Chapter 18
“Thanks, sis. I turned you down, then suddenly asked you again.”
“That’s fine. Then come to the address you sent me by four on Saturday.”
“I’ll do that.”
“Yeah. See you then. Oh, I’m going to post the announcement Saturday morning, but if you want to say something too, go ahead.”
I hung up after telling her to do whatever was convenient for her.
After silently thanking her once more,
I organized my schedule.
The collab would be on Saturday.
“You said you’d prepare the ingredients in advance if I told you what I needed by that morning.”
Then I should take Friday off from streaming so I could think about the menu.
But Saturday was the collab. Was it okay to turn on my own stream too? I’d never done anything like this, so I had no idea.
Here came a famous military saying: If you’re wondering whether you can do it, don’t.
Is it you again? No, no, don’t come over.
I’d be able to watch it anyway if I went to Sis’s room, so technically it would be a day off.
Should I take Sunday off too? I had a feeling Saturday would drain me completely. Yeah, let’s rest.
I’d more or less finished planning the schedule. All that remained was to ask for their understanding in advance on stream.
When I looked at the clock, there wasn’t much time left before the stream.
Let’s get going.
***
-Jian-ha (meaning “Jian hi”)
-JH
-Jian-ha~ (meaning your stocks are crashing)
-Fuck you
-ㅅㅅ
“Hiya. Did you all have a good day today? Of course, I’m guessing you spent it doing the same old thing as always, but I’ll ask out of courtesy.”
-lol
-What are you talking about? I moonlight as a home guard, environmental cleaner, and stock trainer.
-You’re just a fucking NEET.
-(Not human.)
As expected, the reactions were intense. There’s nothing like the satisfaction of beating on them.
“Haha. I was asking whether you got up early every day, hit the gym hard, and worked diligently from nine to six.”
-For real lol
-Exactly, exactly.
-So what are we doing today?
“Today?”
What was it again? I felt like there had been something I needed to do. Had young-onset dementia already set in? At my age...
-How old are you?
-Info: You can estimate someone’s age roughly by looking at their hands.
-Am I the only one getting chills from the guy above?
-Urgent, hurry!
-Never mind, it’s over.
-Are you insane?
“How old am I? I’ve been around long enough.”
It would come out someday, but not now.
-Hmm.
-Usually, when someone hides it, there’s a reason...
-Boo, she’s gone bad.
(This viewer has been banned.)
Gone bad, my ass. I’m still fresh. What? That’s gone bad too? You get out too, you bastard.
More importantly, I’m hungry. I need something to eat... Oh, there are cookies left in the fridge.
“Just a moment. I’m hungry, so I’ll go get something to eat.”
-Did she leave?
-Looks like it.
-Let’s go in~
-(heart emoji)(heart emoji)(heart emoji)
“Hey. I can see all the chat from here, you know? Don’t say anything weird.”
-Too bad.
I told you, you can’t take your eyes off her for even a second.
Keeping my eyes on the screen, I opened the refrigerator.
“Haa.”
-?
-Whoa, sexy.
-Fuck, what was that sound just now?
-Ohhh my.
-Oh, mama.
-Whoa, fuck.
I neglected to watch where I was going, and my knee collided with the refrigerator door.
I rubbed my aching knee and returned to my seat with the cookie.
This is going to bruise... But what’s with the chat?
[ㅇㅇ donated 1,000 won!]
(Clip of the “haa” sound)
-Today’s clip.
-Nicely done.
-Faster than light!
“There you go again. I hit my knee on the refrigerator door while opening it. Don’t get any weird ideas.”
I understood where that kind of chat was coming from, but
understanding it didn’t mean I wasn’t disgusted.
‘This is why I avoided doing anything that could be clipped as much as possible.’
I broke off a piece of the cold cookie with my hand and took a bite.
It would’ve been better to leave it at room temperature for a while, but I was hungry, so I just ate it.
“Mmm.”
The sound escaped me involuntarily as an intense sweetness filled my mouth.
Realizing a moment later that I’d messed up, I checked their reactions.
-Fuuuuuck, I can’t take it anymore—come here!
-This bitch planned this all along today, didn’t she?
-I can’t handle three times...
I’m sorry. Please stop.
After sending the friends who had gotten heated in various ways out to cool their heads, the chat quickly calmed down.
“Right, the reviews. No, guys. I even made a new board in the café for you to post your reviews, so why didn’t you use it? I spent all day hitting refresh because no posts were coming in.”
-This is obsessive romance.
-Who am I? The man Jian is obsessed with.
“Anyway, from now on, post your reviews here, okay? Don’t go write them on some community site for no reason.”
-Does that mean there’ll be a next time?
-She gets it.
They catch on fast.
“Well, yes. If I get another chance, I’ll do it again.”
If they were enjoying it, what could be better? I wanted to try various things, but for that, the weather would have to warm up.
I’d think about that later.
“I’ve read all the reviews. Fortunately, all eleven of you wrote one.”
Not a single person had eaten and run. I’d secretly expected a few not to write one, but good for them.
“Did it taste okay?”
-You have to give it to us before we can eat it.
-Lol, how could we not eat this?
-Yar~
-I wrote that in my review.
“That’s a relief. Your chat messages count as writing too, but hearing you say it directly like this makes me happy. Those of you who didn’t get to try them this time, look forward to another similar event soon.”
-Yep.
-Uh.
Well, I think I’ve said everything about the reviews, so shall I talk about the collab too?
“Ahem. Please pay attention. I have an important announcement. It’s something you might like, too. Probably?”
-Here we go!!
-What do you call an island that may or may not exist? Maybe-land, lol.
(This viewer has been banned.)
-Congratulations on your Corn TV debut.
(This viewer has been banned.)
-Face reveal?
-Ooooooh.
Sorry, but no. I’ll send Corn friend and the Manager out, so go hold hands and eat some corn together.
“I’m taking Friday and Saturday off this week. Depending on how things go, I might take Sunday off too. Let’s see... That’s tomorrow already.”
-Taking time off is a good thing?
-Friday, Saturday, and Sunday? Hmm.
-She’s already full of herself, this bitch.
-Already full (X), about to call someone over (O).
(This viewer has been banned.)
-Crazy fucking Jian.
-This is hell, this is hell.
“Calm down. Listen to what I have to say first. Haven’t you heard the saying that you should listen to someone all the way to the end?”
-Dunno?
-🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕
-Explain yourself, explain yourself.
They clearly weren’t listening at all.
Originally, I was going to explain that I was taking the day off to prepare for the collab.
But seeing them like this made me want to play a little prank.
Should I use that strategy? I wasn’t lying, technically.
I arranged the words in my head—words that wouldn’t reveal the truth, but weren’t lies either.
Done. I put on my most hesitant tone.
“I was originally planning to stream as usual over the weekend. But a good opportunity came my way. A really good opportunity. Yes. At first, I was going to turn it down, but for various reasons, I ended up accepting.”
A collab with a major company, with at least three people participating even by the most conservative count, was indeed a good opportunity. It meant a chance to grow as a streamer, right?
-?
-A good opportunity?
-Are you really moving to Corn TV?
(This viewer has been banned.)
-Why are you talking like that, though?
“Um... I can’t really tell you right now. When the time comes, you’ll naturally find out.”
Since Sis said she’d post an announcement, there was nothing false about that.
“I said it was a good opportunity just now, but more precisely, depending on how I handle it, it could turn out to be a good opportunity—or it might not.”
-What the hell are you talking about?
-No, what is it? Why are you acting like this?
“In the worst-case scenario, well, yes. Things might change a little from how they are now.”
They would. It wouldn’t be this quiet little stream anymore; just like last time, it would become the Second Jian Burning Stream.
-Don’t bullshit us.
-You said we’d like it too!
-Explain yourself, explain yourself.
This is a good reaction. Everything is going according to plan!
My intention had been to suggest they might like it because the collab would let me show them a new side of myself, but why was the chat burning this badly?
I figured they’d calm down on their own if I left them for a moment and continued the stream...
[ㅇㅇ donated 1,000 won!]
Jian, please reconsider. We were wrong. We’ll take a submissive stance, so please turn down that “good opportunity” again. Sorry. Things were nice when you were just giving out cookies. This is hell.
Huh? This wasn’t what I’d expected.
I subtly lowered my gaze toward the bottom of the screen.
-Don’t fuck around, don’t fuck around, don’t fuck around.
-?????
-You’re not, right?
-Fuck, this is all because of that Haranggae bastard.
At some point, the chat window had turned into the site of a surprise protest.
I’d deliberately spoken ambiguously to tease them, but their reaction was more intense than I’d expected.
Thinking back over what I’d just said,
‘A good opportunity.’
‘If things go as badly as possible, the current situation will change.’
On top of that, my deliberately hesitant, drunken-sounding tone.
I began to understand why the chat was ablaze.
I’d just blurted things out while riding the flow, but looking at it now, this wasn’t WWE—it was the UFC.
I’d taken it far too lightly.
But the water had already been spilled.
They say you can’t scoop it back up, but since this was a stream, maybe I could.
“Everyone, that was all a joke just now. I’ll explain properly.”
The chat remained just as wild despite what I said.
Huh? Was I talking to a wall? Why couldn’t I take it back?
What do I do? Think of a solution!
‘Think of a way, Ji.’
‘Clean up your own mess, An.’
It was a failure. Even with a combined IQ of 120, I couldn’t think of a solution.
At this point, I had no choice but to use the last resort.
“Yes. That’s all for today’s announcement, and it really doesn’t feel like the mood for streaming anymore. That’s it for today. See you next time.”
-You will, right? You will, right? You will, right?
-Open the doooooooor
-There’s someone in here!!! Branch Manager!!!
My trump card: passing the buck to tomorrow’s me.
Please, Jian, one day older. I’m counting on you.