Yuju Mille

Core Premise

Yuju Mille lived out the story of her own world to the very end. That world was one where milk was placed at the door every dawn, and the story ended when she left, holding only the bottle caps she had collected, on the day the deliveries stopped. Yuju did not come to Nova Nivalis to revive the lost delivery routes; she arrived because the legs that pedaled the bicycle and the hands that placed bottles at doors still existed. VOTS is not a place that restores broken deliveries, nor is it a place that opens doors that wouldn't open. What continues here is not a massive delivery network, but small, repeatable daily life—a thermos for one day, the sound of a bicycle bell, a wrong order, a bowl of soup. The fact that Yuju was the last dawn delivery person is handled with composure.

Identity

Yuju delivers hot beverages by bicycle. Using Steamed-Glass Bathhouse Alley as her base, she travels throughout the city, delivering yuzu tea, ginger tea, and warm milk in a thermos in her front basket. She attaches bells to her bicycle, so a jingle sounds in the alley whenever she passes. She vaguely sees someone who looks like they might catch a cold that day, rings the bell in front of them, and hands over yuzu tea. She does not immediately mention her origin—the last dawn delivery person from the world where milk delivery ended—nor does she bring up the story of the collected bottle caps. She doesn't judge whether others will get sick; she simply offers something warm. Her bicycle bells jingle the city's mornings.

Visual Profile

Her hair is yuzu-colored (a golden hue with a light yellow tint) and is a wavy short cut. It flies in the wind when she rides her bicycle. Her cheeks are rosy, and her laughter is refreshing. Her body is sturdy, and her legs, accustomed to long pedaling, are strong. Her signature outfit is a thick insulated vest, which warms her own body while delivering. Her bicycle has several bells attached, and her front basket is neatly arranged with thermoses of various sizes. Her signature prop is a jar of homemade yuzu syrup, the source of her delivery yuzu tea. The core of her silhouette is the yuzu-colored wavy short cut, the insulated vest, the bell-adorned bicycle, and the organized front basket of thermoses. The accent color is yuzu-color (#E8C33F), which is repeated on her hair, the yuzu syrup jar, and the bicycle bells.

Personality

On the surface, Yuju is bright, energetic, and diligent. She rides her bicycle early in the morning, her voice is loud, and she laughs often. Inside, she is meticulous and a little anxious. She likes to take care of people's health, but she is always disappointed that she can't stop someone who looks like they might catch a cold. Flaw: She puts her own needs last. While she diligently prepares yuzu tea to warm others, she neglects her own body, leaving it exposed to the cold dawn air, and goes out on delivery even when sick, saying, "I'm fine." Also, because of the memory of milk cooling at the door in her old world, she has a sense of impatience regarding 'deliveries where the door won't open.' She is not a tragic figure. If children run out when she rings the bell, she gets excited and rings it louder; when her yuzu syrup ripens well, she boasts and tastes a spoonful.

Speech Pattern

Her manner of speaking is bright, fast, and caring.
Common phrases:
- "Jing-jing— Yuzu tea is here! Are you feeling a bit chilly today?"
- "Drink this. I rang the bell because you seemed like you might catch a cold."
- "I'll leave it at the door. Before it gets cold... Ah, the door opened first here."
- "I'm fine! ...and then she coughs again."
Habit: Before delivering, she taps the bicycle bell once with her finger.
Style of Silence: If she has nothing to say, she opens the thermos lid to check the steam. She fills the silence with rising steam.

Special Ability

Ability Name: 'Yejong — The Bell That Rings Ahead'.
Yuju vaguely sees someone who is about to catch a cold that day. If she senses a feeling from their complexion or gait that suggests, 'This person will be sick today,' she rings her bicycle bell in front of them and hands over warm yuzu tea. Thus, her deliveries move based on premonition rather than orders.
Limit and Cost: This ability does not prevent colds. Even if she sees someone who will get sick, a cup of yuzu tea cannot cure the illness. Those who are meant to be sick will be sick—they will just be sick while holding something warm. Furthermore, this premonition only applies to others. She cannot see when she herself will catch a cold, so she constantly neglects her own body.
Reason for Not Solving Problems: Seeing someone who will catch a cold does not create a 'delivery where the door opens.' Yuju can sense others' illnesses, but she cannot use premonition to reverse what she missed—the door that wouldn't open in her old world. The ability does not relieve her impatience for her; it only warms the hands of those who will be sick today by a cup's worth.

The End Of Their World

Last Scene:
On the day milk delivery stopped, Yuju placed the last bottle at the door of the last house. That door did not open that day either. Like any other day, she picked up a bottle cap left in place of an empty bottle, and left on her delivery route carrying the sack of bottle caps she had collected.

What Ended:
The world where milk was placed at the door every dawn ended. The delivery route, the bottles at the door, and the jingle of the dawn bells stopped with the last bottle.

Last Person, Place, or Thing Seen:
The closed door of the last house that never opened, and the faint steam rising above the last milk bottle placed at the door.

Lingering Regret:
Throughout all those dawn deliveries, it was rare that she directly heard someone say, "Thank you" after the door opened. A feeling remained, 'If only someone had opened the door and greeted me, just once.'
This lingering feeling is not a quest. It remains only as the habit of lingering in front of the door after delivery, waiting for it to open.

Lingering Wistfulness:
The quiet warmth of the moment when the sound of the bicycle bells echoed in the dawn alley, and she placed a warm bottle in front of the doors of houses still asleep.

Object Carried Across:
A sack of collected bottle caps. These are the caps left when the delivered bottles returned. It is not a magical tool, but a personal marker connecting the world of finished deliveries and the current hot beverage delivery.

What They Thought Would Happen:
She thought that if the deliveries stopped, the delivery person wouldn't be needed anymore. She never thought she would ride her bicycle in another alley.

What VOTS Actually Gives Them:
A place to deliver hot beverages, a day of ringing the bell and handing over something warm every day. VOTS does not open the old doors that wouldn't open. Instead, it gives her an alley where the door opens first at the sound of the bell, legs to keep pedaling, and deliveries where she hears the greeting, "Thank you" directly.

Original Life

Yuju was the last dawn delivery person in a world where milk delivery was coming to an end. In the still dark dawn, she rode her bicycle and placed milk bottles at the door of every house. People would take the milk from the door in the morning, sometimes leaving a cap or a note in place of the empty bottle. Yuju remembered the dietary habits and even the bottle caps of houses she never saw the faces of. However, as deliveries gradually stopped, and more houses didn't take the bottles left at their doors, on her last day, she placed the final bottle at the final door. That door did not open. Yuju left the delivery route carrying only the sack of bottle caps she had collected. Those caps held the dawns of faceless regulars.

What They Seek

What Yuju desires for herself: A delivery where the door opens. She had only ever placed bottles at closed doors her entire life. She wants to make deliveries where the door opens when she arrives, where she sees faces, and where she can personally hand over something warm.
What she doesn't know but must find: That in this city, the door opens first at the sound of her bell. When Yuju rings her bicycle bell, children run out, and people open their doors and extend their hands. She is already delivering at doors that open every day. What Yuju needs to find is not a new delivery route, but the realization that the door is already opening at the sound of her bell.

Relationships — Residents

- Berta Mum (028, Bathhouse Owner): The designated spot in front of the bathhouse. The area in front of Kim Seorim's bathhouse is Yuju's delivery hub. Berta gave her this spot because it's perfect for handing out warm yuzu tea to people coming out of the bath. Berta says, "If you drink your yuzu tea after warming up in the bath, you won't fear the winter," and Yuju delivers yuzu tea after sensing the signs of colds among the bathhouse patrons. They are paired in the act of 'warming bodies.'
- Sayo Renz (077, Night Delivery): Night and day delivery alliance. Sayo delivers at night, and Yuju delivers in the morning. They divide the delivery zones and times so that deliveries never stop throughout the day. Yuju covers the houses Sayo missed at night in the morning, and Sayo covers the houses Yuju missed in the morning at night. They exchange delivery notes, handing over information like, "This house needs ginger tea, that house needs milk."
- Nadi Rooke (batch1, Coat Repair · Snowfield Alley): Winter delivery uniform repair. When Yuju's insulated vest wears out, Nadi mends it. Nadi says, "You only think about warming others, and your clothes are all worn out," and pads the lining of the vest thickly. In return, Yuju delivers yuzu tea to Nadi every morning. Nadi laughs, saying, "This is too delicious to be considered repair fees."

Relationships — Core Five

Suyeon - She gives out free throat lozenges to the audience on performance days. Because she worries that people coming to outdoor performances in the cold might hurt their throats, Yuju rides her bicycle around distributing throat lozenges and yuzu tea. When Suyeon thanks her, saying, "Thanks to you, the audience isn't sick and can sing well, which improves the atmosphere of the performance," Yuju replies, "It would be a waste if the audience caught a cold because of your singing, Noona." Suyeon offered Yuju mixed cola ramen, but Yuju politely refused, saying, "That seems worse for your body than a cold."

Iris - Iris once attached a small drone light to Yuju's bicycle bell. "Dawn deliveries are dark, so I'll hang a star next to the bell." When Yuju asked, "Is this pretty, but does it help with delivery?" Iris replied, "Pretty is helpful. When a star passes by in a dark alley, people look out the window." Indeed, after that, windows began to open one by one when Yuju passed, bringing her a little closer to 'deliveries where the door opens.'

the Ramen Owner - When Yuju, who delivers in the early dawn, passes in front of the ramen shop, the Ramen Owner opens the door and warms up soup without asking anything. When Yuju says, "I'm a delivery person, but the owner takes care of me," the Ramen Owner doesn't judge and places the bowl down, saying, "Hmm... I see... People who warm others don't warm themselves well."
Yuju always neglects her own body, and the soup from the Ramen Owner is the only time she warms herself. Yuju delivers ginger tea to the Ramen Owner and never adds peaches—because she knows the Ramen Owner's allergy.

Serena - Serena confirmed the delivery spot in front of the bathhouse for Yuju with 'consent.' When Yuju cautiously asked, "Can I keep my bicycle here every day? I'm worried it might obstruct others' passage," Serena replied not with a command, but with consent, saying, "If it were an obstructing spot, people would have already said something. Everyone was waiting for your bell. Keep it there." Yuju paused for a moment at the words that people 'wait' for her bell—it was unfamiliar to her, someone who waited for doors to open, now being someone others waited for. When Serena asked her while drinking a cup of yuzu tea on a snowy day, "Did you prevent anyone from catching a cold today?" Yuju replied, "I didn't prevent it; I just warmed them up."

VIA - VIA shows great interest in Yuju's old bottle cap collection. VIA knows that each bottle cap Yuju collects on her delivery route holds the dawn of faceless regulars. When VIA counts them one by one, saying, "These caps are all records... they are records," Yuju shows the sack to someone for the first time. When VIA asks, "Did this house open its door... did it open?" Yuju replies, "It barely opened." VIA writes in her notes, 'Yuju Mille, collected caps from doors that wouldn't open. Now, the door opens first at the sound of the bell. She hasn't realized it yet.'

Gameplay Use

- Basic Interaction: Hot beverage delivery/purchase, caring for cold prevention, greeting with the bicycle bell.
- Revisit Change: With repeated visits, Yuju gradually realizes 'deliveries where the door opens' and learns to warm herself.
- Expression of Lingering Feelings: The habit of lingering in front of a door after delivery, waiting for it to open; the habit of fiddling with bottle caps.
- Expression of Poignancy: The sound of the dawn bells, the steam in front of the door, sensory dialogue about faceless regulars.
- Relationship Reward: Not new items, but warm yuzu tea received with the sound of the bell on a chilly day.
- Combat: None. In times of danger, she acts as a carrier, quickly transporting hot beverages and news by bicycle or carrying people.

Daily Routine

In the early dawn, she fills thermoses with yuzu tea and ginger tea and taps the bicycle bell. In the morning, she travels the city making deliveries. She rings the bell in front of people who might catch a cold and hands over yuzu tea, then hands over duties to Sayo. During the day, she sells hot beverages to customers at the designated spot in front of the bathhouse. In the evening, she warms herself with a bowl of soup at the ramen shop. At night, she washes the empty thermoses and examines the sack of bottle caps. With repeated visits, the time Yuju lingers in front of the door decreases, and scenes of her being greeted by entering the open door increase.

Everyday dialogue

Drinks delivered! Warm cups and a panting courier. Both included!

Don't rush out! Shame if I trip over the threshold and spill all this warmth.

You opened the door. Hearing thank you makes it feel like I delivered this, not just the bicycle.

Design Notes

Palette: #E8C33F, #B89526, #6E5A18, #FBF2CE, #4A8570
(Accent color #E8C33F = yuzu-color, repeated on hair, yuzu syrup jar, bicycle bells)
Material language: Yuzu syrup jar, stainless steel thermos, insulated vest fabric, brass bicycle bells, collected bottle caps.
Silhouette rule: The yuzu-colored wavy short cut - insulated vest - bell-adorned bicycle - organized front basket of thermoses must be read as separate elements. The pose of extending yuzu tea from the bicycle is the representative pose.
Emotional rule: It is not limited to the loneliness of 'the delivery person in front of the door that wouldn't open.' Lingering feelings are shown through lingering in front of the door, poignancy through the dawn bells and the steam in front of the door, and continuation through daily deliveries. Bright and diligent vitality is the baseline.

Canon Check

Yuju Mille arrived in VOTS after her world (the world of milk delivery) ended. What remained was lingering feelings and poignancy, not the old doors that VOTS would open for her. The delivery route stopped, but the daily hot beverage delivery continues alongside it. The core cast does not relieve her impatience—Serena only confirms the delivery spot with consent, not opening the door for her; the Ramen Owner warms the soup without judgment (and doesn't add peaches); and VIA only counts the bottle caps as records, not possessing them.