Chapter 1:

How It All Began

Click Me! Influencer App


“I want to be rich—but I’m lazy!”

“Then stop being lazy.”

“Noo, did you know that the lazy people are the ones who are innovative enough to create great things to speed things up in our society because they’re so lazy?”

“...If that’s your excuse, I don’t know what to say to that.”

“Well, hear me out, Jay. I have something else that's going to make you speechless.” Hana Lee glanced at her best friend and grinned at him. She was currently lying down on the sofa with her head nearly brushing against the floor.

He sat on the floor and wrinkled his nose. "I really don't like that look on your face right now.

Hana read the article on her phone. “Did you know that Influencers—people who make sponsored posts—make big money? It's not strange for a big Influencer to earn $1000 or more with just a single post! What if I can do that too, Jay?”

“It’s the blood flowing too much to your head again, isn’t it?” Tristan Jay lightly bumped his fist at her head.

Hana groaned and sat upright from the sofa. It was currently a Saturday evening and with her best-friend-since-diapers currently at her house, Hana thought that she could get him on board with her brilliant idea.

“Come on, I’m sure you know I’m right. Maybe it's a little different between platforms and follower count, but imagine that. Making more than one's daily wage by a click of one's thumb!”

Tristan continued to stare at the television in front of them, not even bothering to look her way.

“Here’s the thing, not every Influencer makes big money. You said it yourself that it depends on followers. And you need a ton, and I mean a ton of followers if you’re actually thinking that you could live your entire life doing that.”

“Isn’t that where investing and savings come in?”

Tristan Jay looked at her and then did a double-take. “You know what? Why, that’s the most rational thing I have ever heard from you!”

“Ugh, I didn’t say I was stupid. Just lazy.” Hana stuck out a tongue at him.

“Yeah, I know that.”

“Hey!” Hana punched him in the shoulder and then looked back at the screen. “Don’t forget that I was the one who lent you my homework during Trigo.”

“You make me want to take back my words earlier—the answers were all completely wrong back then.”

Hana Lee tried to think of an excuse, but only spluttered at that and grinned sheepishly. She didn't have any good reasons for that time, but she was still convinced that becoming an Influencer was a solid, if not brilliant plan.

"Well, just you wait then Tristan," Hana said as she scrolled down her phone's screen. She cozied herself on the sofa and smiled. "I'll be learning the ins and outs of this Influencer thing by checking them online."

"Do you really think that there's a guide or video that's going to tell you how you're going to succeed? If it was that easy, then everyone would have been Influencers and getting paid by companies to advertise their products."

Hana pursed her lips. "You're being too negative, I'm sure there's no exact answer—but tips, advice and all that helps. Surely there's like some things that every Influencer has in common and I should copy."

"Hana, I've seen you attempt to be a painter and you immediately lost interest in it after three weeks. You tried to start exercising daily but ate at a fastfood once we were done jogging. I can't help but be skeptical." Tristan scratched his head and sighed. "You said it yourself, you're lazy and things are not as easy as they seem."

His words were blunt.

If there was ever going to be a friend who'd point out all your flaws—it was your best friend after all.

But it didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

"Ow… you didn't have to bring all of those up." Hana winced, but then shook her head. She managed a grin. "You can't keep pulling up my track record. I can make things different this time if I put my mind to it."

Tristan pulled up to his feet and immediately padded forward past the living room. His own gaze was glued to his phone. "Yeah, we'll see about that. But hey, the dinner we ordered is finally here so you can set the table."

He made his way to the door.

"Oi, you can't expect me to set up the table just because I'm a girl!"

"I'm asking you to do it so you can get up your lazy ass, Hana." Tristan answered right back. "I'm the one paying so it's the least you could do!"

"Alright, you got me."

Hana looked at her phone and at the article about Influencers, she sighed inwardly. The sound of the show playing on the television was background noise.

She stood up and went over to set their table like he asked.

While dinner was good and was almost enough to make her forget about their discussion. Hana never really forgot about it and continued browsing through her phone.

"Stop using your phone while eating." Tristan clicked his tongue.

"You're doing the same thing."

"I finish eating way faster than you."

"Geez. You're stricter than my parents." Hana grumbled and still continued doing the opposite of what he asked. There was this neat website that managed one's posts and uploads to make it easier to release content daily.

She bookmarked it for later use.

Her social media accounts were bare as bones, so Influencer or not, it might be helpful.

Tristan rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm here to babysit you."

"I don't need a sitter, I'm already a grown woman. If there's anything, you're just afraid to stay at your own place." Hana stuck her tongue out. "Who's the kid now?"

"What are you even looking at to be so busy?"

"Eh, just random personality quizzes. I always turn out as this cute and adorable Nuzzlecloud."

"What the heck is a Nuzzlecloud?"

"The opposite of the brave Lyondor."

Hana didn't want to bring the Influencer thing up again… at least, until she found a good enough reason for him to stop doubting her. The only way to do that was by showing she can do it.

And yet, what if Jay was right?

Hana Lee had never done anything spectacular that could amount to anything.

Tristan gave her a look. "You know what, you can take those quizzes later, we still need to finish the movie earlier. I still can't believe they chose him to portray the hero when they could have found someone better."

Hana gave him a childish smile. "What do you think about being a celebrity?"

"Well, I have the looks for it."

"The gall of this boy!"

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