Became the Mother of Virtual YouTubers - Chapter 8

Jinha and Hyoin headed to the convenience store. There was nothing in the room.

Jinha claims that he pursues minimalism… but this is just being poor.

As they walked together, matching their strides in the night air after a long time.

“It reminds me of the old days.”

She remembered the times when they would stay up all night in the lab, wrestling with code, and then go out to eat late-night snacks. While it was a heartwarming memory for someone, walking side by side down the dark alley.

“…It’s not a very good memory.”

It was a bitter memory for someone else.

“What’s so good about working overtime until dawn.”

“Really? I didn’t think it was that bad.”

“You must be cut out for lab life.”

“Ahaha. It’s not like that.”

At the convenience store, Hyoin picked up 4 cans of beer, a large bottle, and a few frozen snacks.

“…Are you going to drink all that?”

“It’s better than having to come back out because we ran out.”

She also added two bottles of soju.

This junior was serious today.

“It seems like too much.”

“It’s not that much in terms of quantity. Besides, I’m buying, you know.”

“Uh… r-right. Thanks.”

Right. The one who buys is king.

Infinite thanks to Hyoin for providing today’s sustenance.

Leaving the thick night air behind, they returned to Jinha’s room.

Hyoin laid out the things she bought from the convenience store on the table.

She lined up the beer cans in order of coldness and barely managed to squeeze the bottles into the small refrigerator.

As Jinha heated the frozen food in the microwave, he glanced at the clock. It was almost 10 PM. He hadn’t realized how late it had gotten.

“I never thought I’d be drinking alone with you at this hour.”

“Well, it is the time when we’d still be in the lab.”

“Hey, that’s not what I meant…”

“I know. I also never imagined drinking alone with a male senior at night.”

But… you’re not a male senior now, are you?

Adding that, Hyoin chuckled. This junior was already getting tipsy before even touching the beer.

“Then shall we make a toast? To Jinha unnie’s escape from the lab?”

“What’s with the unnie…”

Jinha let out a small laugh and picked up a can of beer.

The sound of cans clinking together.

The two brought the beer to their lips at the same time.

The cold liquid went down their throats, and they felt the tension in their bodies release.

“Whoa~ It’s good… but it doesn’t quite hit the spot.”

Just then, the microwave beeped.

Hyoin put down the can on the table and brought the heated snacks.

She should have just sat down after getting them, but she suddenly opened the refrigerator door.

Then, she picked up a bottle of soju and moved her wrist in the 1 o’clock, 6 o’clock, and 12 o’clock directions. Her wrist snap was not ordinary.

It was a reminder that Hyoin was an engineering student and a graduate student before she was a woman.

Her alcohol tolerance? It was beyond the level of ordinary people.

Actually, Hyoin didn’t plan on going all out from the beginning.

But today, she felt like she wanted to pour out everything inside her.

To do that, this level of alcohol was not an option, but a necessity.

Subtly noticing Hyoin’s inner thoughts, Jinha frowned but naturally accepted the soju glass.

“How’s the lab these days?”

Still, they couldn’t just drink. Jinha opened his mouth first.

“It’s the same. Just… a bit more intense?”

“Well, yeah. The professor is still the same, after all.”

“Everyone’s stress level is no joke. The new lab leader is about to explode, the first-years and second-years are looking for a way out…”

After that, a string of complaints about the professor followed.

The two were comrades from the same lab. Therefore, they understood each other’s feelings better than anyone else.

Light grumbling turned into sharp curses as they drank and the atmosphere heated up.

Bastard, son of a b*tch.

When blatant swear words started to come out, the two burst into laughter like crazy.

“Ahaha! Ahahaha… I don’t know how long it’s been since I laughed like this.”

Then, Hyoin suddenly mumbled in a dejected voice.

“Actually, I’ve been having a hard time lately too. Research isn’t going well, and I’m worried about the professor…”

“Hey, that’s just how graduate school life is.”

“Still! Before, I could endure it because Jinha oppa was there! I thought I could overcome anything no matter what happened…”

Hyoin trailed off and picked up the nearly empty soju bottle, then chugged it straight from the bottle.

“Gulp… Now that you’ve become an unnie and you’re not around… I feel so alone.”

Jinha tapped the beer can with his index finger and suddenly asked.

“That’s unexpected. I thought you were doing better than anyone else in the lab. Seeing you, I even thought I was the immature one.”

At Jinha’s words, Hyoin let out a sigh mixed with a gasp.

Feeling a surge of emotion, she gripped the new soju bottle tightly.

“That’s… because you were helping me, sunbae. I believed that you would catch me even if I made a mistake. You even raised your voice against the professor to protect us.”

“Protect you, my ass… I just confronted him because I hated his f*cking guts.”

Jinha mumbled, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Besides, are you saying you relied on me because you didn’t have anyone else to rely on? What about that lab rat who barely managed to get a single paper published while everyone else was getting grants, building their track records, and graduating?”

“That one paper is ToG! The top journal in the graphics field!”

“Well… that’s true.”

A glorious, if not particularly fond, memory briefly flashed through his mind.

It wasn’t that long ago, just a year ago.

The memory of the day he wrote a paper on ‘HANA’, which he had completed after hundreds of thousands of hours of work, and went to ask the professor for a review.

At that time, Jinha was a little more enthusiastic, a little more courageous, and very much reckless.

Looking back now, he wondered how he could have done that.

Naturally, the professor belittled Jinha, saying that this was not the research he was pursuing.

And Jinha…

“I still remember that day. The day you raised your voice at the professor.”

“C-can we just stick to either oppa or unnie?”

“The caring senior who took care of me is oppa, and the bad person who ran away from the lab and is now living like a bum is unnie. How’s that?”

“…Yeah, call me whatever you want.”

Hyoin giggled and continued.

“Do you know what we talked about behind your back that day?”

“You were probably badmouthing me, what else.”

Why is that nutjob acting up again. Just listen to the professor.

Jinha smiled bitterly, saying the words he had heard directly from the seniors who had now graduated.

“We did curse you… but more than that, everyone was envious. They wondered how confident you must be in your research to confront the professor like that.”

“Do you know what nickname we used for you when we were alone?”

“…What was it?”

“A monster. A research-crazed monster.”

“…What a chuunibyou nickname.”

Jinha let out a small laugh and poured soju into his empty glass.

He thought he was seen as an incompetent senior, that his self-esteem was shattered.

It was ironic that his juniors thought the opposite.

“Ah, so this is what it’s like to come to graduate school, wow that person is really a monster… Ah, can I have another shot?”

But, even such a monster couldn’t stand graduate school and left. This place is really tough…

Hyoin mumbled with a complicated expression and took the soju from Jinha.

Then, clink- they lightly tapped their glasses and downed it in one shot.

“Anyway, back to the original topic… you proved it with results in the end. Oh, right! Do you know what’s funny?”

“Hmm?”

“Professor, he bragged a lot when he went out to external project meetings. He said his lab also produced a ToG paper. But to the lab members, he gaslighted you…”

“Well… I kind of expected it, but it feels strange to hear it directly.”

Jinha swallowed the curse that rose to his throat along with the alcohol.

The way it went down his throat without hesitation seemed to show that he had a lot of resentment built up.

Hyoin stared blankly at him.

Just as Jinha was worried about Hyoin, Hyoin was also worried about Jinha. She wondered if it was okay for a woman’s body to drink like that.

But she didn’t stop him.

Worry about the person who needs it. Jinha was one of the top drinkers in the lab. There was no way his form would have deteriorated just because his gender had changed.

While the conversation paused for a moment, Hyoin hesitated for a moment before asking a question.

“Ah, but unnie. Do you still watch… VTubers? You used to have them playing in the lab while you worked.”

It was meant to be a lighthearted joke to change the atmosphere.

“VTubers are… truly great.”

But it seemed it wasn’t lighthearted at all for Jinha.

His eyes, which had been half-closed from the alcohol a moment ago, suddenly lit up and began to sparkle.

“Cute? Hot? Those words are insufficient to fully capture the charm of VTubers. I think… the word VTuber itself is a definition, isn’t it?”

Jinha, getting into the zone, raised his voice, extending his arm slightly as he used to.

“I guarantee it. Someday, VTubers will bring peace to the world. No, even if they don’t do anything else, they’ve already brought peace to my heart. If it weren’t for 2D headpats, I wouldn’t have been able to escape the lab and would have just died there.”

“Wow… unnie, do you know you’re really uncool? I don’t know if I should say this, but it’s a little gross.”

“No matter how gross you think it is, I can’t withdraw my support for VTubers. VTubers. My life, my light, my salvation. Minari, no, Han Ari. Forever.”

“Pfft, ahahaha!!”

At Jinha’s serious tone, Hyoin couldn’t hold back her laughter.

“Even though your gender changed, Jinha oppa is still Jinha oppa. No, unnie? Oni? What should I call you… Pfft! I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore.”

“A-aren’t you laughing too much? Why, can’t I be a fan of VTubers?”

As Jinha grumbled, scratching his head, Hyoin laughed and took another sip of her drink.

How long has it been since they had this kind of playful conversation?

She really missed the time they spent together.

“Ah~ Should I just quit the lab too?”

Hyoin’s impulsive remark.

It seemed playful, but her eyes were slightly shaking.

“It’s your choice to leave, but… what are you going to do after? You’ll end up like me?”

“That’s true. What should I do after I leave… Ah! Should I try becoming a VTuber?”

“Don’t talk nonsense and just stay in the lab.”

“Ah, why~ I like games and I can sing a little.”

“Don’t underestimate VTubers. It’s not something you can do with a light heart, just because you think you’ll try it once.”

Jinha said sternly.

But he didn’t get angry.

“I wasn’t underestimating it… I wasn’t saying it lightly.”

He knew that Hyoin wasn’t saying that because she looked down on VTubers.

She’s at a loss because she has to stay in graduate school, she feels like she’s falling behind her peers… and honestly, she doesn’t have the confidence to continue her research.

“Because…”

Jinha paused for a moment, then spoke in a voice that was getting increasingly influenced by alcohol.

“You’ve been doing well so far. I think you’ll graduate even faster than Byeongjae. Just endure a little longer and…”

“That’s all!!”

An alcohol-tinged shout burst from Hyoin’s mouth.

In the silence that followed, Hyoin emptied her glass again.

Her head was gradually getting hot.

Then, suddenly, her pent-up emotions poured out.

“That’s all… thanks to you being there, oppa…”

Hyoin’s eyes gradually turned red.

“I don’t know what to do without you… You left so suddenly, and I feel so alone and it’s so hard, oppa…”

“I… jeez. What am I even saying…”

It was a side of Hyoin that Jinha had never seen before.

She had always seemed bright, diligent, and strong.

He realized that she had relied on him more than he thought.

The way she was pouring out her emotions under the influence of alcohol was somehow pitiful.

“…Did you know?”

Hyoin mumbled in a low voice, clutching her glass.

“I, actually… really liked you, oppa.”