too much

“i’ve talked to keean…i guess maybe i should look into thats a option. i don’t know why i thought that the gaming sector wouldn’t be held to the same hr rules…” she mused aloud.

“it’s not really something you think about when you came up on your own-- i’ve had the same sort of realizations,” hyeja assured her. “but you deserve to feel happy and safe on your team. talk to them.”

“we all knew how badass you were in the scene, hyeja. you just needed a platform to show off,” narae giggled, reaching over to wipe her friends tears with her sleeve. “thanks, jamjam~ you made so many sick portals. i’m so proud of you.”

“i only did them with your guidance. you’re the best igl ever. you never yell at me or make me feel like things are my fault... i’m so lucky to have you,” she sobbed.

“oh yeah, i like warzone! i can’t play it a ton though because i get kinda bored,” he admitted. “listen, i bet you get people wanting to play with you all the time cuz your pro, but this game sounds cool. do you want to teach me how to play? you could stream it and i could get the legacy sms teams to promote it and shit…”

“apex is a lot more fast paced than warzone, so maybe it’ll be a good fit?” she offered with a laugh. “oh my god, i would love to! that sounds like so much fun! do you have any company hoops to jump through to get that going? i don’t know how being an idol works... but i would be so game for that!”

“yeah, well, i shouldn’t be the person you’re playing with for youtube content anyway. i don’t have the right energy,” she retorted. “i know ruiqi, i guess. she’s not half bad. kind of feel bad for her because of the shit she has to put up with. but i guess i’ll take your word on mingi too….. for now…. he has a lot to prove.”

“your energy is fine. it’s just your language,” hyeja teased back. “i get that. i know taek is... literally the worst and it reflects badly on all of them. but they’re really nice. the rest of them, i mean. i think their coach is one of the nicest men i’ve ever met.”

“that makes sense– maybe at some point, if you have enough disposable income, you can find a good 3d artist and hire them on as your exclusive employee, if that’s the route you want to go,” he offered, laying things out lightly on a photoshop layer. “you’re pro? that’s awesome!” he commented, looking up to smile at her. “i’m part time– i’m not that great. do a lot of freelance work in my free time. but i’d love to work with you.”

“you know, that always felt like a pipe dream, but with the algs win and the siren signing, that could be possible...” she admitted thoughtfully. “oh, yeah! freshly pro. only for a handful of months. i was a content creator who got scouted, but my team just won the biggest 200k tournament a couple months ago,” she said. it was so nice being able to brag about that. “you’re plenty great-- look how much you’ve done right here, in barely any time at all! i’d love to work with you too...”

“fine, i’ll try it, but only if you can find people to play with me. i’m not playing alone. fps’s alone are lame.”

“hey, i’m already slated to play with kisu from legacy-- talk to your pr team!” she said with a smile. “apex plays in trios. we could get you in. it’d be great promotion, and a great time!”

“i guess. but i feel like i’m so close to cracking under the pressure all the time. but i can’t crack, because that’ll just give taek what he wants,” she confided.

“you guys are signed to millenium, right? is there any sort of HR department you can report to? his behaviour is so unacceptable-- he needs to be held accountable,” she replied firmly.

“why the fuck would something need thirty guns? are there even thirty different things guns can do? how do you tell them apart?” kisu scoffed. “i guess that’s a cool video, though. exploiting it to see just how busted it is…. i…i’ve never heard of that game, though. is it like COD?”

“well, they all have different fire rates and recoil patterns and damage. and different skill ceilings too. i think having variety makes the game more interesting-- especially for a battle royale! keeps things fresh! and learning to be good with every gun is a great challenge,” she explained. “they’re different shapes, though, and drop next to their ammo type. and if you hover over them, they’ll say what gun they are...” she smiled. “kind of! do you know warzone? it’s like that-- a battle royale. but with better movement and more diversity, i’d say.”

“she just doesn’t suit the game. and if we’re playing, i’m not about to get annoyed for you being useless because you have no abilities,” sunok warned with a tiny smile. “mingi?  you mean that punk from the knives? you buddy buddy with all of them?” she scoffed.

“yeah, yeah, okay. i’ll leave that content for my youtube channel,” she giggled. she shrugged. “kyungtaek is the only one whos really an asshole. and i’m not a fan of dongwoo. but ruiqi is super sweet, and mingi seems like a nice kid too....”

“that makes sense. and i’ve seen those– i think they can be done really well if a good 3D artist gets their hands on it, but half the time, it’s just guys in blender for the first time,” gray admitted, sketching quickly in photoshop as he talked to her. “honestly…. you can tell me to shut up if i’m being too forward but… if you need someone to help you with thumbnails, i’d apply. i think there’s such a cool science to it, and i mean…. i have a pretty good portfolio,” he offered cautiously.

“i saw a girl on twitter who did great work, but she has so many commissions already and is in school. i didn’t want to burden her with more, especially if i want most of my content to focus around me,” she explained. her eyes lit up when he offered to help her, though, and she nodded. “i would love that! i used to make all my own, and i loved it, but now that i play pro, i don’t really have time anymore! and i was worried about making an open call because i didn’t want to get overwhelmed with offers... but you’re a spotlight graphic artist! cream of the crop! that sounds amazing!”

“then maybe i’ll try it. i dunno. i’m more of a warzone guy.”

“well, warzone’s nice, but the movement in apex is a lot better. and there are less cheaters. i definitely think it’s worth a shot.”

“honestly, they’re terrible - and back when my group was promoting a lot, there weren’t nearly as many shows are there are now, either. it feels like every few months they invent a new thing to make it more hectic,” jenny said, shaking her head. “i wish i could say i napped in the time not doing it freed up, but honestly i was just busy with other stuff.” she sighed - of course, she genuinely loved being busy, to a point, but sometimes a nice rest really would hit the spot.

“i’m glad someone besides me is saying it-- that’s what i’ve always thought, but i also know nothing about idols. but like...it seems like one broadcasting company sees something do well, and then tries to do the same thing,” she giggled. really, she should be more intimidated. jenny was the ceo of her company. she was basically the head of her org. but somehow hyeja was fine-- maybe because she wasn’t an idol herself, so there wasn’t that direct comparison. “i mean, that’s so cool though! you built your own company! and man, am i ever glad you did!”

Jiwoo was no stranger to games; in fact she almost always begged the few friends of hers to play with her. If/once she was rejected her next targets were always the rest of Terra. Whenever she was bored or lonely, she’d tend to watch various streamers of the different games she played and even called herself following a few of them. She didn’t know much about esports; but she knew enough that she was aware about tournaments and some bigger names. As hears the voice, she jumps. Brown eyes batting in surprise and worry as she was scared someone had recognized her. A soft exclamation of said surprise  out tumbling from her mask-covered mouth. “O-oh okay.” She says. eyes darting to the tablet for a moment, “The first one is more eye grabbing than the others, but it’s a bit cluttered. Maybe combine both the ideas?” Jiwoo tilts her head momentarily, looking up for a minute before blinking, “I think i know you from somewhere?” she says a bit quietly, analyzing the others face as she thinks.

hyeja nodded, taking the mental note and studying the thumbnails. “ooh, i’ll definitely try that-- i appreciate the input! this has never been my strong suit....” she admitted. most people her size hired people to make thumbnails, but she didn’t want to do that. how was she supposed to get better? she cocked her head to the side. “oh? well, if you’re familiar with twitch or gaming you might have been recommended something of mine before? i’m a pro player with siren’s valkyries apex team, but i started as a content creator,” she offered

“broken how? like in a good way, or a bad way? there are different guns?” kisu asked, essentially rapid fire. “honestly, i used to play a lot more video games than i do. should i check this game out? also what is this game?”

“oh god, yeah, there’s like...almost thirty guns!” she laughed, nodding. “broken....like...it’s really easy to beam people with it without much skill involved. so good if you’re the one using it, bad if you’re on the receiving end,” she explained. “the game is apex legends! i play on siren’s new pro team-- i’d totally recommend trying it, but i’m biased. it is free, though, so what do you have to lose?”