The “forr” movie theater date—“current” spring cold caregiving session—was nowhere near over.
Sick days are always lonelier when spent alone, so even though plans had changed, it was better for Ha-eun to stay, just being there.
“I an, I don’t have anything until noon tomorrow... Should I just sleep over?”
“Uh, well... I don’t mind, but won’t you catch my cold if you stay too long...?”
“I was just saying it. Still, can’t bother a sick person, right?”
They had originally agreed to hang out until dinner, so Ha-eun said she'd head ho afterward.
But was it just her imagination, or did she seem a bit disappointed when she looked away?
“But hey... cough... why can’t you make eye contact with today?”
“It’s just... you look a bit too... stimulating right now.”
“?”
“N-no, I an... if I lower my head, I think the nosebleed will co back. So I’ll stay like this till it stops.”
Even after that, Ha-eun kept her gaze straight ahead, refusing to look directly at Maria lying on the bed.
But her willpower could only do so much—her eyes kept sneaking glances.
Eventually, she gave up and slid down to the floor, leaning her back against the bed fra.
Maria, half-lidded eyes watching her, broke the silence again.
She asked how Ha-eun ended up dubbing Forgotten Child.
“Did they co to you first? Asking you to voice the lead?”
“Yeah. I got the offer around last winter...”
Forgotten Child was Maria’s favorite animated film.
When the subtitled version ca out a few months ago, her channel had been flooded with content about it.
It made sense she'd asked Ha-eun to go see the Korean dub together.
She loved the film and fully intended to watch the dubbed version as well.
“I was gonna do a review stream of the dub next... cough...”
“You can do it after you’re fully recovered, unnie.”
The topic lingered.
As they reminisced over key scenes from the film, Maria shared thoughts about Yu, the lead character.
She wondered how Ha-eun had expressed Yu’s loneliness—how she was forgotten every year.
Or whether Ha-eun resonated with the mont Yu was finally rembered for the first ti.
She even asked if Ha-eun sang Yu’s lullaby in the dub.
“Did you sing it yourself? Or did they use the original Japanese version?”
“I sang it. We rewrote the lyrics in Korean. I have the audio on my phone. Wanna hear it?”
“Hmm... I think I’ll wait and listen at the theater. It’ll hit harder that way.”
With how long they talked about Yu, it was abundantly clear just how much Maria loved Forgotten Child.
Then ca the question Ha-eun had been quietly expecting:
“I didn’t know you were interested in voice acting.”
“Honestly... I thought about it for a long ti.”
She explained how she'd hesitated for a while—partly because of Diah.
It was Maria, in fact, who tipped the scale.
“I kept wavering, but once the whole red pill thing happened, I just... wanted to do it. I didn’t feel the need to hold back anymore.”
“Yeah... makes sense.”
“And... I caused another little accident.”
“...Huh?”
Ha-eun confessed she’d recently started dubbing HoneyPing as well.
She was certain things would get chaotic again once that went public.
“Wait... does your voice sound that similar?”
“If you close your eyes, it doesn’t sound like LoveyPing. It sounds like Diah. But I figure little kids won’t know Diah anyway, so... it should be fine.”
“Weren’t you the one watching CEO's show when you were seven?”
“...What are the odds there’s another kid like ?”
Like it or not, Ha-eun’s entertainnt career inevitably affected her VTuber life.
No matter what drama she acted in, what show she appeared on, or what song she released—people would ntion Diah.
Still, Ha-eun pushed forward because she wanted to.
Comnts from Diah’s viewers weren’t a reason to limit herself.
She was reminded of sothing Kang Sun-woo—her ntor—had once told her:
“If you want to act, act. If you want to do both, do both. You’re not hurting anyone by doing what you love, are you?”
And just like that, she decided. She’d keep doing whatever she wanted.
“Hey, unnie... Did you ever ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) watch magical girl ani when you were a kid?”
“Hmm... I rember lying on the floor of a stationery shop, begging my mom to buy a magic wand.”
“...Oh no. I just pictured it.”
“I was six!”
They kept chatting like that, ti slipping away unnoticed.
The sun was beginning to set beyond Maria’s window.
That’s when Ha-eun asked if she was getting hungry.
“Unnie, want sothing to eat? It’s about ti for dinner.”
“Hmm... I guess I am a little hungry.”
“Roger that.”
“...Roger?”
Ha-eun stood and went to Maria’s fridge, where she had stashed the porridge she’d brought earlier.
With a bit of “magic,” she heated it all up.
Not long after, Maria sat up and began nibbling at the porridge, while Ha-eun watched with quiet focus.
She was eating, too—technically.
But she was so focused on Maria that she couldn’t even tell if it was going into her mouth or nose.
“Is it good?”
“Mm-hmm. Tastes different from what I’m used to.”
“I added a little magic.”
“Magic?”
For soone who spent more ti in hospitals than ho, porridge had been a staple food for Ha-eun.
Even now, it was sothing deeply familiar to her.
If you eat sothing every day, no matter how good it is, you’ll eventually get tired of it.
So she knew a few tricks to make it better.
“Just a few drops of sesa oil and so ground perilla seeds. Makes a huge difference.”
“Wow... aren’t you fancy.”
“Please call Chef from now on.”
Of course, she couldn’t tell Maria the real reason for her porridge expertise.
Instead, she simply smiled as she watched Maria enjoy the food.
But there was sothing that had been weighing on her mind since the mont Maria said she was sick.
As Maria finished the last spoonful, Ha-eun spoke up:
“Hey, unnie.”
“Yeah?”
“Did you... post a break notice for your stream?”
“...Oh...”
Ha-eun had found out Maria was sick just 30 minutes before their etup.
Maria had actually hoped to recover enough to still go out—
Which ant she hadn’t planned on canceling her stream either.
“God, I totally forgot...”
Since Ha-eun arrived, they’d been talking non-stop while she nursed her—no ti to update her channel.
Now realizing this, Maria rushed to her streaming PC to write a short cancellation post.
—Thump.
“Wait, unnie.”
“Huh?”
Just as she was about to post it, Ha-eun stopped her—
And made a surprising offer.
“So... all those people have probably been waiting, thinking you’d stream tonight, right?”
“Well... yeah, I guess.”
“Wouldn’t it feel kind of sad to leave them hanging after all that? So... could I maybe stream in your place?”
“You? Instead of ?”
“Yeah.”
At the end of the day, VTubing is still acting.
And acting was the one thing Ha-eun did best.
Even better—Cream, as a character, was the one Ha-eun knew most intimately.
She knew every little detail, including... well, the ones that weren’t even public yet.
So when it ca to playing Cream, Ha-eun was confident.
“Wouldn’t it be too late if you stream now, though?”
“It’s only 8. Worst case, I’ll just sleep over.”
“Didn’t you say earlier you shouldn’t bother sick people?”
“That version of Lee Ha-eun is dead. From now on, I’m Diah—standing in for Cream.”
“...Wow.”
Anyway, she was doing this to help Jung Maria.
Totally. Absolutely. No ulterior motives.
Definitely not because pretending to be Cream sounded insanely fun or anything.
And so, ahem.
Ha-eun kept clearing her throat as she sat down in Cream’s streaming chair—right in front of Jung Maria.
There was a faint scent in the seat. Sothing oddly pleasant. Distracting.
...I’m nervous...
Cream’s monitor.
Cream’s keyboard and mouse.
Cream’s microphone.
Every piece of equipnt in front of her felt priceless—sothing Ha-eun couldn’t buy even with millions.
If she could, she might’ve just paid to keep it all to herself for life.
...Okay, maybe she was getting carried away. Dial it back, Ha-eun.
Anyway, there were only a few minutes left until Cream’s scheduled stream.
One more throat-clear. Deep breath. Then Ha-eun hit the broadcast button.
—Click.
[Who wants to go on a date with Cream~?]
C-Ha! (Cream hi!)
Creamie is here~
So, how was your celeb date? lol
Where is the real Cream?
Was the date with Diah fun?
Ooh, date-thed stream ti~
Viewers flooded in as soon as the stream started.
Today’s the, fitting for spring, was a roleplay-style “date with Cream,” and chat was imdiately on board.
Ha-eun watched the chat roll for a mont, and once the view count hit four digits—
She leaned into the mic and attempted her best Cream impression:
“Sooorryyy~. I’m suuuper late↘↗, teehee~.”
❓
❓❓❓
Why is Diah here?
🤨
Did you follow her ho after the date? 😂
Who are you?!
NO WAY 😂
—Ding!
[User123 donated ₩1,000!]
Give back my Cream, you monster!
[User456 donated ₩1,000!]
IT’S A CREAM IMPOSTER FROM TEMU 😱
“I caugh↗t a col↘d~, so my voice is a little~ off today~. Be nice to , okay~?”
“...Pfft... phhhk... snrrrk...”
🤔 What kind of cold makes your voice sound like THAT?
😂 Real Cream is laughing too hard rn
Which tiline is this again?
👀 That voice... sounds familiar...
🥕 If Cream is being held hostage, wave a carrot
😩 Return Cream to us NOW
😭 I ca for a Cream date, not this imposter!
[Whodis donated ₩1,000!]
Waaahhh I don’t want this! Go away! Gim Cream! 😭
“First~ let’s go to a café↗, okay~? All good spring dates start at a café~.”
🤯 This is false advertising
😱 AAAAAAAAAA
🙏 Stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it
📣 IT’S OVER! THIS IS DIAH AND NOEULIS TERRITORY NOW!
👶 Why is a baby invading my house
🕵️ Searching for runaway Diah...
“...Why are you all whining so much?”
❓
😲
👀
😳
😍
🥹
“You don’t... want to go on a date with ?”
🙋 I do I do I do!!
💯 YES.
👏👏👏
✨🪄✨🪄✨🪄✨🪄
🔥😳🔥
🫠
WHO SAID NO? SHOW YOURSELF 💢
[Kawatori donated ₩100,000!]
That voice is way too sexy. Are you SURE you’re Cream? 🔥
“Cream does have a kinda sexy voice, right~?”
“Hey—no! Wait!”
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
🫣 Real Cream is dying of embarrassnt rn
😭 I'm losing it
😈 This is chaos and I love it
😍 YES DADDY DI— I an CREAM
🛌 Cream, go lie down. Let Diah run things.
🤷 Seriously, WHO ARE YOU.
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