Ryu Seo-ha.
That’s my name, and perhaps a name that someone interested in the business world in this country might have heard at least once.
At twenty-three years old this year, I’m one of the heirs of ‘Changseong,’ a significant company in South Korea, and the second daughter of the Ryu family. I’ve never lacked anything since I was a child.
Money, connections, looks, and a natural ability to wield all those things gracefully.
It might sound annoying, but for someone born with all that, the word “lack” was the furthest thing from my life.
But there was a day when I started to feel like an empty person.
At the same time, that day was also the day I was saved.
“Since you finally got a vacation, why don’t you go on a trip with your friends?”
It was a day when I had just turned twenty-two.
While I was running a subsidiary inherited from my father, I finally had a vacation and got to see my mother after a long time.
Like always, my mother, worried about her daughter, hinted at a vacation plan, but I casually shook my head.
“Not really… I’m fine. I still have work to do, and I’m going to return the vacation.”
“Really? Your dad was quite worried, wanting you to take a break…”
“I’m not a kid, you know.”
Trying to act tough like I didn’t need a vacation wasn’t even real toughness. To be honest, vacations were useless for me.
At that point, I had completely forgotten what filled me outside of work.
Having skipped ahead in high school and graduated from university early, I didn’t have any friends at all. I wasn’t the type who got along easily with others; I was so focused on grades and credits that it was expected.
I had no clue about how to go on a trip either. I’d done it once, but ended up just lying in a hotel room, pulled out my laptop for work, and thought, “If this is how it’s going to be, I’d rather be at the office.” Less than two days later, I was back.
I didn’t really have hobbies either. Unlike my mother, who enjoyed tea ceremonies and pottery, or my father, who liked golf and music, I never found anything I cared about.
So vacation for me was more like a punishment, akin to being locked up.
The only thing that fulfilled that weak sense of satisfaction was the feeling of accomplishing something after handling paperwork while smelling the scent of paper at the office.
“So, are you going back to the company tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I took today off just to say hello here and there.”
“Honestly… If you keep working so hard at such a young age, you’ll wear yourself out. You need to think about taking care of yourself too.”
My mother’s words were spot on, and I didn’t have the courage to tell her, “I’ve forgotten how to do that.”
“I like working right now. Anyway, since I’ve greeted you, I’ll head out first.”
“Alright, go back, rest well, and take it easy starting tomorrow.”
It would probably be a promise I couldn’t keep, but I nodded in an effort to acknowledge it and left my family home.
“Driver Park, take me home.”
“Ah, yes. Director.”
Getting into a black sedan, which wasn’t really my style, I was about to give my usual instructions to the driver when I noticed something strange about his behavior.
He seemed to have been looking at his phone intently just a moment ago. What was it? Was he watching the news? It didn’t seem like that.
“Driver Park, what were you just looking at?”
“Oh, this? It’s called Twip; it’s an internet broadcast I occasionally watch.”
“Internet broadcast?”
That seemed a bit out of character for Driver Park, and I couldn’t help but tilt my head in confusion.
I didn’t expect him to be into that. He always gave off the impression that he only read newspapers or watched the news.
Having heard a bit about internet broadcasts, I became curious, so I asked naturally, “I wouldn’t guess you’d watch women dancing around in their underwear… What do you usually watch?”
“I mostly watch videos where people chat casually. I spend a lot of time waiting in the car, so I prefer just listening to it like a radio.”
“I see.”
If I thought of it as a substitute for radio, it wasn’t so bad. Moreover, the beauty of internet broadcasts was that viewers could find content to their liking.
For example, someone who loves animals would watch broadcasts about animals a lot.
Anyway, my interest dwindled from there, and I didn’t ask Driver Park any more questions.
“Director, we’ve arrived.”
“…Already?”
While I stared blankly at the passing dark sky in the quiet atmosphere, Driver Park’s voice suddenly pulled me back.
I was surprised that we had come such a distance in what felt like less than three minutes, yet I looked around.
The familiar apartment parking lot came into view.
Wow, I totally zoned out.
Realizing that, I hurriedly got up.
“Thank you for your hard work. Driver Park, take your scheduled vacation starting tomorrow and rest well. See you.”
“Yes, thank you, Director.”
After greeting Driver Park, who opened the car door for me, I took the elevator up to my place.
Creak.
As soon as I opened the door, the peculiar chill that always greeted me was there as usual.
I don’t usually care about being alone, but the cold air of a completely empty house wasn’t very pleasant.
Maybe I should really get a cat, as some say. Not that I particularly like animals, though.
sigh
Thump.
Not bothering to wash up, I collapsed onto my queen-sized bed and rummaged for my phone from my handbag.
8:20 PM. Quite late, huh? Well, I couldn’t really resist my mother’s insistence and had dinner too, so that’s understandable. I originally intended to come back earlier and check on what needed to be done for tomorrow, but that’s gone down the drain now.
On a usual day, I’d rush to the shower to prepare, but right now I just feel like doing nothing. I want to laze around a bit longer.
At that moment, I strongly felt that having at least someone to talk to would be nice.
As that thought crossed my mind, the conversation I just had with Driver Park came to mind.
“Wasn’t it called Twip?”
As far as I knew, the charm of these internet broadcasts was that they could be watched anywhere, and I recalled the app should be available too.
So, just in case, I searched for the platform Driver Park mentioned in the app store, and sure enough, an app appeared. Do I just sign up?
After entering my email and finishing the sign-up, a list of various broadcasts appeared on the main banner.
At the top right, a small number showed the current viewer count, and it was quite a lot. The top-ranked broadcasters often had anywhere from 2,000 to as high as 20,000 viewers.
Among them, I thought the top-ranking one must have an entertaining broadcast, so I clicked on it.
– “What the hell! How is that piece of shit not dead yet!? This f*cking game!”
“……”
However, the moment I entered, the barrage of curses was so loud it almost burst my eardrums, and I quickly hit the back button.
Is all internet broadcasting like this? I couldn’t possibly imagine Driver Park watching this kind of thing.
As I slowly scrolled down, I found that there weren’t many broadcasts with appealing titles. They were either playing some game, or featured women in rather revealing outfits on the main screen.
Or there would be oversized cartoon characters taking up the screen. None of it was to my taste.
As I inspected the broadcasts one by one, I eventually ended up at broadcasts with fewer than ten viewers.
I figured a small number of viewers might mean less fun, so I was contemplating whether to just close the app when a title caught my eye.
“Let me help you with your problems…?”
Intrigued by the oddly appealing title, I clicked on it without realizing, and a large screen displaying a memo pad popped up.
Countless words were written there, and upon reading closely, it seemed like the broadcaster was typing out what they had said.
– “So don’t put other people’s discarded waste into your own pockets. Why live life that way?”
And soon after, a rather serious voice followed. It felt somewhat impassioned, as if they were sincerely advising someone in line with the broadcast title.
Definitely a nice voice. I got the feeling they’d be good at singing too.
– “Alright, I think that’s enough of the counseling.”
【Passing Loser】 – “Thank you… ㅠㅠ I feel a bit relieved.”
The broadcaster’s words were accompanied by a chat message that popped up beside. That was probably from the person who had just received their counsel.
I didn’t know the details, but it seemed it had helped that person quite a lot.
What an impressive person. It’s not easy to evoke such feelings from a stranger. It’s certainly something I couldn’t do.
– “Ah, welcome to lsh0306 who just joined! Sorry for the late greeting!”
Contrary to the nicknames of others, this bland nickname had remained the same since it was created.
The mysterious man on the screen greeted me warmly, and oddly enough, I felt a sense of comfort.
Unlike dealing with the office politics and colleagues who smile at me while gossiping behind my back, here I had no need to worry about displeasing someone or having to present myself well. I could just say what was on my mind with no embellishment.
No one in the world would know that this worried person called ‘Ryu Seo-ha’ was speaking.
Here, I could finally give voice to the words that were locked inside me.
In that moment, I found myself unconsciously typing.
【lsh0306】 – “Can I also ask for counseling?”
– “Of course! If you want to hear my humble advice, I’m all ears!”
The man’s words felt a bit playful like a salesperson’s pitch, but the warmth in his voice made me smile involuntarily.
I didn’t particularly want advice. I just needed someone to listen to my story—someone who wouldn’t tell anyone else.
【lsh0306】 – “I feel so empty inside. What should I do?”
A casual drift of my restless mind, thrown out without much thought.
Maybe that was a question to myself.
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