I carefully examined Banye’s channel again.
His subscriber count had grown even more than when he quit being a creator. Even if it was noise marketing when he was arguing with his creator credentials on the forums, it was quite a lot. It seemed to be thanks to uploading videos every single day after that and doing two more live broadcasts.
That wasn’t the only change that came to Banye’s channel. On Banye’s community announcement, there was even a preview of a collaboration with a major NewTuber.
‘This person, wasn’t he signed with Almond TV…….’
It was a pretty full-scale project that even smelled of money. When I realized this was related to Almond TV that he’d met with recently, I wondered what this was all about.
‘No way…….’
Sure enough, when I sneaked a peek into Banye’s room just in case, there was pretty professional broadcasting equipment set up. Equipment that was clearly professional-level and not something the old Banye would have installed.
At this level, he really must have signed a contract with Almond TV.
‘Why all of a sudden?’
He acted like he wouldn’t do it to me…… why on earth did he change his mind?
I returned to the game with puzzled feelings. The guild members were also talking about Banye’s NewTube channel in the game.
[Guild][Anajokiwojo] I obviously thought it would fail quickly
[Guild][Neda] At first there was only us at the live broadcast……
Even though not much time had passed since the first live broadcast, it already felt like ancient history. That’s how much Banye’s channel had grown compared to then.
[Guild][Anajokiwojo] Now there are lots of people even if we don’t go in
[Guild][Anajokiwojo] When the forums went crazy I thought he’d 100% quit lol
[Guild][Yeongmyeong] That time was no joke, even thinking about it again ㄷㄷ
Not just me, but the guild members also seemed quite amazed by Banye’s change.
Well, it made sense. Not just me, but whenever the guild members suggested Banye seriously try being a NewTuber, he was always indifferent.
Especially after the forums went crazy, he was even more stubborn about quitting. Because of that…… we fought while raising our voices, and that’s how this situation came about.
Why did Banye’s mind suddenly change?
[Guild][Neda] It’s all thanks to Jorangi-nim
Just then, my heart sank at Neda’s words. A name I hadn’t expected until then struck my heart hard.
[Guild][Aang] Why Jorangi-nim?
[Guild][Jorangi] Yes?
[Guild][Anajokiwojo] When Banye said he’d quit being a creator, they kept persuading him
[Guild][Neda] You were so devoted
[Guild][Suckeot3] Thought you were being a devoted wife lol
[Guild][Neda] That’s inappropriate to say when they have a spouse…
[Guild][Suckeot3] Ah my bad lol
[Guild][Haeyam] Really did persuade persistently얌 ㅇㅅㅇ
[Guild][Yeongmyeong] Said if you back down like this it’ll be neither one thing nor another
[Guild][Yeongmyeong] Said it’s a waste of everything done so far
[Guild][Yeongmyeong] And that us guild members will always be on Banye-nim’s side lol
[Guild][Anajokiwojo] Not me though
[Guild][Nanneomukeoeyeowo] ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Guild][Haeyam] Even I would’ve changed my mind얌?
The guild members all chattered about how enthusiastically Jorangi-nim had persuaded Banye.
[Guild][Jorangi] ;;No
[Guild][Jorangi] I just added a few wordsㅠ
Jorangi-nim humbly said it wasn’t their doing, but even to me it clearly seemed like Jorangi-nim had persuaded Banye.
[Guild][Yeongmyeong] You were worthy of being the 2nd biggest fan…
[Guild][Haeyam] Right얌ㅋㅋ Jorangi-nim’s contribution was big얌
[Guild][Jorangi] The 1st fan must have persuaded him
[Guild][Jorangi] My persuasion didn’t work at allㅠ
[Guild][Neda] No, surely Jorangi-nim’s words reached Banye-nim too
So he just got angry at my words like that, but listened to Jorangi-nim’s words and changed his mind…….
Well, Jorangi-nim’s persuasion might have been much better than mine, since I’m not good with words and just made Banye angry. Even though I thought it couldn’t be helped, my heart felt heavy.
[Whisper][Nanneomukeoeyeowo] Don’t worry about it too much
Just then, Nanneokeo, who knew the whole situation, slipped me a whisper.
[Whisper][Nanneomukeoeyeowo] He was persuaded because he didn’t really have no intention of doing it anyway, and it’s not like he was trying to ignore Aang-nim’s words in particular
My eyes welled up at the consolation that seemed to understand my whole heart. I rubbed my eyes with my sleeve before tears could fall and typed.
[Whisper][Aang] Of course I know that too
[Whisper][Aang] But thank you……
[Whisper][Nanneomukeoeyeowo] For what
[Whisper][Nanneomukeoeyeowo] But won’t you keep thinking about it if you play the game?
Certainly…… I thought I wouldn’t think much when playing Card of Fantasy when Banye wasn’t around, but that was my miscalculation. Who would’ve known Banye would be working this hard on NewTube…….
I agreed with Nanneokeo’s words listlessly.
[Whisper][Aang] Right
[Whisper][Aang] I didn’t know everyone would be talking about it…
[Whisper][Nanneomukeoeyeowo] Seems like everyone remembered when Aang-nim came on
[Whisper][Nanneomukeoeyeowo] Since you two were so close……
Yeah, that’s right.
In a way, it was all my karma.
[Whisper][Nanneomukeoeyeowo] How about doing something other than the game?
Nanneokeo suggested to me as I kept letting out deep sighs.
[Whisper][Aang] What kind of thing?
[Whisper][Nanneomukeoeyeowo] Want to ride bikes?
I thought it might be, and sure enough, it was bicycles.
[Whisper][Aang] You really like bicycles…
[Whisper][Nanneomukeoeyeowo] ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Hey it’s not just that
[Whisper][Nanneomukeoeyeowo] When you move your body a bit, you think fewer miscellaneous thoughts right?
[Whisper][Nanneomukeoeyeowo] You worked hard to learn bicycles last time so it’d be a shame to forget, so killing two birds with one stone
‘Is that so?’
Certainly even if I played the game my mood didn’t improve…… thinking about when I rode the bicycle last time, I was so absorbed in bicycling that I didn’t have any other thoughts at all.
[Whisper][Aang] Sounds good
In the end, I gave my consent, and before long Nanneokeo drove his car and came all the way near my house.
“Hello, Hanyoung-ssi.”
“Hello.”
Nanneokeo’s face was so bright without a single shadow that it lifted a layer of my depression.
“Your face has become half of what it was…….”
Nanneokeo said pitifully. I sheepishly stroked my face with my hand, wondering if it was that bad.
“I’m fine though…….”
“Fine my foot, your complexion is bad too……. You didn’t come out sick, did you?”
Nanneokeo’s hand suddenly rose to my forehead. I was startled for a moment. But before I could dodge, Nanneokeo checked my temperature.
“You don’t have a fever though…….”
“I’m fine.”
Nanneokeo tilted his head, then this time took my hand. I looked at him quietly wondering why he was doing this, and when our eyes met, he grinned.
“I thought you might be nervous for no reason. It gets a bit better if I massage your hand.”
“Y-yes…….”
It seems more nerve-wracking to have him hold and massage my hand though. Nanneokeo’s warm hand lightly squeezed and massaged my hand a few times, then soon let go.
“Tell me right away if you’re not feeling well anywhere. There’s no need to push yourself.”
“Yes…….”
Nanneokeo is really kind.
‘If Banye was even half as kind as this…….’
I was startled by the sudden thought and shook my head.
“What’s wrong?”
“N-no. Just…….”
I mumbled vaguely to Nanneokeo. I was pathetic for still having such stupid thoughts.
* * *
Still, after that, riding bicycles with Nanneokeo was quite enjoyable. We went around a pretty big park and later moved locations to ride bicycles. Nanneokeo said I had quite a talent, and for someone like me who’s far from such words, I was happy even if it was just empty flattery.
We only stopped the bicycles when the sun started to set. Since it felt a shame to just go back, I headed to have dinner with Nanneokeo.
Since Nanneokeo had to drive, he ordered a drink instead of alcohol. Nanneokeo was drinking his beverage when he saw me checking my smartphone and asked.
“Are you worried Hyunjung might call?”
“Huh? N-no…….”
I didn’t think at all that a call would come. I was just thinking that last time, a call had come around this time.
Nanneokeo shrugged his shoulders as if all of this was no big deal.
“Think of it as comfortable since there’s no interruption this time.”
“Right…….”
Well, even though he doesn’t like me, he acted like…… controlling a lover and came to make a scene.
If only I could think decisively that it’s good there’s no unnecessary interruption like Nanneokeo said. But it didn’t go as well as I intended.
“Don’t suffer too much, and try immersing yourself in something else.”
“Bicycles?”
“Anything.”
“…….”
It was certainly nice not to think about Banye while riding the bicycle.
I opened my mouth at a sudden thought.
“Seonwoo-ssi, did you ride bicycles a lot when you had hard times?”
“Yes. When it’s hard because of a person, you either forget with another person, or if that doesn’t work, moving your body and shaking off miscellaneous thoughts is the best.”
Forgetting with another person…… seems difficult for now. Should I ride bicycles every day? I nodded my head while looking at Nanneokeo’s smiling face.
After finishing the meal like that, Nanneokeo walked me home. I came into the house pulling my bicycle, and the lights were on inside.
Thinking Banye must have come back, I entered without much thought…… but Banye, who had been sitting in a dining chair, stood up and approached me.
