From VTuber♂ to VTuber♀ - Chapter 13

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Sometime in January) Why Does Misfortune Always Find Me?

“Ahh, I wanna go to Korea.”

“…”

“Korea, Korea, Korea~ I wanna go~”

“You…”

“I wanna go to Korea!”

If you asked why someone who kept singing about going to see Yeoreum is still here, there was one reason for that.

That reason was—Toya didn’t know Yeoreum’s home address.

She lived in Japan, and even then didn’t know all the geography. How could she possibly search the entire country of Korea to find Yeoreum? Impossible.

If only he had sent her his address, she could’ve figured something out and gone to see him.

She puffed out her cheeks, whining as she grumbled to herself.

It was a childish move, sure, but sometimes you just need to let out stress like a kid.

“Korea! Korea! Korea!”

“Ugh, enough with Korea already!”

“What, are you anti-Korea now, manager?”

“Hey!!”

Kyaah! Manager’s mad! He’s mad!

As her manager lunged at her shouting, she let out a playful scream and curled up.

His fingers jabbed, tickled, and poked her sides for a while. By the time both were exhausted and panting, the room finally fell quiet.

“You were gonna go without even knowing his address?”

“Love—uh, I mean, the power of friendship can make anything happen!”

“…I heard you say ‘love,’ you know.”

“They say love and friendship are just one step apart!”

Truthfully, she really hadn’t made any plans.

She thought she’d hear from Yeoreum by the time she arrived in Korea or something.

In the end, since he never replied even up to the day before her flight, she canceled her ticket.

Too bad. She’d worked up a lot of courage to plan that trip.

No address, no face, no way to contact him…

If only she had just one of those three—

“Wait…”

“Manager. Didn’t I send Yeoreum some merch before?”

“…That’s right?”

“Then you must have his address! His address!”

“Ah!”

Idiot, idiot, dummy! How did I think I sent that merch in the first place?!

She felt heat rise in her chest at her own stupidity.

If she’d realized this sooner, she wouldn’t have had to cancel the flight.

She bit her lip, anxiety bubbling inside her.

Maybe she should rebook the earliest flight right now?

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

Just as that thought crossed her mind—

“Toya, we got a new ad offer. Can you check—”

“You fool, boss!!”

A tragic moment indeed.

—

“Oh my aching back…”

“You could be resting at home, you know…”

“Rest? What rest? I’m not the kind of person who leaves a kid all alone.”

I’m not a kid, you know… she wanted to say, but with her appearance, it wasn’t convincing.

It had been several days now. Unlike her short two-hour shifts from 8 to 10 p.m., she was now living with Grandma full-time and saw many of her sides.

Like the way she clutched her back in pain, or how often she coughed.

Yeoreum had offered to come to the store alone during lunchtime, but Grandma was quite stubborn.

“How long’s it even been since I left the nursing home? I’m not going back there.”

“…Are you really okay, Grandma?”

“If I wasn’t, then none of the old folks coming here would be.”

Grandma clicked her tongue, referencing the elderly regulars at the convenience store.

If she wasn’t feeling well, she really should visit a doctor…

Not that Yeoreum was in a position to talk—her own health was fragile too.

She had run out of medication and thought, “Eh, maybe I can get by without it,” and went two days without. That ended with her getting severely ill and needing a hospital visit.

She never expected her body to be that weak without meds…

“And what about you, huh? You’re even more fragile than me. Don’t worry about me, worry about yourself. Once you get old, something’s always hurting. It’s just how it is.”

“…”

“You know how scared I was when you collapsed last time? A young girl with a body that weak, tsk tsk…”

Hearing Grandma bring up that memory, Yeoreum couldn’t find any words to reply.

She’d collapsed before, so she had no right to lecture Grandma.

In a way, someone more fragile was worrying about someone stronger.

“Right… she seems okay, so she’ll be fine.”

It wasn’t a good look to ignore an elder’s words.

She also understood that Grandma probably didn’t want a tiny girl like her worrying about her.

Even if she complained about joint pain or backaches, she still walked fine, and even with the coughing, she didn’t have a fever or anything.

If she did fall ill, it’d be in the distant future—or so Yeoreum naively believed.

She completely forgot that misfortune always strikes just after happiness.

So if you’re wondering what that means—

“Grandma?!”

—Two days later, Grandma collapsed.

—

Happy everyday life can be destroyed by the most unexpected things.

Just like how Yeoreum had to give up being a VTuber after ending up in this new body, her peaceful life with Grandma had shattered just as easily.

It was honestly laughable—if it weren’t so tragic.

“She’ll be okay, right?”

“She’ll be fine. She’ll bounce right up when she hears you’re here.”

Yeoreum tried desperately to calm her racing heart, but her body refused to listen.

She had to be okay. She had to be okay.

Grandma often said her back and legs hurt, but Yeoreum never imagined she’d gotten this weak.

Watching someone collapse before your eyes—someone close to you—was a first for her. Her heart wouldn’t stop pounding.

“I heard she’d been keeping the store open late recently, so I thought she was doing better…”

“…What?”

“Oh, it wasn’t a heart attack or anything serious. Just age catching up to her. Her body weakened from old age, so she fainted. Don’t worry too much.”

“…”

Grandma usually closed the shop around 8 p.m.

But ever since Yeoreum started working, she’d been keeping it open past 10.

If Yeoreum had been a normal part-timer, Grandma wouldn’t have had to stay that late.

If she’d been a normal person. If her body hadn’t changed. If she’d just accepted her limits and looked for an appropriate job…

She took a ragged breath, and then—

“Cough, cough! COUGH COUGH COUGH!!”

“Yeoreum, are you okay?!”

“J-just… swallowed wrong…”

“Yeoreum!”

“Cough, cough cough—!”

Her lungs ached so badly that tears welled up, but she forced herself to hold it back.

Don’t whine, Han Yeoreum. Grandma collapsed because of you, and now you want to act like you’re in pain?

Ignoring the worried voice calling after her, she ran out of the convenience store and down the road.

Why me? Why is it always—

—me that has to suffer like this?

—

[LMAO, Toya canceled her break]
[(Screenshot: Toya’s Break Cancellation Announcement.JPG)
Thought it was fake? It’s real lol]
ㄴ[Why’d this happen?]
ㄴ[Seriously, why?]
ㄴ[First VTuber ever to cancel a break lol]
ㄴ[Classic Toya! Never lets us down!]
ㄴ[She probably broke up with her boyfriend… sudden cancellation like this screams breakup.]
ㄴ[Wait, you’re telling me Toya canceled her break because she broke up with her boyfriend and skipped a New Year’s one-night stand?]
ㄴ[My horn’s about to snap…]
ㄴ[Isn’t that good though? Now we have a chance!]
ㄴ[Like a VTuber with a boyfriend would ever look at a forever-single guy like me…]
ㄴ[Which tune am I supposed to dance to here??]
ㄴ[Forget dancing. Just break your horn already lol]

[LMAO, Toya canceled the cancellation of her break too]
[(Screenshot: Toya’s Break Cancellation Cancellation.JPG)
Thought it was fake again? Still real lol]
ㄴ[Didn’t I just read this exact post earlier?]
ㄴ[Fact: All true.]
ㄴ[How is this real??]
ㄴ[Why is the break cancellation cancellation real??]
ㄴ[First VTuber to cancel her break cancellation lol]
ㄴ[Toya… how many “firsts” do you plan on being??!]
ㄴ[There’s a VTuber who canceled and then uncanceled her break in just one day?!]
ㄴ[Who does that even exist?! LOL]
ㄴ[No such VTuber exists~]
ㄴ[Yes she does~]
ㄴ[How is this even real LOL]

[Toya <— Hilarious from New Year’s Day, upvote if true lol]
[She’s not just funny on stream anymore. Her announcements are comedy now too LOL]
ㄴ[Upvote lol]
ㄴ[Upvote hahahaha]
ㄴ[I can control the viewers’ emotions now!]
ㄴ[But seriously, why did she cancel her break and then cancel the cancellation a day later?]
ㄴ[For real.]
ㄴ[Probably broke up with her boyfriend and then got back together lol]
ㄴ[Toya-fans… my horn’s about to snap.]
ㄴ[Weren’t you the guy who said earlier your horn got reattached? lol]
ㄴ[If she keeps this up, we’ll be snapping our horns every time she takes a break lol]
ㄴ[lolol]

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