Chapter 19
[Title : Serves You Right] [Author : ㅇㅇ]
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Comments
ㅇㅇ : Where do you live?
ㄴ : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㅇㅇ : I feel like slapping him.
ㄴ : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Title : But Seriously]
[Author : ㅇㅇ]
Looking at how that bitch is always poking at people, didn't she run off this time because things got serious when she was only trying to joke around?
(crying frog meme)
So pleeeeeeeeeeeeease come back
Comments
ㅇㅇ : As ifㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㅇㅇ : Good opportunity) She got a boyfriend
ㄴ : Take that back…!
ㄴ : Yeah, your master has a scar on her knee~
***
“This is fucked.”
Looking at the community, I saw that they were still fighting.
No, this is the Small-Time Streamer Gallery, but almost all of it is about me.
This kind of thing is a nuisance, which is why I told them to come to the café. Should I do a stream to whip them into shape next week?
But could I even do a stream like that?
If I turn it on, it'll probably become a Kim Jian Whipping-Into-Shape Stream.
In the end, the me from the day before yesterday and the me from yesterday had both failed to resolve the situation.
Past Jian kept using the Last Resort (Not Really), postponing everything all the way to Saturday Jian.
I curse you, past me…!
Of course, there was a way.
I could have somehow calmed down the chat and explained that what I'd said earlier was a joke, and that the truth was actually this.
The problem was that the reaction was mostly different from what I'd expected, so I panicked, turned off the stream, and even took a day off.
After that, I could have just lain around like some bespectacled loser, throwing a tantrum and whining, “Help me, Haeunemon!”
“How could I do that when it'd be so embarrassing?”
Let's think.
‘Sis. Could you put up the announcement soon?’
‘Why?’
‘I played a prank on my viewers, but I couldn't handle it and ran away. I think you need to put up the announcement early if I'm going to resolve it.’
Even setting aside my past life, I was an adult.
A useless adult who couldn't even handle her own problems? My pride refused to accept that.
As a result of pulling an “I don't know, whatever”...
The golden window passed, and the situation became impossible to control.
My head hurts. Was I always this avoidant? Hmm. This is all because I became a woman. Give me back my treasure.
Still, I only briefly thought that things would somehow work out because I'd decided to post an announcement today.
“Wait. What's with ‘special guest’? You could've just written Jian.”
Carelessly, it said “special guest” instead of my name.
I'm not special at all, though.
Is this a public roast?
Special guest! I'm a small-time streamer with an average of 100 viewers.
“I don't know. Let's just focus on today's collab for now.”
After getting off the bus and walking along lost in thought, I soon arrived at the entrance of the building.
“Is this the place?”
Looking at the building's name, it seemed right.
“She said it was on the third floor, right?”
I was about to take the stairs, but when I checked the time, I realized I was cutting it close.
I'll be late if I take the stairs. Though it'd only be by about a minute.
I have luggage too, so I might as well take the elevator.
Fortunately, I got into the elevator on the first floor, pressed the button for the third floor, and then pressed the close button.
“Wait!”
Through the closing doors, I saw a man running in from the building's entrance.
‘I should wait for him.’
I smiled to signal that I'd heard him and pressed the open button again, but the elevator doors continued closing without mercy.
“Huh. Sorry. I tried.”
Leaving behind an apology no one could hear, the elevator headed for the third floor.
“Hello.”
“Yeah. You made it right on time.”
“Haha. I got a little lost.”
It's true. I absolutely did not wake up late after lying in bed browsing the community.
“Why are you here, sis?”
“Me? I thought it'd be awkward if you were alone, so I came in with you.”
We chatted as we moved to the space equipped with cooking facilities.
‘Oh. This is better than I expected.’
I looked around inside.
I'd expected a large-scale cafeteria kitchen or a somewhat bigger restaurant kitchen.
The overall interior was cleanly done in black and white, and the burners and sinks were all spaciously arranged with plenty of room around them.
It felt like a set from some variety show, made much smaller and a little more studio-like.
As I looked around in admiration, I noticed people sitting in a corner.
At a glance, it looked like a mixed-gender group of at least five people.
‘Are these the people we're filming with? But didn't she say there'd be three or four?’
Just as I was wondering, perhaps because they'd heard us come in, they lifted their faces from their phones and looked in our direction.
Ah. We made eye contact.
I'd seen their faces, but I didn't watch internet broadcasts or YouTube much, so I didn't know who was who….
Huh? Why is that person here?
The face was familiar, but I wondered if I was mistaken. Since I had nothing in particular to say, I simply nodded with a smile.
But why are you all sitting there with your mouths hanging open? This is embarrassing.
“Sorry, sis! I wasn't that late, was I?”
Just as I was wondering what to do, a man's voice came from behind me.
I turned around and saw the man who had missed the elevator earlier.
‘From the way he talks, he must be someone who's going to stream with us.’
I stood behind Haeun and watched the two of them talk.
“What do you mean, ‘wasn't that late’? If you're two minutes late for every one of these people, that's over ten minutes, you bastard.”
“No. I definitely got here right on time, okay? But the elevator doors were closing in front of me, so I even shouted for them to wait, and the crazy bitch inside just smiled and let them close. I'm the one who got screwed over.”
“Then you should've come earlier.”
Perhaps sensing my gaze as he was being scolded, the man turned his head toward me, and our eyes met.
The man's pupils began moving as violently as if an earthquake had struck.
Those look like the Magic Eye of some veteran comedian.
Amid the silence settling over us, Haeun, who found the situation strange, spoke up.
“What? Do you two know each other?”
“Hah. Right? Hello. I'm the crazy bitch.”
Wow, they shook even more.
“Um... I'm sorry.”
The man bowed deeply at the waist.
“No. It was an easy situation to misunderstand in the first place, and I did press the open button, but the doors just closed. It's not like I closed them because I'm a crazy bitch, right?”
This is fun. I should stop joking now. At this rate, I'll really become a crazy bitch.
“Just kidding. Hello. I'm Kim Jian, and I'll be streaming with you today.”
“Ahaha. Yes, I'm Lee Minhyung.”
The silence resumed.
This is awkward. Sis, don't just stand there laughing—please direct traffic a little.
I shot her a pointed look with that thought in mind, and she stopped laughing and began sorting out the situation.
“Now that everyone's here, shall we start with introductions?”
At her words, several people from the group stood up and approached us.
We introduced ourselves one by one and exchanged brief greetings, until...
‘It's him.’
The familiar face from earlier.
“I'm Kim Taeseong. I run a small shop.”
A man who ran a famous fine-dining restaurant.
I knew him well.
They say too much humility can be poisonous. If your place is a small shop, then what does that make mine?
The question was why a famous chef like him was here.
When I looked at Haeun, she wore an expression that seemed to say, “Surprised, huh?”
‘I feel like flicking her forehead.’
She'd deliberately made herself look irritating, and I was newly impressed by how incredible her connections were.
But hadn't she said this was just a small collab?
Listening to them talk among themselves, I realized every one of them was so successful as a streamer that I couldn't even compare myself to them.
‘Wow, shit. I feel like I came here for nothing. Agh, Haranggae, it's you again?’
As I cursed Haranggae, the punching bag of us all, in my head, I felt someone's gaze and turned my eyes in that direction.
Chef Kim Taeseong was staring intently at me.
But why did he look so frightening? His expression was practically saying, “I've got you now.”
Could it be… are you Haranggae himself?
***
‘This person?’
The role of judge I'd agreed to after Haeun contacted me.
At first, I'd intended to refuse, but something she'd added had rubbed me the wrong way.
‘I invited someone I happened to meet, and their food was really delicious. It was about as good as what I ate at my uncle's restaurant last time, you know?’
She hadn't seemed to be speaking seriously, but for the head chef of a famous restaurant, it was a remark that pricked his pride.
So I'd agreed to come, intending to see just how good she was.
The woman before me looked no older than Haeun, at most.
‘No, she must be younger, since she's calling Haeun “sis.”’
Judging someone by their appearance was wrong, but the hand I'd glimpsed was so clean it could have belonged to a model.
‘Are those a cook's hands? No.’
I shook my head and looked at her face again.
She was pretty. Her looks made me wonder why she hadn't become a celebrity.
Even setting her appearance aside, she was so young, yet she supposedly made food similar to mine.
A girl who didn't even seem to have any experience?
Of course, I'd heard that she ran a restaurant, but I'd also heard that having no customers seemed to be her hobby.
This wasn't right.
No matter how I thought about it, this wasn't right.
I felt sorry for the others, but I thought I'd have to take this a little seriously.
***
“Right. Jian, is it okay if your face appears as-is? Everyone here has already shown their faces. I forgot to ask.”
You remembered to ask pretty quickly.
As expected, she must have forgotten.
Knowing that might happen, I'd prepared something in advance.
I took a long piece of cloth and a piece of clothing out of the luggage I'd brought.
“What's that? It doesn't look like a scarf...”
“This? Just a moment.”
After asking for their understanding, I pulled the garment over my head.
I fiddled with the cloth this way and that as well.
I'd definitely looked up how to do this online, but it was difficult when I actually tried it myself.
After struggling alone for several minutes, I somehow finished and checked myself in the mirror.
“Ta-da. Perfect, right?”
My sister burst out laughing when she saw me.
“Hahahaha. This is hilarious. Well, I guess you can show up like that. It doesn't look like it'll get in the way of cooking, either.”
The people around us chuckled too. Looks like I'd prepared well.
“Then shall we?”
The stream went live with everyone's agreement.
-Eunha
-Haeunha
-Haeunie's here, Haeunie's here
-ㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅ
-Are you here!!!!!!
The viewer count quickly surpassed 10,000, and the chat moved at an equally insane speed.
This is the beginning.