Season 3: Chapter 137: Departure (2)
No one in the national competition team expected this. Even Sang-Hyeon, the most popular streamer here, had no idea. They had no clue that fans would gather and cheer for them like this on the day of their departure.
“Waaaaaa!!!”
“Fake National Team, fighting!”
“Almond! Please win!”
Fans lined up along the path like a red carpet, cheering enthusiastically. Some even held up large banners that seemed meticulously prepared.
[Bow of Joseon!? No! Bow of Kingdom!? Yes!]
[KingGodGeneralPresidentAlmond ~ Bring it on!]
[King~ You can't beat me ~ Come on]
The banners set up by Kingdom fans caught his eye first. Despite seeing them after a long time, the familiar phrases still felt endearing.
[Hey! Almond! If you lose, you’re playing with me in LIL!]
The fans also displayed a threatening banner with Raina's face prominently on it.
‘... The Demian Association?’
It seemed like the Demian Association or maybe a parody of them.
Many other signs appeared to be from LIL fans.
[The blessing of the Sanctuary is with Almond!]
[Give us Demian instead of the horned bow!]
[Resolve our grudge from the LIL Cup!]
Fans from LIL evidently came to support them too.
[Go! Nuts!]
[10 kills? You're missing a zero!]
[Chikicha! Protect!]
The meme related signs showed support for Almond as well as for Cookie, Kimchi Warrior, Pang, and the others. These players had gained some recognition. Ꞧ𝘢Ŋꝋ₿Ε𝙎
[Chi-Seung! Close the plane window when you sleep!]
[Now I understand! Father Koo!]
[Pang, if you lose, you'll be single forever]
Some signs felt like curses rather than support messages.
“Hey! Why are mine threats and not cheers?!”
Pang's reaction only made his fans laugh harder without a hint of guilt.
“Ah... What is that…? Oh my god...” Water Dumpling grumbled after seeing a sign with [Kimchi ♥ Water Dumpling].
She blushed, but a bright smile spread across her face.
Other members also looked around in wonder and amusement as they walked. Sang-Hyeon was no exception.
“Ah, yes. Thank you. Thank you. Yes…”
He waved to the approaching fans and even shook hands with them, displaying quite a bit of composure.
However, his eyes looked red and bloodshot for some reason.
***
They entered the duty-free area after passing through the airport entrance. It was neither foreign nor Korean territory, so fans did not gather here.
“Ah, I need to get some cosmetics.”
“My mom asked me to get something. Haha…”
Each member took some time to buy the things they needed.
During this, Carrot quietly approached Almond, who was pushing a cart.
“Oppa, aren’t you buying anything?”
“Ah... what?”
Sang-Hyeon still felt somewhat out of it. For some reason, he couldn't calm his racing heart. The cheers at the entrance… something from there kept pounding in his heart.
“Aren’t you buying anything? Are you feeling unwell? Your face looks... red.” Carrot asked again.
Only then did Sang-Hyeon return to reality.
“Ah, I’m fine. I don’t really need anything.” After a brief silence, Sang-Hyeon looked at Carrot and asked, “Aren’t you buying anything?”
“I already have a lot... It would just be more luggage.”
Everyone else had gone somewhere, leaving Carrot and Sang-Hyeon pushing their carts together.
“Where is everyone else?”
“They went to buy some stuff.”
Feeling a bit awkward, Sang-Hyeon asked how her stream went lately.
“By the way Carrot, you stream now, right? How’s it going?”
Ju-Hyeok had been interested in the streaming activities of the national competition members lately. Carrot also started streaming recently, so Sang-Hyeon asked to gather some information.
“Ah, streaming... It’s going well.”
She looked away shyly.
“How many viewers do you have?”
“Around... a thousand?”
“Oh.”
A thousand viewers for a beginner was a considerable number. It was probably due to the influence of the national competition and the Fake National Team.
Carrot had gained quite a bit of popularity from her performances in the matches.
“What’s with the ‘Oh?’ You soared up from the start.”
“You can’t compare yourself to me.”
Carrot burst into laughter at the subtly modest brag.
“What is that? It’s like saying, ‘It’s just me.’”
“That’s exactly it... Ah!”
Sang-Hyeon suddenly remembered something and pulled out a long stick from his luggage.
“I was supposed to start streaming, but I forgot.”
“…!?”
Carrot’s eyes widened in surprise. Was he going to start streaming right now?
“Am I going to be on it too?”
It was too late.
With quick and simple movements, Sang-Hyeon had already started the stream.
***
Ding.
[Almond has started streaming]
[Departure~]
Despite the sudden start, many viewers flocked to the stream.
— Hi
— Oh, finally
— He really did start an outdoor stream as he said
— Wow, keeping promises
It helped that he had already hinted about doing outdoor streams in Japan.
— Wow
— Almond’s home streams are the worst lol
— Wow, looking sharp...
— Aha!
Sang-Hyeon’s phone replaced the usual camera and the chat messages continuously went to his smartwatch.
Ding.
Donations also appeared as holograms on the smartwatch.
[RubySword has donated 30,000 won.]
[I was at the departure hall! Good luck, everyone!]
“Ah, Ruby, thank you. You were there?”
Sang-Hyeon tried to recall. He knew RubySword’s face, but she probably wore a mask. She preferred to avoid excessive attention, so it made sense.
[RubySword has donated 30,000 won.]
[Wore a mask~ hehe]
As expected, she had been wearing a mask.
— Wow, Ruby Princess… So different from other attention seekers!
— Ruby Worship Corner
— Is she going to Japan too?
— Mom! I want to be RubySword when I grow up!
“Ah, thank you, RubySword. Anyway, thank you all for welcoming us at the departure hall... I started the stream just to say that.”
Sang-Hyeon’s voice trembled slightly at this point, something only Carrot next to him noticed.
‘Huh?’
She looked up at him, sensing something strange, and saw his Adam's apple bobbing excessively.
‘He must be touched.’
Almond probably felt moved by the cheering fans. He seemed more sentimental than he looked. Carrot thought this but didn’t show it.
‘The donations are crazy.’
Indeed, Sang-Hyeon’s stream was on a different scale.
Donations poured in as soon as it started. It was impossible to gauge the total just from the regulars and new big donors alone. Most enviable was how these donations naturally created a flow for the stream.
Ding.
[Solongpo has donated 10,000 won.]
[Next to you is... Carrot~~?]
Someone recognized Carrot.
"Ah, yes. This is Carrot."
Sang-Hyeon slightly turned the camera toward Carrot.
"Ah, hello..."
— Hanging out with the brain in real life too lol
— Need a nanny for the baby Carrot
— No, lol, is she the nanny?
— You're pretty, unnie! (dingle)
— Kudos to Cookie for placing Carrot to keep Yu Sang-Hyeon out of trouble
The rapid-fire chat messages poured in, mentioning Carrot. It was dizzying to keep up with. Carrot, looking up at Sang-Hyeon, thought streamers were indeed amazing.
"Carrot is also streaming these days, so please watch her as well."
'Ah... is that why?'
She finally understood why Almond had suddenly started the stream. Although it had already been scheduled, he started it at this time to support Carrot's stream.
— Does Carrot stream too?
— 200 streamers debuting, awesome
— If you watch Carrot's stream, you'll understand strategies so well
— Shouldn't Almond be watching Carrot's stream? lol
— Oh, on Treevy??
Even though she had a thousand viewers, most people didn't know she was streaming. This would surely get more people to know.
[DoubtfulDonor has donated 5,000 won.]
[So suspicious of Almond suddenly streaming~ Upvote if you agree~ Starting with me~]
The funny donation message made Carrot feel guilty and startled.
— lol so true
— For real lol
— What's the hidden agenda?
— ??? This is an ad!?
— Another ad?
— No, he said he'd do outdoor streams lol
They weren’t aiming at Carrot. It was just that Almond didn't often do chat streams, so they suspected something like an ad.
Of course, it wasn't an ad. However—
"Actually, we have an airline ad today," Almond said and casually showed the airline desk on his phone.
"???"
Even Carrot felt surprised and followed his camera with her eyes. When did he get that?
— ???
— lol
— Wow lol
— How many ads did he get?
"~Just kidding."
"What!?" Carrot burst out laughing in disbelief.
— Carrot was fooled too lol
— This is a 100k streamer?!
— So cute
— No way lol
— What!? lol
— No way I was fooled too
Sang-Hyeon only intended to fool the viewers.
He turned to Carrot and asked, "Huh? Did you get fooled?"
He seemed to be using formal speech for the stream. Carrot blushed and turned away.
"No."
— lol
— It's obvious she was fooled
— It's a blow to the brain lol
— Carrot must feel embarrassed
— Poor Carrot
***
At 9:30 A.M., the entire group boarded the plane.
Sang-Hyeon sat next to Pang.
'We're leaving.'
For a moment, he quietly looked out the window.
Most people checked their luggage or switched their phones to airplane mode, all in silence.
"Can I open it now?"
Only Chi-Seung's whisper could be heard. Sang-Hyeon sat right behind him and could hear everything.
"... You can only open the outer packaging."
Chi-Seung wore a face like a child discovering that Santa Claus wasn’t real.
"You can open it after takeoff. Because of the pressure difference."
"Ah... pressure..."
Water Dumpling's relentless teasing made Sang-Hyeon stifle his laughter. He didn't expect Chi-Seung to be fooled even here.
"You’ll kill the kid with your jokes," Pang muttered with a chuckle as he closed his eyes to rest.
It would take about one hour and fifty minutes to reach Kansai Airport.
“Our plane will take off soon.”
After the announcement, the seatbelt sign turned on and the plane started to move. It took off with a hum and vibration, breaking through white clouds to reveal the blue sky.
Sang-Hyeon, gazing at the scenery outside, closed his eyes for a bit.
'Should I sleep too?'
His earlier excitement had subsided and he wanted to relax his muscles. Even a short nap would help.
Perhaps because it was a light sleep? Maybe the intense scenes from the Fake National Team’s departure remained in his mind. Sang-Hyeon dreamed of his old teammates.
He, Hyeon-Ju, and Dong-Su all wore white uniforms...
'Wait, Dong-Su can’t be on the national team.'
Realizing the absurdity of seeing Dong-Su, he almost realized it was a dream. However, he immersed himself in the dream and discarded any sense of logic.
“Hey, Han So-Yeon,” he called her name.
A smiling girl turned to look at him. Strangely, she didn’t wear a white uniform but a school uniform. Maybe because he saw her in this outfit the most.
“Huh?”
So-yeon smiled brightly and turned around.
Sang-Hyeon spoke proudly, “We’re finally going.”
He had every reason to be proud after finally becoming a national team member and going to compete.
“Congratulations.”
“Why congratulate me? You’re coming too. We should celebrate after we win.”
Something about So-Yeon's words seemed odd to Sang-Hyeon. Then, a clear breeze blew.
Swoosh...!
Her hair fluttered, revealing the blue sky and sea.
The sea...? It was the same as when he went to the beach with So-Yeon.
She slightly held up her skirt, saying they should dip their feet in the water.
‘What is this? Am I... back?’
If so, there was something he had to say.
“The next Olympics is in Greece. The beach there is supposed to be beautiful…”
Upon hearing this, Sang-Hyeon shouted as if speaking to someone far away, “Come with me! I'll take you!”
Finally, he said it. He could say it now after coming back. However—
"!"
Sang-Hyeon's eyes snapped open.
It wasn't the sea. It was just an airplane window. Outside was the blue sky and clouds. No sea.
The only wetness he felt was the tear running down his cheek.
'What was that?'
He couldn’t remember.