Chapter 18
“How does it look? Pretty convincing, right?”
-Ohㅋㅋㅋ
-Wow, nice job.
-For real, he's got talent.
To cut to the conclusion.
The Valentine's Day double chocolate cookies were a huge success.
I looked at the neatly made double chocolate cookies in front of me.
How much did all that cost?
Didn't they go for ten thousand won apiece at their peak?
Well, prices have come down quite a bit now.
Kadayif was cheap too, despite its notorious reputation for being expensive.
“Shall we taste-test them?”
-Go go
-Of course we have to
-When are you giving those away??
“Well, just verify that you watched today's stream and leave a post on the cafe.”
I decided not to place a separate limit on how many double chocolate cookies could be sent out.
All you had to do was watch the stream and leave a post on the cafe, and one would be sent to you at random—a truly fair....
-??
-?
-????
“...Why?”
Did I say something I shouldn't have?
When I asked, puzzled….
-You want us to join the cafe??
-This bastard's schemingㅋㅋㅋ
-Do you think we're suckersㅋㅋ
“Then what am I supposed to do? I need you to leave your address too so I can send it.”
This was so unfair.
Did they think I was some kind of schemer?
I'd only decided that way out of pure goodwill, to keep things fair.
-You could do it on the stream bulletin boardㅋㅋㅋ
-What happened to your own board??
…Well, I did have some intention of encouraging people to join the cafe.
This was why sharp-eyed viewers were such a pain….
“No~ What a brilliant idea. You guys are geniuses.”
-???
-This bastard's being sarcasticㅋㅋㅋ
-I'll ne~ver join.
Tsk, what a shame.
Actually, isn't a cafe better for a streamer the more active it is?
To revive our fan cafe, where tumbleweeds were the only things flying, I'd have to put in the legwork.
“Anyway, let's give them a taste.”
Ah, for reference, even though I made the double chocolate cookies, I can't eat them.
And for good reason. What are double chocolate cookies, anyway?
As you just saw, you mix kadayif with white chocolate,
then wrap it in roasted marshmallow... et cetera.
Anyway, they're not something a model with a fashion show coming up should be eating.
I was leaving the country in two days, and I'd have to try on all kinds of clothes once I got there, so I needed to arrive in peak condition.
With that in mind….
“How does it taste?”
“Huh? It's good.”
Aseong ate it in my place.
I mean, Aseong could eat ten or a hundred double chocolate cookies and it wouldn't matter, right?
He didn't gain weight easily in the first place, probably because he had a high basal metabolic rate.
Not that he wasn't extremely active too.
“You all heard him, right? It's been certified delicious. Who made it, after all?”
-Your brother-in-law made itㅇㅇ
-For real, what the hell did this bastard do…?
-Just give all today's donations to the brother-in-law
-You're not eating??
-This bastard's even outsourcing his eatingㅋㅋ
“How does it compare to the real thing?”
I glossed over the fact that I hadn't eaten and asked Aseong.
I'd followed the recipe exactly, but I was curious how it compared with the store-bought kind.
“Huh? I've never had one.”
Aseong shook his head as he put a second double chocolate cookie in his mouth.
“Huh? You mean you've never had a double chocolate cookie?”
For reference, I hadn't had one either. But Aseong was a different story, wasn't he?
Had he been studying that hard at the cram school when they were all the rage?
“You didn't have one with your girlfriend?”
No, that was strange too… He'd dated someone at the cram school, hadn't he?
If he'd been dating at that age, he should've eaten double chocolate cookies, butter rice cakes, and all that.
Wasn't it normal to try every trendy thing, from bomdong bibimbap to whatever else was popular?
So, when I asked, puzzled, Aseong shrugged.
“I don't really like paying money to buy things just because they're trendy.”
“Really? Your girlfriend must've wanted to try one.”
At times like this, I remember the words of our mentor, Teacher Han Seonghwa.
‘I don't understand why women do things like this. They're expensive, and aren't they kind of ugly?’
‘You two-eyed bastard.’
I had been complaining about the bag charm that was trendy in our class at the time.
‘Following trends is a woman's instinct, one she's had since the days of hunter-gatherers.’
What was it again?
It had been too complicated for me to remember clearly, but it was something about how, back in the hunter-gatherer days, people formed common bonds within the tribe….
'So keep it to yourself, close one eye, and go around winking.'
Anyway, it wasn't because anything was wrong with women; that's just how their genes were designed.
Remembering those words about how a two-eyed person should close one eye on their own, I scolded Aseong, and he gave me an incredulous look.
“What's with that expression?”
“Didn't you say that?”
“Huh?”
“A real man has to keep women under his thumb….”
“Stop, stop!”
-Gasp
-What
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Great Wayoㅋㅋ
-This is patriarchy, this is it bb
When did I ever say that…? Hmm.
…I guess I really did.
Our traditionalist mentor, Teacher Han Seonghwa, had given lectures on patriarchy, after all.
The one thing I have no choice but to admit is this.
I was heavily influenced by Teacher Han Seonghwa back then.
And that influence trickled down to Aseong in the form of passing abuse down the chain.
That snowballed into him eating double chocolate cookies for the first time today.
“Ahem, well, as long as they're tasty, that's what matters. I'll wrap them up now.”
-Wait, you're not eating??
-This bastard's not going to eat them to the very end
-What if they taste weird??
"Oh, come on, I can eat one."
So I couldn't just let it go after all?
With a wounded look, I gestured to Aseong, and he put one on a plate and brought it over to me.
“Hmm, tasty.”
-Did you really eat it???
-Does this bastard not even chew??
-??
For reference, I hadn't eaten it.
I'd just left it beside me.
Maybe I'd give it to Mom when she got home, or Aseong could eat one more.
“Anyway, let's start wrapping things up.”
I changed the subject rather than eat one after all.
Besides, it was about time to end the stream anyway.
We decided to do the packaging after turning off the stream. There was still so much to do.
We had dishes to wash too, so Aseong was going to have his work cut out for him.
-Ah
-Nooooo
-Can't we have a Q&A with the brother-in-law??
But perhaps the viewers hated to end things there, because they immediately grabbed me by the hem of my pants.
Maybe it was because I was taking a break after today? They seemed especially desperate to hold me back.
“Do you have any questions for my little brother?”
At my words, Aseong turned his head in this direction.
The topic being himself seemed to have piqued his curiosity.
For reference, only I can see the chat.
It was being relatively well-behaved for now, but our chatroom was usually pretty toxic.
Aseong wasn't accustomed to this sort of thing, so he wouldn't understand if he saw it.
And for good reason. Our Aseong hadn't even been able to play the ubiquitous Rell, so he'd never had a chance to build up any tolerance for anonymous chat.
Why couldn't he play Rell, you ask?
There had only ever been one computer in our house.
And it was obvious who it belonged to.
Besides, he couldn't exactly go to a PC bang; he was juggling baseball and jiu-jitsu.
All his friends were into those things too, and he had even been a trainee in high school.
He'd lived a fairly wholesome life, without much rebelliousness.
‘What a blessed bastard….’
What big sister would sacrifice herself and become a Rell one-trick for him?
Aseong had better appreciate all the effort I was making for him.
“What are you curious about?”
Anyway, as I looked at the chat while thinking that, several questions came up.
-Did your sister hit you??
-How many years apart are you that he acts so meek??
-Brother-in-law, what do you think of us?
-How much allowance does Wayo give you?
-Is your sister pretty?? Urgent, please
Most of them were pointless or related to my red pill.
Honestly, they were so transparent.
“What are they saying?”
“They're asking what you think of them.”
“Huh? Hmm.”
Still, since they were curious, I picked one of the least awful questions and relayed it to Aseong.
Aseong thought for a moment.
Scratching his head vigorously, he answered.
“My sister's friends?”
-!!!
-Brother-in-law..!!
-My friend Wayoㅋㅋ
-Kyaㅋㅋㅋ
Judging by their reactions, he'd apparently given an excellent answer.
This kid knew how to score points.
“Who's my friend?”
-???
-Fuck...
-This bastard..
“I'm kidding.”
Yeah, yeah, they were very good friends.
Aseong had seen it exactly right.
Who else came over to watch me every time I played a game?
At least none of my model friends did.
“Still, it is kind of amazing.”
“What is?”
At my question, Aseong hesitated before speaking.
He wore an expression that seemed to ask whether he was allowed to say it.
“Aw, it's fine. Go ahead and say it.”
Before the stream, I had strictly forbidden him from talking about the red pill.
Assuming this was an unrelated question, I gestured for him to continue.
More importantly, he knew how to flatter people.
He'd just been accepted to a nearby university, so he'd probably be appearing on stream from time to time.
So, while waiting for his answer, I was basically telling him to start earning points in advance….
“No, it's just… that weird character? Why do you leave it displayed…?”
“Uh, ahem!”
Aseong had just struck out spectacularly.
What the hell, this bastard had no VTuber sensibility at all…? Well, of course he didn't.
-??!!
-Noㅋㅋㅋ
-Brother-in-law…?
-Character…?
“Ah! I like manga too.”
He must've realized from my expression that he'd misspoken and hurried to recover, but….
“What have you watched?”
“Lately, Demon Slayer….”
“Stop.”
What would a normie know about manga?
-Stop.
-Sigh..
-Brother-in-law..
“No, I watched it at the movie theater with my girlfriend the other day….”
-Brother-in-law..?
-He suddenly feels so far away..
-We're not friends..
In the end, our viewers and Aseong were beings who could never understand one another.
“Tsk, this is why normies are….”
When I clicked my tongue, Aseong looked at me as if to say, Why you of all people…?
It was an expression that seemed to say, “Why are you saying this, of all people, Big Sis…,” but whatever.
I'm not a normie, am I?
I just happen to have a few small social circles, and know a lot of people for business.
-For real..
-The brother-in-law really was an untouchable normie after all..
-Should we go play Rell??
“Yes, I'm ending the stream now and going to play Rell.”
-What the fuck
-Turn the stream on and do it, fuck;;
-This bitch never retracts her decision to end the stream..
-Isn't the mood calling for a second round??
“Those who want to eat Wayo's handmade double chocolate cookies, leave proof on the cafe….”
-Wayo-cookies ㄷㄷ
-What exactly is handmade??
-You didn't make them, fuck
-Cafe??
-You mean the wrong board, right??
Ah, whatever, whatever, go to the cafe and post proof!
Revive the cafe!
"Little brother, say goodbye!"
"Uh, uh, okay."
And so.
Wayo's Valentine's Day broadcast ended with a man's hand waving goodbye.
Two days later.
I left for Paris.
“All of this?”
“Fighting!”
I left Aseong in charge of shipping the double chocolate cookies.