Chapter 60:1. Just pet Magia a lot.

To be honest, I’m a bit of a twisted person.  

Whenever my birthday approaches, I find myself wondering, Why do people even celebrate birthdays?  

And this year, all I’ve been thinking about is how to let it pass quietly.  

Of course, I hate the idea of throwing a party myself.  

And I’m not used to people just noticing without being told and giving me gifts or showing kindness unprompted.  

I think the biggest influence came from my parents.  

They had this mindset that it was natural for the birthday person to give more to the people who came to celebrate.  

I don’t even remember when it started, but at some point, my family just stopped doing gifts altogether. Instead, the birthday person would cook seaweed soup, prepare a cake, and say, Let’s meet at this time on this day. It became an unspoken rule.  

But now, my parents are in the U.S.  

I don’t really see a reason to celebrate my own birthday.  

I always thought it was natural to attend and celebrate the company president’s birthday party or the first-generation trainees’ birthdays.  

But I’ve never gone around telling people, Hey, it’s my birthday!  

So, even though the morning of November 22 has arrived,  

my birthday is already forgotten in my mind, leaving only the schedule for the first-generation trainees’ first-anniversary trip.  

In fact, the massive hiking backpack, which takes up more than half my size, is stuffed with things I’ve prepared to celebrate them.  

As I wait for the president to come pick me up, having finished getting ready, I call my mom in the U.S. first.  

Ding ding, dididing.  

For a moment, the cheerful voice call connection tone plays.  

Maybe she’s free, because my mom picks up right away.  

[Daughter! How have you been? Seriously, why do you only call me on your birthday unless I reach out first?]  

The word daughter still feels awkward to me.  

Maybe because Komari has been calling me “unnie” so much lately, I’m getting used to it quicker than I expected.  

“And yet, you don’t even come to Korea for your own child’s birthday, Mom.”  

[I don’t go because you don’t like it. Honestly, is nagging me the first thing you think of as soon as we start talking?]  

“Whatever. Did you have seaweed soup?”  

[Your dad somehow knew and took care of it. So, we were actually waiting for your call, knowing you’d reach out.]  

“…Together?”  

I thought my family hadn’t changed much.  

But something about this feels warm.  

Before, it felt like they just left me to handle my own life because they trusted me to do so.  

But now, their tone carries a bit more concern.  

Even if they knew I had a habit of calling on my birthday,  

they’d never both waited for my call like this before.  

It was always just Mom answering, or just Dad.  

[Anyway, should I put your dad on? He’s been dying to talk to you.]  

“Oh. Sure.”  

It really does feel different. Way too different.  

[Daughter!!]  

“Yes, Dad.”  

[What’s up with your voice? Why do you sound so dry and withered?]  

“…Huh?”  

[Didn’t I tell you to eat properly? You’ve lost all the fat in your vocal cords. What are we going to do?]  

Is this really my dad?  

For a second, I had to ask myself at least ten times if this was a dream.  

Where did his usual line, ‘Alright. Eat well, and call if anything happens’ go?

There was one foolish old man who lost sleep worrying about his daughter.  

…I mean, even if he ran out of excuses, saying I lost fat in my vocal cords was a bit much.  

I figured it’d be best to just give him the facts straight, so I condensed my recent situation and reported it.  

“I was actually a little sick recently. I went to the hospital and have been taking care of my health. But I’m fine now, so don’t worry.”  

If this were before, he would’ve just said a few worried words and let it go.  

Since he saw firsthand, before moving to the U.S. a few years ago, that I was capable of managing my own life…  

[Honey. I don’t have anything scheduled for a while, right?]  

[Huh? Yeah, that’s true. Why? Are you thinking of going to Korea?]  

[I can’t help but worry. I’ll just sneak over and check on her real quick.]  

Has he lost his mind?  

Even with an economy ticket, a round-trip flight would cost over a million won.  

And he wants to fly in just to see me for a day or two? That’s ridiculous.  

“I’m fine, so don’t even think about coming. If you do, I’m not opening the door for you.”  

[Jiya, do you really want to see your dad shivering out on the street?]  

“I could call the police and report a black-haired foreigner illegally staying in the country.”  

[Jiya!!]  

“Do not come. If you do, I’m seriously ignoring you.”  

Mom must have picked up on my intentions because she started trying to hold Dad back.  

[Calm down, honey. Just calm down.]  

“Anyway, thanks to both of you for bringing me into this world. I’ll call again later.”  

[Jiya! Do you really hate your dad that much?!]  

[I’ll handle your dad, so don’t worry about it and go about your day. I’ll text you once he calms down, okay?]  

Call ended.  

I only meant to make my usual birthday call, nothing more.  

…But something already feels off.  

Is this foreshadowing that something is going to go wrong on today’s trip?  

I really hope nothing happens.  

But before I can dwell on it for too long, my phone rings again.  

The moment I see the caller ID, any lingering unease vanishes.  

— Incoming call: Boss-nim —  

Looks like the boss has arrived in front of my house.  

Time to head out.  

The shrimp of the West Sea, you better be ready.  

Because I’m coming to devour you all.

*

The neighborhood was full of studio apartments, and since it was already past the morning rush at around 10 AM on a weekday, the streets were quiet.  

A small figure, Magia, stepped out onto the narrow alleyway, barely wide enough for two cars to pass. She looked around for a moment before spotting Dohee’s car and quickly trotting over.  

The sight made Dohee chuckle without thinking.  

With a backpack so big it stuck out past her body, Magia waddled towards the car.  

They were only going for a one-day trip, even if it was for camping, but she sure had packed a lot.  

After reaching the car, Magia carefully placed her bag in the trunk and hopped into the passenger seat.  

Having commuted together daily up until last week, Dohee had already noticed this, but…  

Magia’s legs were really short.  

The car had a high step-up, so she had to use all her strength to climb in. Dohee had even lowered the seat as much as possible for her, yet her feet just barely touched the floor.  

“What on earth did you pack in that bag? Is there a war tomorrow?”  

“I packed what I needed.”  

“Like what?”  

“You’ll see later.”  

“Hmph…”  

“You absolutely cannot open it. It’s a surprise.”  

Knowing that she and the first-gen trainees were secretly planning Operation: Make Magia Cry Her Eyes Out, Dohee suddenly felt a little guilty.  

“Who just announces a surprise like that?”  

“Well, you’re the one who asked first, boss.”  

Ah, so it’s my fault now?  

Magia’s backhanded way of calling her out was truly an art.  

Chuckling, Dohee set the navigation to their first stop a drive-thru Starbucks a short distance away.  

Before long, the two of them each had a drink in hand. At the first red light, Dohee turned to Magia and asked,  

“So, how’s the review content prep going?”  

“Seungyeon handed things over so quickly that I actually had a lot of time left. I think I’m almost done.”  

After collaborating with I’m Wolf, Magia had gained a newfound confidence and resolved to try running the show on her own.  

Seeing how determined she looked, Dohee had agreed to be a safety net for the first few tries, just in case last Friday, to be exact.  

“Already? It’s only been four days since you really started preparing.”  

“Well, it’s just a recap of October, so the recent memories came back pretty fast.”  

“Hmm. What scenes did you pick? Give me a quick rundown.”  

Magia listed off the moments she had selected for her review content, officially titled Monthly Fantasia.  

– October 6: Find Rain!  

– October 13: Rain, Momo, and Magia’s Battle Coliseum collab stream!  

– October 18: Dora’s horror game stream!  

– October 27: Komari’s Naore coaching endurance challenge!  

…Wait a minute.  

Looking at the list, Dohee realized something this was practically a Magia highlight reel.  

It hit her that Magia had worked a lot in October.  

She hadn’t taken a break at all.  

Once that realization settled in, Dohee felt a mix of betrayal and shock.  

“Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but… all of these are streams you were in.”  

Magia scratched her head, as if she hadn’t considered that before.  

“…Oh. You’re right. I didn’t think about that.”  

“Maybe it just shows how much you supported everyone. If you weren’t there, I bet those moments wouldn’t have been as fun.”  

For some reason, Magia didn’t respond.  

“If only you supported me that much in Battle Coliseum, I would’ve won more games.”  

But instead, Magia just gazed out the window in silence.  

Her cheeks even seemed slightly flushed.  

‘Huh.’  

Dohee couldn’t tell if Magia had taken the compliment as just professional recognition from her boss,  

or if she saw it as praise from one of the industry’s top streamers.  

But what mattered was that Magia reacted to the praise.  

The girl who usually took every chance to give Dohee a hard time… had nothing to say this time.

‘Gotcha.’  

It was the first time Magia had ever shown such an opening for an attack.  

Dohee couldn’t hold back and immediately threw in another compliment.  

“Oh wow… After this review stream, aren’t more people gonna be looking for you? Even last week, you pulled off something big on I’m Wolf. Jiya, you’re totally gonna be the collab cheat code at this rate.”  

But would Magia stay quiet and just take it? Of course not.  

A troublemaker never misses a chance to bite back.  

“You’re right. Speaking as the monitoring manager, the audience response was even better than when the boss does collabs.”  

“…What?”  

“It’s true. Looking at the October broadcast stats, the days I streamed saw a huge boost compared to usual. Subscriber growth, donation amounts during streams…”  

“No, that’s just because you’re a fresh face and people were curious—”  

“And for the pre-festival stream, there were even posts outright analyzing the differences between me and the boss. Honestly, I think I have a better grasp on what the viewers want.”  

“Ugh.”  

If hitting where it hurts was a skill, Magia had definitely mastered it.  

But out of everything, that last line stung the most.  

“I really think the boss should focus more on their own streams before worrying about collabs. As a fan, I’m kinda concerned feels like your streaming instincts have dulled since you became the boss—”  

“Hey! Stop! Stop!!”  

*      *     *

Even though it felt like Magia had completely beaten her down, Cheon Dohee’s prediction was spot on.  

With her cheeks reddened from the cold, Maru spoke seriously in front of the gathered members, who had arrived early at the pickup spot the boss had designated.  

“I didn’t get a chance to say this last week, but how about we only invite Jiya once a month from now on? If anyone breaks the rule, they have to give up an all-purpose coupon that lets the others make them do anything.”  

Instead of confusion, the first reaction came from Komari, who quickly laughed and joked around.  

“Wow. If Dora messes up, I’m making her play a horror game with me right away.”  

“Heeeng. Komari, are you a devil? How could horror games be the first thing that comes to your mind…?”  

After mulling over Maru’s words a few times, Rain pushed her sunglasses up onto her head and asked hesitantly,  

“Mi-Mi, one question. Why make it a rule? Why only once a month?”  

It was partly about sharing Magia fairly among them.  

But in a way, it was also a pledge to prevent the incoming second-gen members from calling on Jiya too recklessly.  

Though the conversation started as a joke, Komari, already understanding Maru’s intent, explained,  

“The second-gen members are coming in soon. If we keep calling Jiya unconditionally, they’ll start doing the same.”  

“Komari’s right. We all know she’s been overworking herself lately trying to help with our streams, and it made her sick.”  

Rain twisted her lips, thinking.  

“October was just a first-anniversary special, wasn’t it? Jiya’s usually cold. Even when second-gen comes, she’ll be the same like ice.”  

It wasn’t a bad interpretation.  

Magia might have seemed warmer toward the first-gen members recently, but that overlapped with the anniversary.  

Still, Maru, who had experienced it firsthand, added more context.  

“It might seem that way, but she’s definitely opened up to us recently. Sure, I got rejected as a friend… but she’s at least speaking casually with me now. She’s not as cold as before.”  

“What? Hey, no cutting in line! Even casual speech has an order, you know?”  

“Rain unnie, you’re already speaking casually with her…”  

“She never spoke casually with me.”  

“That’s just because you’re older than her.”  

“Ohhh, Korea’s strict seniority system. I don’t like that. Just let me park my casual speech wherever.”  

Before the conversation could devolve into chaos, Maru clapped her hands and refocused them.  

“Anyway, I brought this up so we don’t end up fighting over Jiya. That way, today’s hidden camera prank can go off without a hitch.”  

Everyone nodded in agreement, but two pairs of eyes gleamed with determination.  

One of them, Komari, clenched her fist and spoke up first.  

“If we don’t want to fight… we should at least decide who gets to sit next to Jiya first, right?”  

Maru, sensing the brewing competition, immediately swung her fist in the air and shouted,  

“…Rock, paper, scissors!”