Chapter 416 |
A café in Garosu-gil, Gangnam.
The eyes of the men drinking coffee turned to one table, where three women and one man were seated.
One woman looked to be about middle school age. She had a small, cute face, eyes as round as a rabbit's, and wore glasses so large they covered half her face, suggesting poor eyesight. Another woman was dressed in a stylish, elegant outfit. Her slim face and sharp, flawless features were perfect. And the last was a lively-looking Caucasian woman with a bobbed haircut.
Though no one knew it, the first was the most popular webtoon artist on Neoteen, the second was the daughter of the president of CL Chemicals, and the third was none other than a Norwegian princess.
All three were beautiful, but among them, Yang Ha-na's looks were unrivaled. It wasn't just men; even other women stared at her with a mixture of jealousy and envy.
‘If only I could strike up a conversation.’
The problem was the man sitting at the same table.
He had a slightly chubby build and wore a pair of black horn-rimmed glasses that were long out of fashion. His outfit consisted of a t-shirt and jeans that looked like they could have been bought at any fast-fashion store.
He was, in all honesty, an utterly ordinary man you could see anywhere.
"What's with that guy?"
"He just looks like an unemployed bum."
"So why is he having such a good time talking with those women?"
"The women are all laughing, too. Don't tell me they're into him?"
"Man, that bastard's smiling too."
"Just leave him. They must be having a nice chat."
"Maybe he's loaded?"
"No way..."
Surprisingly, that was the correct answer.
They couldn't possibly imagine it, but the man sitting at the next table was the second richest man in the world. Compared to him, your average Middle Eastern oil tycoon was practically a charity case.
While everyone was just watching and hesitating, a young man in his late twenties stood up.
His name was Yong-jun. His profession: a popular BJ on Capria TV.
As they say, the bold man gets the girl, right?
His gaze had been fixed on Yang Ha-na for some time. It bothered him to see her smile sweetly at the man she was with, but...
‘I must be way better than that otaku-looking loser, right?’
***
Originally, this was a meeting for Min Ha-young to consult with Oh Taekgyu about her webtoon story. As such, the topic was, of course, Lost Fantasy.
Anneke said with a bright smile.
"I'm loving your webtoon, unni. It's so much fun. All my friends at school say it's fun, too. I'm leaving high ratings for you."
Min Ha-young blushed slightly.
"Ah... th-thank you."
Yang Ha-na clicked her tongue inwardly.
‘When did this princess get so good at Korean?’
Anneke wasn't shy at school and blended in naturally with her peers, so she learned the language quickly. Plus, since she already knew some Japanese, she was able to pick up Korean, which has a similar sentence structure, even faster.
Thanks to that, she could now handle most conversations. Her pronunciation was still a bit clumsy, but that only made her seem cuter.
What was most irritating, however, was how she attached 'oppa' to the end of every sentence. Since when did Norwegians care about titles like 'oppa' and 'dongsaeng'?
‘I don't even call him oppa.’
It had been a mistake.
She should have changed from calling him "Taekgyu-ssi" to "Taekgyu-oppa" long ago. Would it be too weird to start calling him that now?
Although she'd received a crash course (?) on Lost Fantasy, as the conversation deepened, she found it hard to keep up.
‘I got too complacent just because I finished the ending. I need to go back and clear it on all the jobs again.’
Yang Ha-na brought up a topic she knew well.
"I heard you're building a data center."
"Yes. The great Shigeru said we need our own servers for the VRMMORPG, so we have to prepare in advance. For now, Lost Fantasy M and Online will continue to be serviced by ZWB as they are."
Though he said it casually, it was a project of enormous scale.
The world's attention was focused on it, and the stock prices of AMZ and MS fluctuated on the expectation that they would lose a major client.
Experts began speculating that OTK Company might enter the cloud service market in the future.
"You haven't decided on a location yet, have you?"
"We're looking. I'm sure plenty of places would welcome us if we announced we were building."
Anneke chimed in.
"How about Norway, oppa?"
The key to a data center is temperature management. Servers running 24/7 give off an incredible amount of heat.
An enormous amount of power is consumed to vent this heat and cool the interior.
But if you build a data center in a cold region, it becomes that much easier to control the heat. That's why methods like building data centers underwater are even being researched these days.
Taekgyu nodded.
"Hmm, that could be good. I'll talk it over with Jin-hu."
As they were deep in conversation over coffee and juice, a man approached their table.
"Excuse me. Do you have a moment?"
He was a tall, handsome young man. In fact, he had amassed numerous female subscribers thanks to his good looks.
At the sudden appearance of an outsider, Min Ha-young flinched slightly, Yang Ha-na wore an annoyed expression, and Anneke showed curiosity.
"Who are you?"
Among people in their 20s and 30s, Yong-jun was more famous than most celebrities, and his monthly income easily surpassed 100 million won.
When he approached women, most would scream with joy as if they'd met a celebrity, but unfortunately, the people at this table seemed to have little interest in internet broadcasting.
Yong-jun introduced himself.
"Hello. I'm Yong-jun, a BJ on Capria TV."
Taekgyu recognized him.
"Ah! That BJ Yong-jun. I know you."
But Anneke was startled.
"Huh? You're a BJ? Really?"
Yong-jun smiled.
"That's right. A BJ."
‘Hmph, of course she'd be surprised.’
Being a popular BJ was a coveted profession. And BJ Yong-jun was considered one of the top ten on Capria TV. Not long ago, the popular girl group Girls' Day had even appeared on his broadcast to promote their new song.
Anneke asked, bewildered.
"But you're a man, how can you be a BJ...?"
In the early days of Capria TV, there were many pretty female BJs. Perhaps that's why even now, the word 'BJ' often brings women to mind.
He said proudly.
"Is there a law that says a man can't be a BJ? Female BJs are very skilled, but I believe male BJs are no less talented. In fact, there are some things we can do better precisely because we are men."
Anneke was convinced by his words.
"I suppose. Tastes are diverse, after all."
"Exactly."
There were two reasons for the subtle disconnect in their conversation.
Yong-jun didn't notice, but Taekgyu knew why Anneke was so surprised and grinned to himself.
First was the difference in interpretation of a specific word, and second was that Anneke was not yet fluent in Korean.
Taekgyu greeted him and asked with a serious expression.
"It's not an easy thing for a man to be a BJ. That's amazing."
"Haha, not at all. I do it because I love it."
Taekgyu nodded.
"Wow, you must really love being a BJ."
Yong-jun was a man who took pride in his profession.
"Of course. It's my job. I always enjoy myself while I'm doing it."
"Oh, you enjoy being a BJ. You can't beat someone who enjoys what they do."
"That's right. I always give it my all, every single time I do it."
Taekgyu continued to press.
"Then you must be amazing at being a BJ."
"I think I do as well as others, but I still have a long way to go."
"You're too humble. I think you're the best BJ, Yong-jun."
Yong-jun waved his hand, embarrassed.
"Oh, no, not at all. There are many people who are better BJs than me."
Taekgyu gave him a double thumbs-up.
"What are you talking about? When you say BJ, you think Yong-jun. When you say Yong-jun, you think BJ. You're the most popular on Capria TV. Truly the best BJ."
"Thank you."
‘Why is he hyping me up so much? Is he a fan?’
Yong-jun grew even more confident.
Anneke asked Taekgyu.
"What's Capria TV, oppa?"
"It's a live streaming platform like A-Tube. If you go online, you can watch this person here being a BJ."
"Haha, that's right. Not to brag, but I surpassed one million subscribers a few days ago."
Anneke moved beyond surprise to outright horror.
"You broadcast that live on the internet!?"
Yong-jun didn't understand.
‘Why is she so shocked? Is she from a country without internet broadcasting?’
Anneke said, as if in awe.
"I-I had no idea. I didn't know Korea was that open-minded. That would be difficult even in Norway. But it's possible in Korea."
Taekgyu nodded beside her sagely.
"We're an internet-advanced nation, after all."
"I guess that's true. I heard it was legalized in Korea recently, too."
Taekgyu looked at him again and asked.
"So, what can we do for you?"
Yong-jun felt something was off about their conversation, but he had come here for one reason.
He looked at Yang Ha-na and said.
"I've been watching you for a while, and your companion is so beautiful. I like you so much, so could you please give me your number?"
Before Yang Ha-na could answer, Anneke asked with a puzzled expression.
"You like Ha-na unni? Does that mean you're attracted to her?"
It was better to be bold and confident in these situations.
He nodded.
"That's right. You're my ideal type."
"But why?"
"Why...? What do you mean?"
"But you like men."
"I do? No, why would I like men?"
Anneke said with a look of pure innocence.
"You're gay, aren't you?"
This time, it was Yong-jun's turn to be horrified.
"What? G-gay?"
"You said you were a BJ."
"Ah, yes. I'm a BJ. But what does that have to do with..."
He had no idea how this misunderstanding had occurred, but he had to clear it up somehow.
Yong-jun looked at Yang Ha-na and said.
"I-it's a misunderstanding. I am definitely not gay. I don't like men, either."
Yang Ha-na shook her head.
"I don't care whether you're gay or not, so please leave."
"Then, just your phone number..."
Yang Ha-na sighed inwardly.
This sort of thing happened all the time when she was out alone. If you reject them nicely, they mistake it for interest and keep pushing. If you reject them harshly, they get angry or curse you behind your back.
She wanted to tell him to get lost, but she couldn't do that with Oh Taekgyu present.
As Yang Ha-na slightly raised her hand, plain-clothed bodyguards who had been sitting at a nearby table quickly stood up and blocked Yong-jun's path.
"Let's go this way."
"W-wait. Who are you people?"
As he was dragged away, Yong-jun shouted.
"I'm not gay! I like women! I'm not gay! I like girl!"
Anneke tilted her head.
"He's not gay?"
Taekgyu explained it to the clueless Anneke.
"In Korea, people who do internet broadcasts are called BJs. It's short for Bang-jang, or Broadcasting Jockey. It's like a streamer or a creator."
Finally understanding, Anneke nodded.
"Ah! I see. I thought it was strange that he was so proudly declaring he was a BJ. So that's what BJ means in Korea. I almost made a huge misunderstanding."
Min Ha-young's eyes went wide.
"What do you mean? Is there another kind of BJ?"
"It usually has a different meaning overseas."
"What is it?"
"Look it up."
Min Ha-young, who had started searching on her smartphone, was so shocked she dropped the phone on the table.
"N-no way. BJ is blo..."
Taekgyu reached out and covered her mouth.
"Yep. That's enough."
Min Ha-young's face was already beet red.
Watching her, Yang Ha-na thought.
‘Is this unni pretending to be innocent, or is she actually innocent?’
***
The four of them moved to a bar and continued their cheerful conversation.
But at some point, the conversation stopped, and an awkward air enveloped them. Everyone just sipped their drinks quietly with awkward expressions.
Watching them, Taekgyu thought to himself.
‘Hmm, I guess the harem route isn't easy in real life.’