Chapter 54: Since when did you know?

After checking the sharply increased number of viewers, he officially began the World Cup.

“Ah, as expected, a band made it in.”

Well, the 1960s were definitely dominated by bands.

[+HurryAndLeave: When are they reuniting?]

[Mmm mmm, never ever reuniting.]

[Damn.]

[Pure classic.]

[Pepe: This is definitely a must-pick.]

[Why are you saying that? It’s obviously the other one.]

[Unbelievable.]

Both bands were legendary, so he liked them both… but personally, he leaned more toward the band on the right.

After all, when working on the album with Seolhwa, he had used the right-side band’s music as a reference.

“I’m going with the right one.”

[+HurryAndLeave: Wait, you’re not picking the left one?]

[No way…]

[That was a total must-pick just now.]

[Ridiculous lol.]

[Pepe: Hey.]

[This ain’t it… ㅠㅠ]

[Oo yeah, that just proves your music taste.]

[A lot of people seem upset… what’s going on?]

Looking at the chat, there were a few people who seemed genuinely frustrated, but he didn’t really mind.

It just meant they were having fun getting immersed in the World Cup.

How long had it been?

“This song is really good too.”

Before he knew it, over seven hours had passed since he started streaming.

[+HurryAndLeave: You’re streaming for a really long time today lol.]

[Damn, this is it.]

[Personally, I liked the previous song better…]

[Your taste doesn’t matter at all lol.]

[Pepe: This one might take the win.]

Now, only two songs remained.

One of them would be the winner.

“I’m kind of torn…”

I had never struggled this much while doing a World Cup before.

Both songs were so good that I just couldn’t choose.

As I was wondering what to do—

[Wolyu has donated 10,000 KRW!]

I think the left one is better…

[Really]

[+HurryAndLeave: The left song is the GOAT.]

[ㄴㄴ, the right one is just the GOAT.]

[Pepe: Fact) Both bands are GOATs.]

[Donating 10,000 KRW while subtly pressuring… what’s up with that?]

The chat was completely divided.

Well, that made sense.

It was entirely a matter of personal preference at this point.

In terms of composition, both were flawless.

[Right pick, right pick, right pick, right pick, right pick, right pick, right pick, right pick, right pick, right pick, right pick, right pick, right pick, right pick, right pick, right pick.]

[But actually, the right song is the only correct choice.]

[Please pick the left one.]

[+HurryAndLeave: Nope, the left one is objectively the best. Try arguing otherwise lol.]

[Hey, mod, what the hell lol.]

[The mod is being ruthless today.]

[Pepe: Both are good tbh.]

There was no way to strictly manage the chat when it was moving this fast.

After all, there was only one mod.

‘Well, there are just too many viewers right now.’

I decided I needed to wrap this up quickly and made my choice.

“Alright, I’ll go with the song on the right.”

[+HurryAndLeave: No way, this ain’t it lol.]

[The mod just wiped them out lol.]

[This is a riot.]

[Serves them right lol.]

[The right pick is absolutely delicious.]

[Damn, that was crazy.]

[The other song was good too, though.]

[Pepe: Wow, by the way, the World Cup brought in a ton of new viewers.]

[Yott is really good at making these World Cups fun lol.]

[Other streams are fine too, but Yott’s World Cups just hit differently.]

The current viewer count was roughly 2,000.

Compared to my usual streams, the number had skyrocketed.

Of course, it wasn’t like I expected to keep this many viewers moving forward.

“Ugh… Anyway, the World Cup is over now, so I’ll be heading off. I’m exhausted.”

[+HurryAndLeave: Good work today lol.]

[Is this going up on YouTube???]

[Just watch the VOD on Twis, please.]

[It’s tough to upload to YouTube because of copyright issues.]

[Pepe: Twis VODs are pretty convenient too.]

[Damn, that World Cup was insanely fun.]

[Wolyu has donated 10,000 KRW!]

“So, how many days are you taking off this time?”

Just as I was about to end the stream, a question I had forgotten about popped up.

“Uh… probably around three days? If anything changes, I’ll post an announcement.”

[+HurryAndLeave: Oh, that’s not as long as I expected lol.]

[Before, you would’ve taken at least five days off.]

[Thank god…]

[Pepe: Just praise Yott, seriously…]

[The one and only Yott.]

[If you’re late after saying this, I swear…]

[He might still come back late though lol.]

[Just don’t quit streaming, please…]

[Guess I’ll rewatch the World Cup VOD in the meantime.]

With that, I ended the stream.

[Stream has ended!]

After confirming the notification that the stream had officially ended, I collapsed onto my bed and went straight to sleep.

Thinking about what I should do once I woke up tomorrow.

Chirp, chirp.

I woke up to the familiar sound of birds chirping.

“Haam…”

Yawning, I got up, cleared my head, and grabbed a coffee from the fridge before sitting down in front of my computer.

It was time to work on the small commissions that had come in.

They weren’t particularly difficult, so I figured I could wrap them up pretty quickly.

Swish, swish.

As I absentmindedly continued drawing, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

‘Come to think of it, I actually have some free time today.’

I had told Seolhwa that I wouldn’t have much time for a while, but now that I thought about it, I could probably go see her today.

Brrr.

The sound of the call connecting rang for a moment.

“…Hello?”

Seolhwa answered.

Her voice sounded groggy—she must have just woken up.

“Were you sleeping?”

Ah, yeah…

I was at the studio pretty late last night…

“Then should I come by the studio in a bit? I happen to have some free time today.”

Really? That’d be great.

I had about two hours’ worth of commissions left to finish.

If I worked quickly, I could probably get them done in an hour and forty minutes.

“I’ll head out in two hours. I’m working right now.”

Oh,

“What?”

Nothing.

Travel safe~

After ending the call, I immediately got to work.

‘I should emphasize the shading a bit more here.’

Shading was a crucial part of drawing.

Even a single shadow could make a huge difference in detail.

Swish, swish.

Putting in some extra effort, I quickly completed the drawings, then grabbed a simple outfit and headed to Seolhwa’s studio.

…Though I had never outright said it, I genuinely enjoyed working with Seolhwa.

It was interesting, in a way.

‘Well, it’s fun because all I do is click away in the background.’

If I actually had to come up with the melody lines myself, it would’ve been a massive hassle.

I had no real talent for that kind of thing.

Not that I had ever tried.

When I arrived at Seolhwa’s studio.

“Oh, you’re here?”

She greeted me with a drowsy smile, still looking a little sleepy.

Guess she hadn’t fully woken up yet.

Not surprising.

I had gone through a similar phase when my sleep schedule was a mess.

Back then, it felt kind of bleak.

Anyway.

“Hey, did you eat yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Hmm… I haven’t either. Wanna order something?”

“I’ll have hoe-deopbap.”

“Then I’ll go with sushi.”

In the past, I might have hesitated, but these days, I wasn’t too stingy with food expenses.

I was already making enough to live comfortably.

Spending a little extra once in a while wasn’t a big deal.

After placing an order at a nearby restaurant, we finally got to work.

“Haam… So, I found a few parts that could use some tweaking. I couldn’t sleep, so I was messing around with it, and I think I found a way to make the song more interesting.”

“Oh yeah?”

At first, she had seemed satisfied with the song.

But after listening to it on repeat, it looked like she started noticing parts that needed adjustments.

Thinking that, I listened to the modified version of the song with Seolhwa and began giving feedback together.

“This part sounds good. But did you intentionally blur it here?”

“Yep! I thought keeping it blurred here would make the transition to the next track feel more natural.”

“Ohh.”

Back then, I only ever listened to music.

But now that I was working on it with her, it felt like my ears were opening up to the technical side of things.

Or maybe not.

As we continued working.

“Oh, oppa.”

“Hm?”

“By the way, do you stream?”

Seolhwa asked casually.

Of course, to me, it was anything but a simple question.

The moment I heard it, my mind went completely blank.

‘…How did she find out?’

There were ways she could have known.

After all, she had reached out to me in the first place after seeing my artwork on Parangsae.

If she had browsed through Parangsae enough, she could have easily found out that I was streaming.

‘…Still, I thought she wouldn’t know.’

I had assumed she had zero interest in internet streaming.

Feeling a bit flustered, I responded.

“…Why do you ask?”

“Oh, I was just bored the other day, so I was browsing Twis, and I think I saw you.”

She grinned as she spoke, looking right at me.

And the moment I saw that expression.

I knew.

She was asking because she already knew.