Aftereffects
Early afternoon.
Maybe because I'd streamed late into the night yesterday, the fatigue still clung to me as I forced myself out of my room.
"Woof! Woof!"
As soon as I stepped into the living room, Boksil bounded over.
So you're inside today, not out in the yard.
I scooped him up skillfully and flopped down blankly onto the sofa.
Peaceful.
Most of my work was done now.
All I had left was to stop by every so often to work on new songs.
Come to think of it, I hadn't posted anything on my art account in ages.
Maybe it was time to start being active again.
The fun of drawing those portraits yesterday must have stuck with me, because I suddenly felt the urge to draw again.
Maybe later I'd sit down and sketch for real.
Yeah, that sounded nice.
But first, some playtime with Boksil.
"Come here!"
"Woof! Woof!"
I was busy playing with him when—
Bzzzt—bzzzzt—
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
Who could it be at this hour?
It was just past lunchtime.
I pulled it out and saw it was Hye-jung.
"…Something wrong?"
Ever since she moved, we usually just texted. Hardly ever actual calls.
Maybe news from the university I'd dropped out of? I answered.
[Hey! You—you. You're ksh, right?]
What greeted me was Hye-jung's urgent voice.
What was this about? And ksh—that was my art account.
"Uh, yeah? Why?"
[Did you… did you meet Hyun-jun?]
Hyun-jun?
Who's—oh.
"You mean from The Beast?"
[Beasts!]
"R-right… why are you mad? And how do you even know?"
What on earth was going on? How did she find out I'd met Lee Hyun-jun?
[The Hunters are in an uproar!]
"What? Hunters? What's that supposed to mean?"
She sounded frantic, but throwing fandom jargon at me out of nowhere wasn't helping.
[Our oppas' fandom name—no, forget that! I'll send you a link, just look!]
What the hell had happened?
Did Hyun-jun post something weird?
He hadn't seemed the type, but… well, you can't judge people by appearances.
Still, could he really have posted something bad?
With that uneasy thought, I opened the link Hye-jung sent me.
It led to a compilation post on some community site.
Why was there even a summary post already?
I'd only met this idol yesterday.
I started reading.
The first thing shown was Hyun-jun's Instagram post.
It was just the drawing I'd done for him, with a simple caption saying a friend of a friend had drawn it at a studio. Totally harmless.
Looked fine to me.
So how could there be a controversy?
I kept scrolling—sometimes frowning, sometimes sighing, sometimes even impressed at the details.
By the time I finished the neatly compiled thread, I smacked my forehead.
"These crazy bitches."
I'd underestimated what it meant to tangle with fans of a million-selling male idol.
"Wow, so this is how it turns out."
In short, just from that drawing, the fangirls nationwide had launched a full-scale investigation into who had drawn it.
Since I hadn't hidden my art style, it took them less than a few hours to track it down.
Fine. Up to this point, no problem.
Everyone already knew ksh had done Hyun-soo's album art, and since Hyun-soo and Hyun-jun had posted a collab challenge video yesterday, the situation lined up perfectly. Nothing odd.
But then—
"Unbelievable. It really blew up like this?"
[You're way too calm right now!]
The problem was my history.
Or rather—female Kim Soo-hyun's history before I possessed this body.
She had never held back in online disputes. She cursed first, asked questions later.
And Twitter—well, in Korea at least—was practically a female-dominated den of hardcore otaku communities, drowning in cliques.
Not an environment where someone like her, who'd coasted through real life on looks alone, could adapt.
So what happened?
Constant fighting, of course.
According to the summary post, female Kim Soo-hyun had been a terror on the boards.
All the flame wars I'd occasionally stumbled across myself were now laid out neatly, one after another.
She had unleashed the same keyboard warrior skills she once used in League to protect her virtual parents—making her the Xiang Yu and Lü Bu of online arguments.
Rules? She had none.
She defended "justice" with every insult and personal attack she could type.
And now that history was dug up, Hyun-jun's fans were raging: how could he associate with someone like that?
But since they couldn't lash out at Hyun-jun himself, they turned their fire onto my account.
"They marked my coordinates, huh?"
But really, what could they do?
What had I done wrong here?
Being foul-mouthed online?
Was that a crime? Would the cops come for me?
[Is your account gonna be okay?]
Eh, so the account was trashed. They weren't going to camp on it forever.
If anything, I could call it free publicity.
But still—
"I should apologize."
[For what?]
"To Hyun-jun. It's basically my fault, in a way."
[Yeah, that'd be good. How? Leave a post on Insta? But you don't even have an account.]
"I'll just call him."
[Wait—do you even have his numbe—]
"Anyway, thanks for telling me. Talk later."
I hung up on Hye-jung and immediately called Hyun-soo.
Why would I have Hyun-jun's number? Of course I had to get it through Hyun-soo.
The phone rang a few times before he picked up.
[Hello?]
"Hey, Hyun-soo. You okay?"
Come to think of it, hadn't he posted my drawings too?
This was starting to feel like a virus.
[Ah, that? Our fans haven't said much about it.]
Early afternoon.
Because I'd streamed so late yesterday, the fatigue still hadn't worn off as I forced myself out of bed.
"Woof! Woof!"
Boksil came running as soon as I stepped into the living room.
So you're inside today, not in the yard.
I scooped him up naturally and sat down blankly on the sofa.
Peaceful.
Most of my obligations were done now.
All that was left was the occasional new song work every now and then.
Come to think of it, I hadn't uploaded anything to my art account in ages.
Maybe it was time to start again.
The fun I had drawing portraits yesterday must have lingered, because I suddenly felt a strong urge to draw.
Maybe later today I'd sit down and sketch for real.
Yeah, that sounded good.
For now, I'd play with Boksil first.
"Come here!"
"Woof! Woof!"
I was busy playing with him when—
Bzzzt—bzzzt—
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
Who was calling at this hour?
It was just past lunch.
I pulled it out and saw it was Hye-jung.
"…Something wrong?"
Since she'd moved, we usually just messaged. It was rare for her to actually call.
Maybe some news from the university I'd dropped out of? I picked up.
[Hey! You—you. You're ksh, right?]
What came through was Hye-jung's frantic voice.
What the heck? And ksh—that was my art account.
"Uh, yeah, that's me? Why?"
[Did you… meet Hyun-jun?]
Hyun-jun?
Who—oh.
"You mean from Beasts?"
[Beasts!]
"R-right… why are you snapping at me? And how do you even know?"
What was this? And how did she find out I'd met Lee Hyun-jun?
[The Hunters are going crazy!]
"What? Hunters? What's that?"
She sounded desperate, but tossing fandom slang at me wasn't helping.
[That's the fandom name—never mind! I'll send you a link, just look!]
What the hell had happened?
Did Hyun-jun post something weird?
Didn't seem like the type, but… you never know.
Still, could he really have done something like that?
Feeling uneasy, I opened the link she sent.
It led to a summary post on some community board.
Why was there even a summary post already?
I'd only met the idol yesterday.
I started reading.
First thing shown was Hyun-jun's Instagram post.
It was the drawing I'd given him, captioned with a simple "drawn by a friend of a friend at a studio." Nothing wrong with it at all.
Totally harmless.
So how could this turn into a controversy?
I scrolled through, frowning here and there, sighing, sometimes even impressed at the detail.
By the time I'd finished the neatly compiled thread, I smacked my forehead.
"These crazy bitches."
I had underestimated what it meant to cross the fans of a million-selling male idol.
"Wow… it really blew up like this."
To summarize: just from that portrait, fangirls across the nation had launched a full-on investigation into who drew it.
Since I hadn't hidden my art style, it took them only a few hours to track it down.
Fine. Up to this point, still manageable.
Everyone already knew ksh had done Hyun-soo's album art, and since Hyun-soo and Hyun-jun had posted a collab challenge yesterday, the dots connected neatly. Nothing suspicious.
But then—
"Unbelievable. It really got this far?"
[You're way too calm right now!]
The problem was my history.
Or more accurately, female Kim Soo-hyun's history before I possessed this body.
She had never held back online. Always cursed first, asked later.
And Twitter—in Korea, at least—was basically a female-dominated otaku den, thick with cliques and petty drama.
Not a place someone like her, who skated by in real life on looks alone, could adapt to.
So what happened?
Endless fighting, of course.
According to the thread, female Kim Soo-hyun had been a terror on those boards.
I'd stumbled on some of it before, but seeing it all neatly compiled was overwhelming.
She had unleashed the same keyboard-warrior skills she once used in League to "protect her parents," becoming both Xiang Yu and Lü Bu of online arguments.
Rules? None.
She defended "justice" with every insult and personal attack she could type.
And now that history had been dug up, Hyun-jun's fans were raging: how could he associate with someone like that?
Since they couldn't lash out at Hyun-jun himself, they targeted my account.
"So they dropped my coordinates, huh?"
But really, what could they do?
What had I even done wrong?
Being foul-mouthed online?
Was that a crime? Would the cops come for me?
[Is your account okay?]
Eh, the account was trashed. But they wouldn't camp on it forever.
If anything, I could spin it as free publicity.
But still—
"I should apologize."
[For what?]
"To Hyun-jun. It's basically my fault."
[Yeah, good idea. How? Leave a post on Insta? But you don't even have an account.]
"I'll just call him."
[Wait—do you even have his numbe—]
"Anyway, thanks for the heads-up. Later."
I hung up and immediately called Hyun-soo.
Why would I have Hyun-jun's number? I had to get it through Hyun-soo.
The line rang a few times before he picked up.
[Hello?]
"Hey, Hyun-soo. You okay?"
Come to think of it, hadn't he posted my drawings too?
This was starting to feel like a virus.
[Ah, that? Our fans haven't said much about it.]
"Guess you know what's going on, then."
[I didn't, until Hyun-jun told me.]
"Lee Hyun-jun?"
[Yeah. Didn't he call you? He asked me for your number.]
He asked for my number?
"I didn't get a call. When was this?"
[Not long ago.]
"I see. Well, I should call him first, then, right?"
[Maybe? I'm not really sure.]
"You're still a high schooler, that's why. Just text me his number."
[Sure, I'll send it.]
Now that I thought about it, was it really okay to get an idol's number like this?
No, wait. What bothered me more was that my number had already been given out.
I was still (virtual) idol status, wasn't I?
"…Hyun-soo, maybe you shouldn't just hand out my number like that."
[You two didn't seem like the type to care. Or am I wrong?]
Well… hard to argue with that.
"Fine. Thanks. Good luck with your stuff."
[Hope it all works out.]
I ended the call and immediately dialed the number Hyun-soo had sent me.
Hopefully he wasn't in the middle of a schedule.
If he was, he just wouldn't pick up, and I could try again later.
Beep—beep—
[Hello?]
Fortunately, my worries were unnecessary—the call connected.
[Hello? This is Lee Hyun-jun.]
"Yes, this is Kim Soo-hyun. We met yesterday."
[Ah, right… I'm really sorry.]
He apologized the moment he picked up. He sounded genuinely ashamed. But it wasn't his fault.
If anything, the problem was between me and his fans.
"No, it's my fault. I didn't think about my past."
[Ah… I saw it. That… stuff.]
He read those chat logs? Damn. The thought of someone I'd actually met seeing those made my face burn.
"I was a bit rough with words, yeah? I lose control online."
To be precise, I didn't—but female Kim Soo-hyun had.
[You're very honest… Anyway, I apologize. My fans can be extreme.]
"No, it's fine."
And it really was fine.
As I thought earlier, I hadn't done anything wrong. If my account was trashed, I could just abandon it for a while.
Soon enough, it would blow over.
"I'll just kill time with games or something."
[Still, let me make it up to you—]
Somehow the roles were reversed.
I'd called to apologize, but now I was the one being apologized to.
Well, at least it sounded like the fallout hadn't really hit him directly.
"That's really not necessary. But if you feel bad, just send me a holiday gift someday."
If I'd suggested dinner, it might've come off like flirting with an idol. This was safer.
[Ahaha… if you put it that way, sure. I'll do that. Again, I'm sorry.]
"Really, it's fine. Don't worry about it. Take care."
And with that, the call ended.
I sighed in relief and lay back on my bed.
Looked like it was resolved.
Now what?
It was still too early to stream.
I preferred streaming right before bed.
Finishing a stream, showering, and then collapsing into bed—that was bliss.
But drawing didn't feel appealing, not with my account in flames.
Maybe I'd game for a bit.
It was a shame—I had such a good PC, and I only used it for streaming.
With a rig better than any PC café, I should put it to use.
So I sat down at my desk and powered it on.
Miro's familiar character wallpaper appeared, with the usual mess of icons.
What to play?
League… nah. Any more of that and I'd hit level 30.
And once I did, the viewers would pressure me into ranked games, no question. Pass.
So Civilization or a roguelike, then…
But Civilization was for stream, wasn't it?
After moving the mouse a few times, I clicked the Royal Ground icon.
Hadn't played since before I moved.
The nostalgia hit.
I'd just play a few rounds.
Each match was long, so a few games would bring me right up to stream time.
I entered the game in a relaxed mood when—
Ping! Ping!
[awxt1004: Available now?]
[awxt1004: Duo?]
A message popped up from an old gaming friend from another country.
Wow, it really had been a long time.
Should I… play with them?
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