Chapter 61: 2. I shouldn’t do that?

Komari chose rock, while Maru chose cloth.  

The outcome was clear, so Maru shouted, but wasn’t something being forgotten?  

“Wait, wait a second. Do it again. Rain unnie and Dora unnie didn’t play.”  

Soon, Dora smiled brightly and extended her fist forward.  

It was a huge relief for Komari.  

“Hurry up and do it again. That was totally unfair.”  

Maru boasted smugly.  

“Seriously. Taking care of the youngest’s whims isn’t easy. You should be grateful I’m so nice.”  

“If you’re an unnie, act like one—”  

“So, what about Rain unnie?”  

The travel time was only two hours.  

They’d stop by a rest area once, so it’d take about two and a half hours in total.  

And even if they chose seats next to each other, Maja’s seat would inevitably be in the middle of the 2×3 seating arrangement.  

But even if they weren’t right next to each other, playing with Jiya wouldn’t be much of a problem.  

Among the four of them, Rain, who was the least possessive about seating, brushed her hands off.  

“Mi’s going to attack the passenger seat. We needed someone to pull Jiya out and put her in the back.”  

“Huh? Rain unnie, are you seriously taking the passenger seat? Without even playing rock-paper-scissors?”  

“There’s no way I can win against Jiya’s puppy eyes anyway. You guys play. I’ll take the hit from the boss.”  

As Rain casually backed out, Dora, Maru, and Komari exchanged glances before, as if planned, shouting in unison:  

“Rock, paper, scissors!”  

Komari threw rock, while the other two chose scissors.  

Having won, Komari triumphantly mimicked a short opera performance she had recently watched.  

“A woman’s weapon is always rock~.”

*    *    *

The boss’s commuting vehicle was an MPV, which also doubled as a company car.  

It was a nine-seater, commonly known as a “dad car.”  

Of course, the three seats in the very back, the fourth row, were cramped and uncomfortable, so they were rarely used. Instead, they were mostly for storing miscellaneous luggage.  

That left six available seats.  

Normally, Team Leader Kang would sit in the passenger seat, but since he had decided to drive his own car today, I was sitting there instead.  

“Jiya, switch seats with Mi. Let’s go.”  

But as soon as we arrived at the meeting spot, Rain swung open the passenger door and demanded that I get out.  

“…Out of nowhere?”  

“My back. It hurts. Go to the back. I’m the DJ today.”  

“Uh—”  

I had no intention of moving, but before I knew it, Rain had unbuckled my seatbelt and effortlessly lifted me out of the car.  

I tried to get back in, but the door had already been firmly shut.  

I had no choice but to move to the back seats.  

Rain often acted as the car’s music box, but still sitting in the passenger seat?  

When the boss was driving, he talked nonstop, as if he were hosting a broadcast.  

Usually, the person in the passenger seat ended up in something close to a one-on-one interview.  

I didn’t mind sitting there because I could keep up with his chatter and found it amusing.  

But Rain voluntarily putting herself in the prime nagging zone? That was rare.  

Why would she do that?  

Naturally, I ended up sitting right behind the boss.  

Soon, Komari, who had taken the seat next to me, rummaged through the small bag she had brought and pulled out a single-packaged foreign snack, handing it to me.  

“Unnie, want one?”  

“Oh… yeah.”  

Behind me was Dora.

“Jiya-nim, try this one too.”  

“Oh… okay.”  

Gummy bears.  

Finally, even Maru, sitting diagonally to my right, joined in on the snack-giving relay. Her choice? None other than Choco Tongtong a high-calorie chocolate snack favored by soldiers.  

She handed it to me, and since just leaving it untouched felt weird, and I had skipped breakfast, I started opening the packs one by one.  

Good thing I had ordered a cappuccino earlier when we stopped by the Starbucks drive-thru with the boss. Choco Tongtong paired perfectly with it.  

Munching silently, I started with the Choco Tongtong. Komari, who had been watching me, suddenly asked,  

“Unnie, do you like chocolate?”  

“No, I just didn’t have breakfast.”  

“Oh… I see.”  

Then Maru, puffing herself up with pride, smirked.  

“I knew it, so I brought it with me like the genius I am.”  

Komari, unable to resist, shot back.  

“All that for just one Choco Tongtong?”  

The argument between the two, which I thought had calmed down after last week’s I’m Wolf collab, flared up again.  

“W-what! Then why didn’t you bring some kimbap or something?”  

“I barely managed to wake up at 9 AM instead of my usual 2 PM. How was I supposed to prepare anything?”  

“Oh wow, you’re so proud of yourself, huh?”  

Their bickering was a common sight on their streams, but seeing them go at it like this off-camera felt a little unexpected. Worried, I asked,  

“Wait, you two still don’t get along? Were you actually fighting during I’m Wolf?”  

“Nah, it’s just our usual WWE routine.”  

“Lately, WWE matches include real low kicks, huh?”  

“I swear, I was just joking! Maru unnie, calm down. Maru jjonjjon.”  

“Hey!”  

Unfortunately for Komari, she was sitting right in front of Maru, whose hand shot out and stretched her cheek.  

“Euggiyak—”  

“I let it slide last week, but not today!”  

With all the commotion in the backseat, the boss finally had to step in.  

“Guys? If you keep this up, I’m turning the car around and sending you all home.”  

“We’ll shut up.”  

“We’ll be quiet…”  

As expected, no one could go against the master of sashimi discipline from Gwanro-dong.  

Of course, the peace didn’t last long.  

At the rest stop, when I tried to sneak off to the restroom, Dora trailed behind me.  

When I came out, Maru and Komari were standing side by side, growling at each other like tiny Chihuahuas.  

Later, when I laughed at Rain swaying her body to the old-school trot music playing from a roadside stall, Komari and Dora suddenly flanked me, breaking into bizarre dance moves and insisting they danced better.  

Worried someone might recognize us, I quickly grabbed them by their collars and dragged them back to the car only for them to start growling at each other again.  

Normally, I’d just sit back like an amused viewer, enjoying their chaotic chemistry.  

But ever since I’m Wolf, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I might’ve stirred things up between them.  

Among all the different pairings in our first-gen group, my favorite was Komari x Maru.  

Which meant that if my presence was getting in the way, it was only right for me to step back.  

Anyone who loves watching energetic girls go full gremlin mode would understand.  

So naturally, when we arrived at the camp, I quietly drifted over to Team Leader Kang.  

“Did something happen before I got here?”  

I smiled brightly and shook my head as if nothing was wrong.  

Sorry, Team Leader.  

Just for today, please take the hit for me.

*

As Magia stuck closely to Kang Jiho, the members naturally had to hold a reflection meeting.  

“Honestly, it’s because of Maru unnie. If you lost at rock-paper-scissors, you should’ve just yielded.”  

“That was only in the car! No one said it had to be for the whole day!”  

“No, but even aside from that huh? Every time unnie and I tried to spend some time together, you’d come running and interfere. So Jiya unnie probably felt like she was getting in the way and left, right?”  

“A—As if?! You were the same, Komari!!”  

“…I wasn’t.”  

“Wow. At least change your expression before saying that.”  

“What are you even saying!”  

Dora slung her arms around both Komari and Maru’s shoulders and asked,  

“You two aren’t seriously fighting, right~?”  

“As if.”  

“Of course not.”  

The timing of their responses was way too synchronized.  

No wonder fans always paired them up as a couple whenever they did collabs.  

“But Maru unnie is actually serious.”  

“Komari just takes it too seriously.”  

Even their words were so similar this time that Rain burst into laughter.  

“Pfft! Are you two copying each other? This is hilarious!”  

“Don’t laugh…”  

“Why are you laughing? This is serious!”  

“Kyahahahaha!”  

Dora let out a sigh and mumbled to herself.  

With the eldest sister acting like that, the second eldest had no choice but to step up.  

“If we keep this up, we won’t get anything done~. Jiya-nim needs to feel comfortable around us so we can pull off the hidden camera prank later, don’t you think?”  

There were two essential steps to the Magia Crying Birthday Surprise operation.  

First, stick to Magia like the first-gen members would.  

No matter what she said, respond positively. Take care of her meals. Hold her hand or guide her by the shoulder when moving around.  

The goal was to make her naturally blend in with the first-gen members, strengthening her sense of belonging.  

The next step was the hidden camera prank in the evening, making the day’s warmth feel like a dream.  

For some reason, only Jiya’s plate would be missing at dinner.  

While everyone poured drinks and toasted together, she’d be left out.  

Her belongings might suddenly disappear, and the others would pretend not to notice.  

Just when Magia would start thinking, Did I come along for no reason…?  

That’s when the prepared cake and the first-gen quartet’s a cappella birthday song would kick off a heartwarming beachside party.  

But at this rate, with everyone bickering, there was no way they’d be able to pull it off.  

“Maru, you’re the one who planned this hidden camera prank. You can’t get emotional before it’s over, okay?”  

Maru’s eyes rapidly grew misty.  

“But I just kept running to Jiya whenever I saw her…”  

“And the problem is that you ended up arguing with Komari. Komari, same goes for you. If we’re doing this together, at least until we go to bed tonight, no more bickering with Maru, okay?”

“Tch. That’s only because Maru unnie keeps clinging onto it…”  

“Komari.”  

The two had never actually fought for real.  

No matter how much they bickered, debating who was right or wrong, they always ended things warmly one of them would apologize or yield first without fail.  

But while that was fine on stream, if they acted this way in real life too, people might start to worry that they were genuinely arguing.  

Magia probably felt the same.  

Anyone who could tell the difference between a broadcast and reality would be concerned.  

“Anyway. Can you two hold off on nitpicking each other at least until we pull off the hidden camera prank later?”  

In the end, the two, after exchanging awkward glances, hugged lightly as if on cue.  

For them, this kind of embrace was an unspoken promise of reconciliation.  

It was a rule they had set for themselves early on during their training camp, back when they had fought for real.  

“Now, go and either tell or show Jiya-nim that you weren’t actually fighting. That way, she’ll come back instead of running away.”  

“Okay.” 

“Got it.”  

The first-gen members were ready to go.  

After all, both Team Leader Kang and Cheon Dohee were on their side today.  

This was a trip to celebrate their first anniversary, sure.  

But they had already received plenty of congratulations through broadcasts and concerts.  

That’s why they had all agreed the real focus should be celebrating Magia’s birthday.  

She had played a huge role in making that grand concert happen, after all.  

All that was left was to win Magia over.  

As long as they held back their squabbles, showed how well they got along, and invited her in with open arms, she would eventually fall right into the first-gen’s embrace.

*    *   *

But there was one thing the first-gen members were mistaken about.  

Magia wasn’t always kind to her fellow members.  

Her extreme friendliness only applied when it involved their broadcast content.  

Outside of that, she was more of a lone wolf, someone who firmly stood by her own opinions.  

“Aren’t you going to hang out with the others? You came all this way, so you should spend time with people your age. Why waste your time with an old lady like me?”  

So even when Kang Jiho tried to persuade her, urging her to join the group, Magia had no intention of returning to the members after witnessing them fight over her.  

“They’ll have fun without me. Or… am I bothering you while you’re filming the vlog, Team Leader? Should I go over to the CEO instead?”  

“Hmm~ Nah, nah! It’s nothing like that. Don’t worry about it.”  

From a distance, the first-gen members kept glancing in Kang Jiho’s direction.  

A message from Maru had just arrived, I want to explain things to Jiya.  

Kang Jiho needed to send Jiya back to them somehow.  

If the first-gen members were this desperate, it meant their plan was going off track.  

Fortunately, he knew the best way to persuade Magia, by giving her a work-related request.  

“Jiya, ah. I need to use the restroom for a bit. Could you film the kids for me while I’m gone?”  

“Oh. Sure, hand it over.”  

“Just be careful not to get their faces in the shot. We can edit them out later, but I’d rather not leave unnecessary footage. Try to focus on the ground as much as possible, okay?”  

“Got it.”  

As soon as Magia took the camera, she naturally walked back toward the members.  

The first-gen girls let out a sigh of relief.  

Maru and Komari wasted no time approaching Magia to clear up the misunderstanding.  

But maybe because of what had happened earlier, Magia instinctively took a step back.  

Then another.  

And another.  

Before long, her cautious retreat turned into a full-on sprint.  

“Wait, why are you running?!”  

“Why are you chasing me?!”  

And just like that, an impromptu chase broke out on the beach.  

Despite having short legs and holding a gimbal, Magia surprisingly sprinted smoothly across the sand.  

Komari, who had decent athletic ability, kept up effortlessly.  

Maru, on the other hand, was different.  

Not only was she bad at games, but she was hopeless at anything involving physical activity.  

thud.  

She face-planted into the sand.  

Her entire face and outfit were now covered in beige-colored grains.  

Thankfully, it was dry sand, but still she looked like she had been completely buried in it.  

“Hhhhuuuu…”  

Komari immediately skidded to a stop, eyes wide in shock.  

She rushed back to Maru and quickly used the sleeves of her hoodie to gently brush the sand away from around her eyes, nose, and mouth.  

“Unnie, are you okay?!”  

“Hic. Hic… I’m fine. Hng…”  

“Hold still. Ugh, you’re gonna have to change clothes…”  

Even though they bickered all the time, when things went wrong, they took care of each other more than anyone else.  

For Magia, now temporarily in charge of the vlog, this was exactly the kind of footage that fans would love.  

There was no way she was going to miss it.  

Silently, she approached and began filming their feet Komari kneeling beside Maru, gently dusting her off.  

Then, pausing the recording, Magia casually remarked,  

“This is a good scene. I’ll keep filming.”  

And with that, Maru’s tear ducts gave out.  

After all, this entire situation was because of her.  

“Hhhhhuuuuuuuu, hiiiiiii, hiiiiiiiiiii!!”