I had a long-standing habit of organizing my thoughts in my head and getting straight to the point without any unnecessary explanations.
I didn’t like to beat around the bush, and I also didn’t like long-winded conversations, which often led to minor misunderstandings.
“Moving?”
The first person to react to my words was Ji-yeon.
She murmured “moving, moving…” for a moment, then clapped her hands and exclaimed.
“Then this is a perfect opportunity for you to come back home, unnie! Your room is still empty, and we can see each other all the time!”
Home, indeed.
I could certainly consider that as an option. It’s common for a female broadcaster suffering from a stalker to return to the safety of her family.
But yes, that is only if it really is ‘family.’
Ji-eun had left home due to some incident.
It must have been for a reason that a twenty-three-year-old woman, without a job, was living alone in a room.
I couldn’t imagine what would happen when she faced her family again.
It wouldn’t be easy for someone with no memories like me to melt into the lives of unfamiliar individuals.
Therefore, the option of returning to Ji-yeon’s family home was rejected.
Without revealing my true feelings, I shook my head to indicate my refusal.
“No, I’m more comfortable living alone. I’ve earned a good amount of money, so I can find a new place.”
“Aww…”
Ji-yeon, seeing that she couldn’t sway my mind on this topic no matter how hard she tried, stopped pressing me.
With her out of the way, it was someone else who began to coax me.
“Come to Busan.”
“…Huh?”
“Come to Busan.”
Ryu-a looked me in the eye confidently. Had she always had this personality? I felt like she might have been like this when she was drunk.
As I stood there, blankly staring and seemingly clueless, she began to extoll the virtues of Busan.
The coastal scenery is beautiful, the milmyeon is delicious, the gukbap is fundamental, and the weather is nice.
Sure, it must be a great place to live. After all, it’s a huge city known as South Korea’s second capital.
I could take a stroll along the beach for a change of scenery, too.
But I had no intention of moving my base of operations so suddenly.
Having lived in Seoul for several decades, I found other regions unfamiliar.
No matter how many times I move, it would probably be within Gyeonggi-do.
For that reason, the idea of moving to Busan was also dismissed.
“That’s a shame…”
Busan is indeed far. Ryu-a retreated with a disappointed expression.
We only talked about where each of us was moving, but it seemed like there were no strong objections to my moving.
When I asked, the answer came quickly.
“Well… I’ve been dissatisfied with my living here for a while. I think it would be better to live in a safer neighborhood with better security.”
“My income is enough that I could live elsewhere. Other broadcasters, for instance, don’t just live in one-room apartments; they live in officetels or apartments.”
“I think the same.”
It seemed I didn’t properly grasp how much money I was actually making.
To others, it must have seemed sufficient to not just move but to also buy various luxuries, and they must have wondered why I was doing nothing.
Having lived my whole life as an ordinary citizen, I never expected to get used to spending money.
“Then, how about this.”
I gave a rough explanation of the layout of the house I had in mind.
Two rooms and one living room.
One room for my rest and bedroom, and the other one exclusively for broadcasting.
I had read somewhere that to enhance work efficiency, one should separate their work space from their relaxation space.
I hadn’t understood it before, but now that I was a broadcaster, I found that sentiment quite relatable.
When I was broadcasting and started feeling tired, I longed to throw myself onto the bed behind me.
It was as if I was being tempted with distractions while working.
Oh, just thinking about it is enjoyable.
Simply having one more room could help me escape from that psychological torment.
Moving… it might actually be good?
“I’m thinking of installing a soundproof booth in the workroom.”
“A soundproof booth? Ji-eun’s style is to broadcast quietly, isn’t it?”
“Well, just like last time with the horror game, there come times when I need to make some noise while broadcasting. It always bothered me a bit then.”
Imagine a one-room apartment that isn’t soundproof, where a woman’s screams can be heard at dawn.
It was fortunate that the terrified neighbors didn’t call the police to check if something was wrong.
Of course, I hadn’t screamed that much, but it wouldn’t have been strange if something like that had happened.
“Let’s make the bedroom a larger one.”
“Huh?”
“Sometimes you can come over and sleep. Let’s get a queen-size bed. A super single feels a bit cramped for two people to roll around in.”
Can’t we just put two beds in there? Or maybe add another room for guests?
In any case, it was evident that a spacious bedroom was necessary, aside from the number of beds.
I couldn’t tell Ji-yeon not to come, and I knew that saying that would only make her tear up and put me in a difficult position.
Thus, the rough plan was established.
Today, I decided to take it easy considering my condition and planned to start looking for a house tomorrow.
In the meantime, I decided that at least one person should always be next to me due to the stalker concerns.
Today, Ji-yeon would sleep over, tomorrow I’d go house hunting with Si-young, and the day after would be with Ryu-a.
This was quite the rotation.
I had mentioned that it might be excessive protectiveness, but it was simply brushed aside.
It seemed that the stalker incident had left quite an impact on them.
“Isn’t Ryu-a supposed to go down to Busan?”
“I’ll stay in Seoul this week, so it’s okay.”
“Then, Ji-yeon on Thursday, me on Friday, and Saturday—.”
Si-young calmly organized the schedule.
It seemed they had already coordinated their plans amongst themselves, and everything was progressing swiftly.
Moreover, my opinions were not being taken into account at all.
They should also consider my position of having to be with someone all day.
At least, I was fortunate that I didn’t have too much stuff at my place.
In my home, which had nothing but a bed and my clothes, without even a couch, it hardly felt like a family house.
That hard bed, whose use I no longer remembered, was going to be thrown out, and I was planning to buy a new one, so there wasn’t much to pack.
I thought I had considered everything related to the move, but there was still one problem left.
“What about broadcasting?”
“You might have to take a break; at least for a week.”
“It hasn’t been long since I last took a week off, you know.”
Right now, there was no issue, but once I found a place and started packing seriously, I wouldn’t be able to broadcast.
What would happen then?
Somehow, my broadcasts had become kind of a refuge for overly enthusiastic viewers.
If I declared a long hiatus, it was easy to predict what they would do.
Things had gotten chaotic last time; would it be any different this time?
The image of my fervent fan causing a ruckus in Ryu-a’s room was still vivid in my mind.
Perhaps they would understand that I was moving because of a stalker, but I had no intention of discussing the stalker incident on the stream.
Now that I had made a name for myself in the broadcasting world, whether I liked it or not, there would be people harboring resentment toward me.
There must be quite a few out there even if I couldn’t see them right now, and I didn’t want them to know that I had been victimized.
Even if I talked about it, I could only mention that I was moving.
In truth, this was all just an excuse.
What happened to someone else’s broadcast was something that broadcaster should handle well on their own.
It was common for transient viewers to jump from one broadcast to another.
But more than that, I just wanted to broadcast.
I had picked out a game, but I hadn’t been able to play it because I was sick for days.
If I were to play a game, I would prefer someone beside me giving reactions.
The chat had fulfilled that role for me.
Now, the idea of playing a game with an empty chat window had become unimaginable.
I wanted to move, but I also wanted to broadcast.
Struggling with incompatible topics, the solution was offered by Si-young, who was sitting across from me.
“Broadcast at our house.”
“Um… Is that okay?”
“You just need to connect a microphone. That should work, right?”
I envisioned Si-young’s dimly lit workspace.
She had three monitors or so, probably. It was like a surveillance room; she edited videos while displaying multiple screens.
Ninety percent of them were my videos, but still. It seemed as if she were searching for cut points across several screens, almost like having multiple eyes.
Surely, for such work, her setup wouldn’t lack broadcasting specifications.
If anything, she might have more than enough. Condition-wise, it was perfect.
“Then I’ll just borrow your place for that time.”
“That’s fine with me. You can stay a few nights if you want.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Ugh…”
The broadcast plan was settled to be held at Si-young’s place.
Beside me, Ryu-a quietly ground her teeth as she glared at Si-young.
She had been giving off a vibe that she didn’t quite like Si-young; was there something between the two?
And thus, the moving plan for Mollu was hastily set in motion.
I hope it goes well… Hopefully.
