From VTuber♂ to VTuber♀ - Chapter 11

—

**January 10th) The world is still warm…**

I shed a few tears and blew my nose a little.

I didn’t pour out some long-winded story about my life or anything, but just having someone to talk to helped me relax.

If they’d been around my age, it probably would’ve been more awkward to talk, but since the other person was older, I was able to open up, at least a little.

Well, to be exact, I just whined a bit about how hard things were.

**[You’ve received a DigiCode message.]**

**[Yeoreum, I’m thinking of going to Korea—what’s your address? Oh, is messaging still not working? Anyway, I’m gonna head there, so contact me if you can!]**

“…Ah.”

When I took out my phone and checked the message, the contents were completely unexpected.

Coming to Korea? Just like that? Toya?

I did my best to hide the question marks floating above my head and turned off the phone screen.

Maybe I should’ve deleted her from my friends list after all.

I thought time would naturally help me forget, so I hadn’t brought myself to delete her… but I never imagined she’d message me again so soon.

“Someone messaged you or somethin’?”

“Oh, yeah… it was a friend.”

“Your face doesn’t really say ‘friend,’ though.”

“…It’s a friend I’ve been avoiding.”

Maybe it was because she had a softer side behind her cheerful image, but I couldn’t bring myself to cut her off coldly.

Maybe it was the last bit of lingering attachment.

She was a friend from abroad. We’d never even met in person, so I figured maybe, someday, it’d be okay to exchange a few messages again.

It was really just my selfishness. I’d cut contact with others so easily—so why not Toya?

I sighed deeply and fiddled with the phone in my hand.

Part of me wanted to reply right away.

To tell her not to come. That I was in no condition to meet her right now. That maybe later, when I was better, we could meet up.

But at this point, there were too many unanswered messages between us for me to just reach out now.

“By the way, that thing hanging there—is it a cartoon character or somethin’? Looks funny.”

“Oh, this is… um, a friend.”

“Well, I guess at your age, cartoon characters can be friends too.”

…It wasn’t exactly a cartoon character, but since VTubers are technically characters, I guess it counted well enough.

I blinked, toying with the Toya keyring hanging off the edge of my phone.

If I’d really meant to cut things off, I probably should’ve gotten rid of this first.

The fact that I hadn’t… probably meant that somewhere deep down, I still wanted to hold on.

_Yeoreum, I’ve got new merch coming out—want me to send you one? Just for you, I’ll send a special non-sale version!_

The sudden memory of her voice made me groan a little as I looked at the keyring.

An adorably drawn SD Toya hugging a cushion shaped like the “ha (夏)” in my name, with little hearts floating around.

On the back, her signature was scribbled by hand—clearly, something she’d drawn herself.

At the time, I thought she was just joking around.

_How is it? Did you get it? That’s seriously the only one in the world just for you, so make sure you treasure it!_

The thought of a one-of-a-kind goodie, made just for me, left me feeling miserably down again.

Up and down, my mood swung like a yo-yo. It was like I had some kind of emotional whiplash or mood disorder.

“Anyway, uh, is there anything else I can help with? I feel like I’ve been sitting around too long…”

“Just keep this old lady company. All the heavy lifting gets done by the kids workin’ during the day.”

“I feel kind of bad just lounging around like this.”

“You little rascal. Talkin’ to us old folks is the toughest job of all. Ugh, every time I talk to that good-for-nothin’ Mr. Kim, it gives me a headache…”

I let out an awkward laugh and nodded along as the grumbling about an acquaintance began.

This feels a bit too much like getting off easy.

I nodded along to what the boss said, shared a bit about myself, and before I knew it, it was past 10 p.m.—I’d arrived around 8.

“We gotta close up soon, so you better head out.”

“Oh, I’ll help!”

“You even know how to work this thing?”

“Yes, I’ve worked part-time at a convenience store before, so I can handle it.”

“Capable one, aren’t ya?”

Didn’t expect to be called capable over something like this.

I watched as the boss stepped out of the counter area to clean up, then quickly operated the POS system to close out the day.

Ah—I could’ve done the cleaning, too.

Since closing out the register didn’t take long, I jumped down from my seat and trotted after her.

“You could’ve just taken a break. Or gone home.”

“I’ll help! Um… I’m good at cleaning too!”

“‘Good at cleaning,’ she says. Tch. Looks like you have trouble even getting your clothes off by yourself.”

“Aha…”

It was true, so I couldn’t argue.

My body was small, but my head was a bit big, so even just taking off my clothes meant getting tangled up in them.

Still, that was one thing—this was another.

I was too old to be saying I couldn’t handle a bit of cleaning.

I hadn’t done much else right, so I figured I could at least clean properly.

A rare spark of determination lit up inside me.

“I’ll do my best!”

“‘Doing your best’ ain’t enough—you gotta _do it right_.”

“I’ll do my best _and_ do it right!”

Finally—my time to prove my worth has arrived… or so I thought, but this broom looks way too big…

It wasn’t like a reverse-Gulliver’s Travels or anything, but still, what the heck?

It wasn’t heavy, so I could lift it fine, but it was so big I had to use both hands.

“Don’t trip and be careful.”

“Ah, I won’t fall!”

“If it gets too hard, tell me right away.”

“Yep!”

The boss looked at me with doubt-filled eyes, wondering if I could really be trusted. But after seeing my determined expression, she gave me a nod.

It felt kind of like when a grandma watches her young granddaughter bustling around, trying to help out…

Well, the age difference probably _was_ like that.

Anyway, she believed in me. Time to give it my all.

—

“Heck—huff—ugh…”

“Told ya I should’ve just done it. Tsk.”

“I-it’s nothing… huff…”

Not long after I confidently started sweeping, I was already down for the count.

But I’d already said I’d do it, so I saw it through to the end.

Even if I had to stop to catch my breath a few—okay, _many_—times along the way.

The boss clicked her tongue, watching me gasp for air like I’d just run a marathon.

We’d started closing at 10, and it was already near 11.

…Wow. This body is _so_ weak. I’ll have to start cleaning earlier next time.

“You okay?”

“They say suffering when you’re young builds character… huff…”

“Pfft. Suffering when you’re young just wrecks your body when you’re old. Look at me—back pain, joint pain, all ‘cause I worked too hard when I was younger.”

“…Haha.”

I averted my eyes as she patted her back.

Wow, I really was talking nonsense in front of a veteran.

I mentally kicked myself for spouting such a dumb line—then suddenly, a cold drink was thrust in front of me.

Huh? You really don’t need to give me anything. I can just drink something when I get home!

I waved my hands frantically in protest, but the boss just kept pushing the drink into my arms.

“I really—”

“When an adult gives you something, you don’t turn it down.”

“B-but the shift’s over…”

“I’m the boss. Who’s gonna care if I give out one drink? Just take it and drink. You’re gonna keel over otherwise.”

“Th-thank you…”

In the end, I couldn’t refuse and accepted the drink with both hands.

I _was_ really thirsty, but I hadn’t expected to be given something like this…

With a little effort, the can opened with a refreshing _pshhht_.

Okay. I can still open a can. That much strength, I’ve got.

I was honestly a bit worried I wouldn’t be able to, but thank goodness I could.

_Gulp, gulp, gulp—_

“Phew…”

“Look at you drink. That’s better.”

“Thank you…”

“Starting tomorrow, come in at this time every day. Got it?”

“Yep…”

It felt almost wrong to be paid for something like this, but I didn’t exactly have other options right now.

Still… if I build up some strength, I can work even harder, right?

Even if this body’s limits are low, I couldn’t be someone who couldn’t even handle simple tasks. The hospital did say that staying active is a good idea.

I watched the boss turn off the convenience store lights and lower the shutters, then bowed my head deeply.

“Good night, boss.”

“You be careful too.”

“Yup. See you tomorrow!”

I turned and walked home, the boss waving lazily behind me as if to say _get going already._

I’m really lucky. She seems like a kind person.

It had been a long time since I’d felt something this warm.

Let’s work hard, Han Yeoreum. You decided to live—so live with everything you’ve got.