“This space should work for a small-sized soundproof booth.”
“Phew…”
“I’ll talk with the manager about it.”
Yeonhee handed over the phone. Then she pulled out another phone from her pocket. She seemed to have separate phones for broadcasting and personal use. She went outside and started talking in a small voice on the stairway.
Her voice had become somewhat comfortable now – after fully immersing herself in house hunting, even her stuttering had decreased.
“She’s quite reliable, isn’t she?”
[Why… she’s pretty capable, right?]
[I forgot but Yeonhee actually has quite a bit of streaming experience for real lol]
[This is Yeonhee’s stream right now too;;]
[Daeju, I ‘permit’ you to stream in selfie mode]
“I don’t want to though.”
[What a waste~]
[Waste lol]
[Daeju-nim, I apologize for my presumption, but if you were to move, would you grant me the honor of the first poop?]
[Such a polite crazy person]
[What’s with that concept lol]
“Not happening.”
[hahahahahahaha]
[Worth a try lol]
[When you move in, let’s do a jjajangmyeon mukbang]
[Ah that’s really the standard tradition]
I casually agreed since doing a jjajangmyeon mukbang wouldn’t be too difficult.
Then I looked up at the living room and kitchen. With such a spacious kitchen, would I order less delivery food? Probably not.
Plus, having a living room after living in a studio apartment.
I started wondering what to fill this spacious area with.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.
“Just this living room is probably bigger than my current studio.”
[ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Will Daeju… know what it means to be full?]
[He probably does]
[GloomyGloomyDaeju-dan-nim has donated 50,000 won!]
– Have to give 50,000 won to poor Daeju ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Even I was puzzled by the sudden donation and the chat messages pitying me. I hadn’t meant to create a sad atmosphere with my words, but somehow it turned out that way.
I’m really not sad though
Rather, I was starting to get excited. I felt almost guilty for being allowed to live in such a nice place – that’s how excited I was.
When all I do is turn on streams and get beaten up in chat.
Ah right, the viewers pointed out the harsh reality to the person who just donated.
[This is Yeonhee’s stream you idiot lololol]
[lololololololol]
[Ah shit, you’re right.]
[Being stupid makes your wallet suffer lol]
[Found it! The one bringing down the average IQ of Daeju’s fans!]
[Both your head and wallet are empty]
“I’ll say thank you on Yeonhee’s behalf for now. Thank you~”
After I gave my donation reaction with words of thanks, Yeonhee came back in shortly after.
“The manager said they’ll set up a schedule once they confirm the time so the soundproof booth can be installed right away.”
“Wow? Really? Thank you so much for your help.”
“No, it’s nothing… hehe”
Maybe because the awkward atmosphere had lifted, I started feeling a bit more relaxed.
[They’re both so fake]
[Actually neither of them did anything, the manager person did everything but why is Yeonhee getting praised?]
[Wow are you a genius?]
[Manager crying]
“So what should we do now?”
Originally we were supposed to look at two more places, but now the schedule suddenly became empty. How could I have expected to meet an acquaintance, plus the house condition was good and they even offered a lower price – so I cancelled the remaining house viewings by text.
Which meant we had nothing to do from now on.
Yeonhee seemed to be lost in thought too, unsure what to do.
“I… honestly don’t want to go outside…”
“Ah… I know that feeling.”
Room dwellers understand each other.
I didn’t want to go outside either. I wanted to rest comfortably at home while streaming, and outdoor broadcasts were exhausting work that drained 2-3 times more energy than regular streams.
The problem was what to do in this house with no computer.
“Would you like this?”
Just then, a candy suddenly appeared in front of me.
Yeonhee was busy pulling out what looked like candies and small chocolates from her pocket. It was like she had another space in her pocket with how much kept coming out.
Setting aside why she was carrying them around, why so many?
[Is she Doraemon?]
[Or maybe she’s a treasure goblin? Daeju hit her lol She’ll probably drop candy and chocolate and gold too lol]
[But if you’re gonna carry that much why not use a bag]
[lol She actually was going to bring a bag but didn’t lol]
[Shh! That’s supposed to be a secret!]
[??? What is it]
The chat suddenly got flooded with “shh” and “hush”, like they were hiding something. The ones with question marks were all viewers from my channel, while the ones hiding something had Yeonhee subscriber badges. It seemed like they were hiding something, but Yeonhee either didn’t see the chat or was pretending not to as she calmly ate a candy.
Is that cinnamon flavor?
…She has good taste.
“You have so many candies, wouldn’t it be better to carry them in a bag or something?”
“No, bags are… I don’t have any.”
“You don’t have bags?”
Was there something missing even in that big house?
For reference, I had a bag. I had prepared one thinking I might need to carry it sometime, but I only used it about twice? I think I remember using it when there was a convenience store 1+1 sale.
Yeonhee waved her hands in denial.
“No, that’s not it, I do have them…”
“Ah then are bags uncomfortable for you?”
“No, I actually like carrying bags…”
“Then why?”
When I probed one more time wondering if there was another reason, she hesitated before slowly lowering her head. She seemed embarrassed.
Now I could only see the top of Yeonhee’s head from my angle, and I was capturing that on camera.
I casually took the shot with a feeling of “when else would I get to see someone’s crown like this?”
At the time, I had no idea this would later be used on my board with titles like [Yeonhee Bowing to the True God of Broadcasting], [Daeju Shot that Made a Major Corporation Submit], etc.
[Yeonhee has thick hair lol]
[lol Of course, you’re stating the obvious – would someone Yeonhee’s age be losing hair? lol]
[Fu*k you. It could happen.]
[You… perhaps…?]
[….Farewell my dear hair…]
“The viewers… co…don’t have…”
“What?”
Her head was facing the floor and her voice was so quiet it was barely audible.
[What’s she saying]
[She’s so annoying talking quietly, makes me want to give her a knock on the head lol especially when we can see her crown]
[Is that a critical hit spot?]
[That’s jail time you idiot lol]
[Oh lol Hidden stage lol]
“Sorry, I couldn’t hear…”
“The outfit the viewers coordinated… doesn’t include a bag…”
“…Ah”
[What, the viewers coordinated her outfit?]
[Seems they coordinated it for meeting Daeju lol]
[Pretty plain for that]
It was an outfit with jeans and a white t-shirt, with only the shoes she was wearing outside earlier as a point of emphasis.
With such a casual outfit, I thought one bag wouldn’t be a problem, but Yeonhee seemed anxious even about that.
I’m not one to talk though.
Because I was wearing a hoodie. Even though I had bought and received clothes, hoodies had become such a habit that I unconsciously put one on before coming out.
“That can happen. I’ve had viewers coordinate outfits for me too.”
“Ah… yes…”
Even though I said I’d experienced it too, Yeonhee responded with a somewhat awkward smile.
Still, she raised her head so now the broadcast was showing Yeonhee’s face instead of her crown.
She was startled for a moment realizing she was being filmed, but quickly regained composure and naturally continued with the broadcast after receiving the phone back.
She’s a real pro.
[Show us your crown again instead of your face.]
[lololol that’s too much]
[Why lol Yeonhee is cute]
[? Not cute though.]
[Is this really Yeonhee’s stream?]
Regardless, the chat reactions weren’t very positive.
While looking around wondering what we could do, I noticed the candy Yeonhee had given me.
“Oh? Want to play gonggi?”[1]
“Oh I’m actually really good at gonggi”
“I was really good at it in elementary school too”
As soon as the game was mentioned, Yeonhee’s eyes sharpened a bit.
Is this really a game streamer?
But I was confident about gonggi too.
Although it was from long ago in elementary school, I was really good at gonggi back then.
[Daeju and Yeonhee are good at gonggi?]
[Maybe they mean they were good at being like ‘air’ in school?]
[lololol ah if that’s what they mean then they’d be super good]
[If you lose at gonggi you get shot right?]
[Hey! Not that kind of game!]
The chat became more lively now that we were finally doing something instead of just idly chatting.
And one suggestion came up in the chat.
[Honestly it’ll be boring without a bet]
“Oh how about a bet?”
I was really confident so this time I took that bait firmly.
Seeing my confidence, Yeonhee hesitated briefly but her pride wouldn’t let her back down.
“Ah I’m in! I’m in!”
Yeonhee accepted the bet, waving her hand in the air as if she didn’t care what happened anymore.
But what should we bet?
[How about the winner gets to punch the loser’s face?]
[lololol making polite nonsense suggestions]
[The standard is simply a wish bet right?]
[That’s actually right]
“Ah a wish bet? How about it?”
“Call!”
Some time passed after the gonggi match began.
“…”
“…”
It was such a one-sided victory.
Even with the bet on the line, the game was so lopsided that the winner felt sorry.
The victor was naturally…
[Yeonhee she’s a bug! Yeonhee she’s a bug! Yeonhee she’s a bug!]
[If only she had 5 fingers, she wouldn’t have lost this badly but with 2 fingers sealed…]
[Actually maybe it’s Yeonhee’s victory for being even more lacking in presence, like ‘air’?]
[I mean… does a game streamer need to be good at playground games too? Ah though Yeonhee is bad at games too lol]
My victory.
The chat started their mockery session, and Yeonhee, who was reading the chat, was resentfully looking at…
The candies on the floor that substituted for gonggi stones.
And that gaze came up to me too.
Her expression was slightly sulky.
“…I’ll tell you my wish later~”
With these words, I ended the stream for now.
We had nothing else to do after playing gonggi, and we’d spent quite a bit of time on it unexpectedly.
Plus I ended the stream early because I was pretty drained after everything that happened today.
[Consolation? Not a chance lol]
[The world of competition… only the cold-hearted survive]
[Today’s stream was good… maybe?]
[Dunno lol Daeju was fun but someone who collabed seemed boring? Maybe?]
After glancing at the chat messages appearing after ending the stream, I looked towards Yeonhee.
Yeonhee’s expression had become even more sulky.
* * *
(End of Chapter)
T/N:
- “Gonggi” (공기) is a traditional Korean children’s game, apparently it’s similar to jacks.
