Became the Mother of Virtual YouTubers - Chapter 102
The beginning was on the airplane.
Hyo In sat next to Ye Rin and sighed softly.
I had a faint feeling from the moment I first checked the ticket.
But now that I was sitting apart from Jin Ha, I couldn’t shake off the bittersweet feeling.
“If I had known this would happen, I would have booked Jin Ha unnie’s ticket all at once…”
There was nothing I could do.
Hyo In and Ye Rin were attending a conference funded by a government project, and Jin Ha, I heard, received travel expenses from the chairman of a certain company.
We would have made things complicated if we had booked together.
So, we had no choice but to book separately, and especially since it was peak season, it was unavoidable that we were assigned different seats.
“Of all people, next to Jin Ha unnie… Seo Ah has…!”
To be honest, I didn’t know.
That there would be another companion in their group.
That this companion would take the seat next to Jin Ha.
And that this companion would openly show affection towards Jin Ha.
Hyo In tried to manage her expression and casually glanced across the aisle.
She spotted Seo Ah, brightly smiling next to Jin Ha.
Even if I didn’t want to see it, I couldn’t help but keep looking.
I couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but it was easy to tell that the atmosphere was good.
Seo Ah soon took out her smartphone.
Then she said.
“Jin Ha, look at the camera~”
She stretched her arm long and captured both herself and Jin Ha in the frame.
“What… what are you doing right now?”
Jin Ha looked at Seo Ah with a somewhat displeased expression at her bright and cheerful voice.
“I’m filming a vlog. Sachyo told me to film a lot of content since I’m going on a business trip abroad.”
Seo Ah smiled as she skillfully adjusted the camera.
“Would it be okay to substitute the collaboration with the vlog filming for this trip? Of course, if you’re uncomfortable, I can turn the camera off.”
“It’s not that I’m uncomfortable. Filming a vlog sounds good.”
“Really? Thank goodness… Thank you, Jin Ha!”
“…But you do know we’re going for work, not a trip, right?”
“Oh, right. It’s a business trip, not a vacation. Just a business trip with Jin Ha.”
Seo Ah said with a slight smile.
Jin Ha let out a sigh mixed with a laugh and asked playfully.
“But is it okay for a VTuber to film a vlog with their face fully shown like this?”
“Anyway, you’ll be replacing everything with an avatar later, right?”
“Well, I would naturally do that.”
Jin Ha nodded slightly and continued speaking with a smile.
“By the way, will you be doing a live broadcast there as well?”
“The live… I would like to if possible…”
Seo Ah pondered Jin Ha’s words and suddenly asked with a surprised expression.
“Wait a minute, Jin Ha. Has the technology to instantly transform a person into an avatar during a real-time live broadcast… been completed already?”
“Of course. Since we’re going abroad, shouldn’t I show off to the fans?”
“Wow…! You really are amazing, Jin Ha!”
Seo Ah smiled and naturally leaned against Jin Ha’s arm.
That sight was vividly imprinted in Hyo In’s eyes.
‘…Is she really a manager?!’
Hyo In found Seo Ah’s natural intimacy extremely annoying.
Especially the fact that Jin Ha didn’t specifically push her away only bothered her more.
“Unnie, are you okay? You don’t look good.”
“No, I’m just… a bit nervous.”
In response to Ye Rin’s worried words, Hyo In slightly shook her head and took out her tablet.
She planned to check the presentation materials once more on the way.
Still, if they could just arrive and get off the plane.
Hyo In reassured herself like that.
But for some reason, this flight time, exceeding ten hours, felt particularly long and boring.
*
After a long flight, they arrived at Vancouver International Airport.
After collecting their luggage, they exited the airport and headed straight for the city’s subway.
“Ugh…!!”
Every time she moved her body, the muscles, which had been seated in cramped positions for a long time, complained.
An eleven-hour flight was never easy.
But there was one person there who showed no signs of fatigue at all.
“I just got off at Waterfront station. It’s not far from here to the hotel. The sea visible from the hotel must be really beautiful, don’t you think?”
Seo Ah was brightly smiling while holding a suitcase in one hand and a selfie stick with her smartphone in the other.
She clearly should be tired… Yet, her expression was not only alive but also full of energy.
Hyo In couldn’t help but admire her and shook her head.
“Ye Rin, it looks like people in broadcasting have different stamina…”
“Exactly, unnie… I’m too tired to even speak well, but that person seems truly amazing.”
Hyo In had already realized that Seo Ah was not just an ordinary content planner, but not a manager either.
That kind of energy could only come from a broadcaster.
“But Seo Ah is amazing, but… I’m even more impressed by Jin Ha unnie. Keeping up with that energy must be quite exhausting…”
Even if Seo Ah was a broadcaster, Hyo In couldn’t understand why Jin Ha seemed completely unaffected by fatigue.
When they finally arrived at the hotel, the day was fading away.
The hotel, which had received nothing but praise in reviews, looked even more splendid in person.
The conference room located just a short distance away.
The open sea visible from the window.
A neat and stylish exterior.
‘Still, she sure gets things done thoroughly.’
Hyo In couldn’t help but acknowledge Seo Ah’s meticulous preparations in her mind.
“Shall we check in right away?”
Hyo In and Ye Rin headed to the front desk first.
“Uh, um… Hello?”
Despite having prepared for the thesis presentation by taking phone English classes, my mouth dried up when it came to speaking English in front of a native speaker.
Nonetheless, after a few stumbles, I managed to confirm the reservation and received the room key.
With that, I thought I could handle questions during the presentation without any issues, and Hyo In straightened her shoulders.
It seems Koreans are a nation of cramming.
Next, Seo Ah approached the front desk.
As she passed by Hyo In, a relaxed smile was on her face.
It felt somewhat like she was teasing me… but that must be an illusion, right?
“Hello, could you please confirm my reservation?”
Her fluent English pronunciation made Hyo In involuntarily turn her head.
The quality of her conversation was on a different level from the crammed conversational English, making Hyo In feel a bit pressured.
However, as she watched Seo Ah have a calm conversation, something felt off about the situation.
Seo Ah’s expression began to harden as she spoke with the staff.
“Is there a problem…?”
Jin Ha, standing next to Seo Ah, also looked puzzled.
“There’s… only one room reserved?”
They should have definitely reserved two rooms.
Yet, for some reason, it turned out that only one was reserved.
I asked if there might be any available rooms, but the answer returned was that there were no remaining rooms during the conference period.
“I’m really sorry, Jin Ha. I thought we reserved two rooms…”
Seo Ah bowed her head to Jin Ha with a flustered expression.
“I will look for another hotel nearby. I’ll book a room and contact you again.”
“The situation is similar at other hotels too.”
“I still have to check. It’s my mistake.”
Jin Ha gazed at Seo Ah’s gloomy expression for a moment before speaking in a calm voice.
“Well, is it really necessary to do that? They say the room is spacious, so we can just share it.”
“Even so, it might be uncomfortable for you… You need to prepare for your presentation too.”
“I’m not particularly concerned. I also find it a bit troublesome to move around over trivial matters.”
Seo Ah hesitated and then bowed her head again, feigning reluctance.
“…Thank you so much, Jin Ha.”
Hyo In suddenly felt.
The angle of Seo Ah’s mouth as she bowed her head felt very familiar.
…It must be an illusion too.
Hyo In pushed aside the uneasy feeling and headed to the elevator with the other three.
*
As soon as they unpacked in the hotel room.
Jin Ha lightly stretched and immediately opened her laptop.
After connecting the webcam and various ‘broadcasting equipment’, Jin Ha checked the screen and said.
“Seo Ah, the timing is a bit awkward right now, but do you want to do a test broadcast?”
Seo Ah lightly tidied her hair and sat in front of the laptop.
As Jin Ha adjusted the webcam angle and launched a few programs, Seo Ah’s image on the screen immediately transformed into the preset avatar, ‘Winter’.
“No, no way…”
When Seo Ah blinked, Winter blinked back.
When Seo Ah smiled and waved her arm, Winter also smiled back and waved.
In the other reality captured by the camera lens.
Winter was alive and moving.
“This tracking equipment isn’t even needed now that I brought it along…”
“It’s still not perfect. Since it’s based on video processing algorithms, I had to compromise the quality a bit to secure a certain fps.”
“That’s because it’s ‘overseas’, so it can’t be helped, right?”
With that, Seo Ah stood up while still holding the webcam connected to the computer.
“Jin Ha, could you be my broadcast manager?”
Normally, she would need to sit in front of the laptop, check how she appeared on screen, and monitor the chat reactions.
But Jin Ha was there in this room.
She was someone she could trust more than anyone else.
Seo Ah, or rather Winter, entrusted her broadcast entirely to Jin Ha.
“It’s fun. Seo Ah is my manager, and I’m Winter’s manager.”
As Winter signaled that she was ready,
Jin Ha immediately started the broadcast.