“Aah, this is boring…”

Sujin blankly stared out of the window of the car she was in. Her family—with whom she was finally reunited with after four years—was taking her to her grandfather’s home in a rural town for recuperation after staying in the hospital for almost a month. She was sitting in the backseat with Lee Doyoon besides her. Lee Yoonah was sitting on the opposite side, looking outside the window. Her parents were on the front seats, with her father being the one to drive. She tried to ignore her aching bottom, but the car was really uncomfortable. It was a second hand thing her father was lucky enough to get in cheap. The better car they used to ride before, they had already sold it. She had no right to complain about this car, however shitty it was.

Her phone and laptop had already been seized by her mother, because she needed to remain ‘pressure free.’ She could at least let her use KaTalk! Her friends must be worried about her. Well, they are sensible enough to not disturb her too much, but still…

‘Just let it go, Sujin. A few days without KakaoTalk and other apps will not kill you.’

‘So what? I’m supposed to just sit around like this for hours?’

‘Yes, if you want to recover faster. Did you know—’

‘I don’t need a lecture about Dopamine detox right now, Jason. I am a working lady, I need to at least keep myself updated with what’s happening in the media! I was lucky enough to be assigned to a rising star like Min Seoyoung, you should know how much of a big deal that is! You have my memories just as I have yours. I don’t want to give up on that position and get reassigned to some struggling newbie that has no guarantee of a successful future! They were generous enough to not kick me out, but that doesn’t mean that they are liable to let me keep my former station!’

‘...But we will not be able to do our stuff if we are assigned to a busy star like Seoyoung, Sujin. Getting reassigned to a newbie with less jobs might give us some more free time, which we can use if we are to make games and go to a college! We cannot expect to do our own business and get fast promotions at the same time.’

‘...Okay, you have a point. But it just feels…’

‘You’ve gotten attached to the kid, haven’t you?’

‘...Well, let’s just wait and see what happens.’

Sujin just kept watching the greenery outside. Well, at least her father was generous enough to keep the radio on.

“—and now we are going to play the currently no.1 song on the Melon chart, ‘Sunshine Dreams’ by Stardust!!! So keep yourself tuned and keep grooving till we come back—”

The sound of a melodious piano filled the car, followed by a sweet female voice.

“Oooh, I thought all these idol group songs were about kids wearing flashy makeup and dancing in flashy music videos using those annoying electronic sounds and pointless lyrics. I guess they do sing somewhat good songs once or twice.” Her father exclaimed. Sujin cleared her throat.

“LME does try to maintain its quality about song lyrics and music, Dad. Also, just because a song has EDM does not make it automatically bad. It’s just a different genre.``

“Wow look at you. You’ve completely turned into a loyal employee in these four years.” Her father whistled.

“Oh come on! Not everyone has to be a trot idiot like you! People can have different tastes!” Her mother hit her husband on the shoulder.

“There is nothing wrong with calling trash trash.” Yoonah murmured from behind. Sujin just looked downwards. Both of her parents glared at her.

Doyoon stared at them with an innocent smile. ‘Is the song good?’ The eleven year old boy signed with his hands. It broke her heart to see the boy like that. He used to be so talkative, and he also used to jump in joy when she ‘kind of’ arranged a ‘performance’ in their home. He lost his ability to both speak and hear because of some weird virus she never heard of. Doctors said it was a rare disease, and it could have been cured if they could have conducted an operation in time. Now, it was extremely expensive, not something she and her family could handle.

All because of her.

‘Honestly, I think you are blaming yourself way too much. Your debt was not as big compared to the loss your father made in his business. Even if you did not incur the debt, there was no way your father could have paid for that operation.’

‘You know very well whose fault it was, Jason. Father took a risky deal right before the economic bubble burst because I pestered him for more money. If I hadn’t done that… 240 million is a lot for countryside people like us, Jason.’

‘Sujin. It is hard to predict exactly when an economic crisis will hit. This is not something your father had any control over. If a businessman would simply sit back and do nothing for the fear of suffering from losses, they will not be able to do any business at all. To do business is to take risks. People have suffered far worse during a crisis. Some people have ended themselves and their family members as well. One of my friends did. He lost a huge amount of money in the 2009 crisis. He had to let his creditors fuck his wi—’

‘You don’t need to tell me the details, Jason. We share our memories, remember? And I also very much know that you will be guiding our... conversation towards Stoicism down the line, and I am not interested right now?’

‘...It is definitely thousand times better than those cultist pricks that knock on your door from time to time.’

‘Maybe. But I am not interested right now, Jason.’

‘...Well, you cannot cure masochism.’

‘Hey!’

At that moment, her phone made a short sound. Her mother took it out, stared at the screen and froze.

“Who is it?”

“Mi-mi-mi-mi—”

“Mi what?”

“Min Seoyoung! That ‘This young miss is fierce’ Min Seoyoung! You didn’t say you knew her?!” Sujin stared blankly at her mother, who was hyperventilating.

“...Of course I know her. I am her manager.”

“WHAT?!?!?!?” She stared at Sujin with her mouth open. “YOU NEVER TOLD ME THAT!!! I—I—you have to get me her autograph!!!”

“Wait, you didn’t know about it? I thought it was on the news? Also, I heard she also tried to visit me after I woke up at the same time as you guys did, but the authority decided that family goes first? How come you never saw her?”

“I was—I was worried about you! Min Seoyoung was there and I missed her?!!” She started facepalming really hard, while Sujin dumbfoundedly watched.

‘Wow, your mother’s a big fan it seems. Hadn’t it been only a year since her acting debut? She already has crazy fans like her, not to mention in your own family? Damn…’

‘Noona, you know Min Seoyoung? I really like her, she is very pretty!’ Doyoon signed with his hands, his eyes gleaming. Him too?

Sujin sighed, and then signed back, ‘I’ll ask her for an autograph for both of you.’ Both her mother and younger brother returned a bigger smile.

‘Well, I was not expecting even Doyoon to be her fan as well… wait, how did he?!’ She snapped her head towards her brother.

“Doyoon can read others' lips,” her mother told her with a knowing look in her eyes. “He saw it in a movie and wanted to learn it as well, so we arranged for it.”

“B-but he didn’t say anything when I was communicating with him in sign language…”

‘I was really happy that you learned sign language for me, Noona. So I wanted to continue talking with you like that…’ the kid said blushing.

Sujin was hugging him before she even realized it. He just looked up to her face and showed a bashful smile.

‘Jason, we are getting him cured no matter what.’

‘Agreed.’

 

---

 

“Gwandma… pwish shtof…” Sujin tried to back away as her cheeks were getting tortured by her grandmother.

“Aigoo… look how skinny my child has become! Did those people in the hospital not give you anything to eat? Bah! Those money grubbing bastards! Don’t worry! Grandma will make you healthy in no time!” Sujin felt a shudder imagining the dining table.

She saw her grandfather standing behind straight with a perpetual frown in his face. To other people, he might look scary. Sujin knew how much of a kind person he was. He was just bad at expressing his emotions. And a little too pushy sometimes.

“Grandpa.”

“Hm. You barely escaped death.”

“...Yes.”

“Do you still want to become an idol now?” He never really supported her wish to become an idol. Well, he did not hate idols. He just did not like the new ones. He was the same as her father—liking classical stuff and that these electronic instruments and westernized music has ruined everything. They accepted trotting however. And maybe old rock songs.

He said that Sujin did not have it in her. What a hurtful thing to say to a teenager. She snapped at him at that moment, saying “You cannot say it until I actually try!” or something like that. It was eight years ago.

He turned out to be right.

“...No grandpa. But I did get a job that involves them.”

“Being their managers?”

“Y-yeah.”

“And it got you almost killed. I read in the newspaper that it was one of the crazy fanatics of some young girl that sent you to hospital?”

“...Yes.”

“Pathetic.”

“Huh?” Sujin stared at him blankly.

“Honey!”
“Father!”
“Father in law!”

Both of her parents and her grandma glared at her. She was still recovering! Doctors specially warned them not to agitate her!

“Not her. Those people… what do they call themselves? Fans? They are pathetic. In my time, Shin Jonghak was one of the greatest singers alive. When he announced his marriage, us villagers had a celebration wishing for their longevity. And now? They try to harm a young teenage girl because she fell in love with a man? Pathetic. And it's your job to deal with these pathetic people? You have no reason to do it. Quit your job and come back to the village,” He said and then turned in the opposite direction.

“...I’ll think about it.”

“Hm. You’ve all travelled a long way. Get some rest.”

“Hm.”

“Okay everyone! You all have travelled a long way and also have been standing here for a long time, you all must be tired! Get some rest and then come to the dining table, okay? I’ve cooked everyone’s favorite food!”

 

---

 

“Ugh… I feel sick…”

Sujin, forced to eat by her grandma until her stomach almost exploded, was currently sleeping on her bed in her own room. Her very own room where she spent 14 years of her life, ignoring her infant days.

‘I guess Grandmas are the same no matter where you are.’

‘Yeah, they are such a terrifying existence across countless dimensions. The agent of chaos who can just by its presence can inflict you with the curse of obesity.’

‘Well, you will have to perform the holy ritual of exercise as soon as you recover then.’

‘Hmm… that’s for sure. It’s a shame I will have to just sit around for who knows how long until my parents finally allow me to use my smartphone and laptop.’

‘Well, I know they are concerned but I also believe they are exaggerating things a little. They could at least allow it for one or two hours. It is just not possible to stay disconnected from everyone in this era.’

‘You know, you’re right. I will have to ask them to at least hand them to me for one or two hours. I cannot just sit around sleeping and eating the whole day.’

Her mother entered the room at that moment.

“Sujin, do you need anything?”

“My smartphone and laptop please.”

“...Denied. You know the doctor—”

“I know what he said. But I also have a life, you know. Friends, colleagues. I need to at least keep in touch with them. Can’t you allow me to use them for even one or two hours?”

Her mother hesitated a little.

“...Mom? Please???” It had been a while since Sujin used the puppy eye attack on her mother. She was always weak to it. It was not different this time either.

“...Just for one hour.”

“Two.”

“...Don’t push it, Lee Sujin.”

‘I think you better stop, Sujin. It's serious when your mother calls you with your full name.’

“...Fine. But how long will this last?”

“For two more weeks according to Dr. Yoo.”

Sujin had to be content with one hour. It would have been better if she had more time, but for now, one hour would do.

Sujin used the first 30 minutes to contact Nam Jiyeon, Kim Chunja and a few more friends. She did not forget to send a message to Min Seoyoung either. As expected, she was assigned another manager. Whether it would be temporary or not—only time would tell.

Jason gave her a strong reminder to stop after 30 minutes. They had to organize their own plans as well. Thankfully, Sujin’s grandparents' home had good internet connection so they did not have to face much trouble. They were able to easily get the information they wanted.

‘So… it says that we should register for a company to at least not get involved in any tax issues. Well, although I don’t think we need to have a company to make mobile games, but we are planning long term here. But still, were things this strict in my version of Korea as well? I don’t know.’

‘Well, I am employed as a manager so I already have the necessary documents with me. I just need to register for a company then? Hmm… I remember one of the girls starting some online cheap ornament business. I wonder if she had to go through these steps too.’

‘It cannot certainly hurt by being more careful. You know what they say, in any other cases, you are innocent until proven guilty. But—’

‘—when it comes to taxes, you are guilty until proven innocent. At least my world has this saying too.’

‘Well, the terror of the IRS can transcend dimensions I guess.’

‘Yeah, no shit. So… which game should we rip off—I mean, uhh… take inspiration from? We decided on hypercasual games after all.’

‘Rip off is a little… I don’t know. Honestly, it kinda hurts my ego, but we do need both money and popularity. We could make some generic match-3 or solitaire games but I don’t think we will be able to leave any impact with them. Unless we have super awesome graphics or visual effects or music. The stores are probably filled with games like those. We need something that would really spread like a virus. But then it will definitely die down, but we do not care about that for now.’

‘Hmm… hey. I think I know which one we could make.’

‘Which one?’

‘Flappy Bird. It has everything we need right now. It will not take much time to develop, will become viral, get tons of downloads and challenge streams and then die down eventually. But we can get all the money and publicity we need right now.’

‘...We will have to first make sure that it does not already exist. We have 17 minutes before your Mom comes back to take everything away.’

‘You’re right.’

They both frantically searched the net for similar games, but fortunately, there wasn’t one. Well, they did find a similar one, but it was just an old game name “Chopper Rush”, which was about a broken helicopter traveling through a cave and you had to constantly tap the screen to keep it from crashing. It was easy and nothing like the rage inducing Flappy Bird.

Sujin’s mother came and took away the items as she said. Sujin, however, was not upset anymore.

‘It could work!!! People will remember a bird with a silly face diving nose down and crashing into something more than a helicopter with malfunctioning blades.’

‘...I guess so.’

‘...You’re miffed about completely copying the game?’

‘To be honest, yes. I wish we could add something more to the game.’

‘Like what? Daily challenges? Multiplayer?’

‘...Yeah, that could work.’

‘What? Daily challenges?’

‘No, multiplayers. Well… we could leave 2 or 3 players in a large empty—well, maybe a few floating obstacles—area, then the players will try to hit and knock down each other in some way? The last one flying wins?’

‘...I guess that would work. But that stupid bird only goes forward, right?’

‘We could introduce a button that will allow the bird to change direction.’

‘Jason, you’re a genius! We can also allow a lot of players to fight in a battle royal style! That will be superhit! We’ll be rich!!!’

‘Um… Sujin.’

‘What?’

‘We cannot afford that many players without a server. And we cannot afford a server.’

Sujin did not say anything in her mind for a few seconds.

‘...M-maybe we can just—’

‘Even if we spend some of our salary and buy a server, we will have to maintain it properly. You have a job, remember? We will have to hire an employee, which is impossible right now. If the game becomes a success and we get too many players, without regular maintenance, one or more of the servers might crash and it will hamper the experience. People will eventually start to complain. We will be flooded with negative reviews before we know it. Better not go that route at all. The multiplayer will have to be Bluetooth or local Wi-Fi based only, for now. Only 4 or 5 people will be able to play at maximum.’

‘B-but who will play it only with local multiplayer? It sounds so… old age! People love to compete online nowadays! We will be losing so many players that way! Not to mention if somebody steals the idea and actually buys servers, we will lose even more!’

‘Yep, we will probably have to scratch it.’

‘But can’t we get some interested investors to help us with setting up  a server?’

‘For how long? People will stop playing it eventually. What will we do with the servers then? We are not full time game developers. We will not be able to use the servers regularly right now. We will only be losing money.’

‘...And if some other company comes up with the same idea?’

‘Then it’s our bad luck.’

Sujin sighed.

‘I guess we will have to make two separate games then. After we make the first one, we will definitely get approached by a big company. We will have to form a partnership with them in a way we won’t lose money.’

‘Yep, you’re right. Unfortunately, we will have to wait for two more weeks.’

‘Well, if we have to, we will. I guess I will binge watch DCEU movies, if Mom and Dad allow it.’

‘I still find it weird that DC movies are awesome here whereas the MCU movies are trash.’

‘And we are the only ones that have watched the awesome version of both.’

They both smirked.

Two more weeks. Things are going to get fun after that.

 

---

 

Two weeks later.

 

“The eldest son of the Seo household has finally passed the civil service exam and has gotten a government job as an official. They are looking for a suitable bride for her. I want you to meet him if possible.”

“...What?”