be forgiving.”

– LOL

– Oops

– I’ll figure it out myself

– Who cares

– No need to worry

“Oh my.”

It looks like our junior’s broadcast has everyone hyped up.

This time calls for a little light-heartedness.

Click-click—

I moved my mouse and personally dealt with a couple of chatters who were about to cross the line.

Are they really trying to test the waters in front of me?

If they’re going to try, they might as well step up.

“Did you all just see the well-behaved viewers in the chat? You can’t go beyond that today.”

– Whoa

– Ah!

– Is this what today’s show is like?

“This is what today’s show is about. Now Eun-ha, you take over.”

“Y-Yes!”

After a bit of moderation, I transferred the cue stick back to Eun-ha, who was staring blankly at me.

“Okay, Eun-ha is back now.”

– Hi hi

– Phew

– When did Miro arrive?

“When did I arrive, you ask? I haven’t been here for long.”

– You were late, haha.

– What was your first impression?

“First impression? Uh… You’re pretty?”

– Whoa

– Huh?

– Miro does indeed seem pretty.

– What are we doing today?

“Today, we’re doing a World Cup with my sunbae. I have something prepared…”

Sanity check: Eun-ha’s broadcasting stood strong as I observed from the sidelines. She’s doing quite well.

Also, seeing her shift from shy to overly talkative, I’m feeling more confident that today’s collaboration might go smoother than I expected.

“So, how many rounds should we do?”

Right after that, we moved to the Ideal Type World Cup screen.

– Let’s go with 128!

– At least 64, right?

“Hmm, how about 64…”

“Whoa.”

I stopped my junior’s reckless push for 64 rounds.

“Yeah?”

“Are you planning to spend all day on this?”

That’s 64 songs, and each one is three minutes long.

Even with rough calculations, that’s over three hours!

Considering breaks, if we do this, I won’t be going home today.

“Let’s go with 32 rounds.”

– Aww

– So Miro…

– Just do 64, jeez.

“Okay, 16 rounds is acceptable, right?”

– 32 seems okay too!

– Is there really a need for 64?

– 32 it is, let’s go!

“Sounds good. Then let’s stick with 32 rounds.”

– A vicious lady…

– Ah…

– Dear Eun-ha did a 128-round back then, haha…

Saying this is one thing, but 32 rounds is still quite a lot.

Just listening to the songs alone could take around an hour and a half.

Well, it shouldn’t be too tough since we’re just listening.

“So, let’s hear it.”

I put on one side of the connected earphones and handed the other side to Eun-ha.

“Uh?”

As I moved closer to hand her the earphones, her eyes started to dart around.

She had just been fine until now, but is she getting nervous again?

“We’re supposed to listen together.”

“Ah, ah, uhm, yes…”

Somehow, after sharing the earphones, the World Cup began with two videos appearing.

– Wow

– This is big!

– Whoa, these are legendary level.

Seeing the viewers erupting from the very first round made it seem like both songs were quite popular.

Well, I recognized the names.

“Do you know, Eun-ha?”

“Yes?”

“Do these people know these songs?”

“Ah, they do!”

“Oh…”

So she does?

Then again, she strikes me as someone who knows a lot about Japanese subculture.

What VTuber isn’t aware of that?

“What about you?”

But just then, the question strained a little too much, and Eun-ha’s previously reserved expression shifted completely.

“The person on the left is particularly someone I adore; their uniquely lyrical lyrics matched with a gentle melody…”

“I see, let’s take a listen.”

– Hahahaha

– So awkward

– Why even ask that?

Just like before, as Eun-ha’s words were about to tumble out, I paused it to give her a break.

I don’t want to cut her off completely, but if I let her go, we wouldn’t make it home today.

“So, I’ll play it now.”

The song we listened to was indeed, as Eun-ha described, emotionally stirring with its serene melody and impactful lyrics.

It hit all the right marks at the climactic moments, all while effortlessly drawing audience interaction like a live performer.

“Sounds great!”

– For real

– Wow

– Amazing

– Incredible

– Huge!

– Is this really a Japanese live?

The viewers seemed to vibe well with it.

I guess considering this channel’s regulations, well… it’s about at this point? So the chat isn’t that rough.

Overall, the praise came easier.

“What about you, Eun-ha?”

“It’s good. In fact, I’ve seen this video before.”

“Really?”

“Yes, this song might seem like it’s about a broken relationship, but actually it’s about a friend who’s maintained a strong friendship over the years…”

“Okay, let’s check the next one.”

– Hahahaha

– You’re stopping us again.

– Then why’d you ask?

Eun-ha, now way more talkative than earlier, made me happy for her, but… just keep reminding everyone that two songs take an hour and a half.

Plus, saying things like that should be done after listening to the two songs, not continuously while one is playing; otherwise, we’ll never finish this broadcast.

“Uh, I know the one next to it too. That’s definitely from a band where one member quit, and the vocalist and leader wrote the lyrics…”

“….”

Did I pick the wrong theme?

Perhaps I should’ve done a World Cup featuring good weapons from the Apocalypse or something?

As I was pondering, Eun-ha, who had her talkative streak ignited, kept going.

“That… ultimately, it topped the Japanese Oricon chart and the band reforming later became a hot topic back then…”

– Damn

– How long are you going to keep talking?

– Hahaha

– Miro seems shocked.

Right…

If the awkwardness has evaporated, then great.

I have a feeling today’s objective will be achieved seamlessly.

“Ah, I see.”

Although my ears are going to end up hurting quite a bit.

 

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