New Year's Morning Setup Surprise
Moddeok, I had a really bad thought. (1) Last night I turned on my computer, but I didn't stream. When it came down to it, the vibe just wasn't there, so I went straight to bed. At first I was staring blankly at the ceiling, but before I knew it I was out. When I woke up, it was already New Year's. Not only that—when I opened my eyes, the house had completely changed.
“Whoa!!” It was seriously amazing. I rubbed my eyes and kept blurting out exclamations. What on earth? Was this a dream? The streaming setup was already done. Broadcasting equipment was plastered all over the kitchen. I scratched my head. How did this free lunch even happen? This was pure happiness!! I… I didn't do anything, and everything was ready. This was awesome. I wish it was like this every single day.
“You up?”
“Oh! Raming. You're up early.”
“It's already noon. What do you mean early? Hah.”
“No, I…” There was so much I wanted to say. Everyone stays up late streaming, so they sleep in. I was just a little tired and slept an extra hour deeper than usual. Normally I would've been the first one awake. I could've claimed I got robbed of my rightful spot.
“Normally I'm the earliest riser.”
“Oh, really? Good job.”
“Right?”
“Yeah. Sure.”
Hehe. She agreed. I really am an early riser. More importantly… where are Mom, Dad, and Maru? I looked around. I couldn't hear Mom's voice, Dad's voice, or Maru's voice anywhere.
“Where are my parents and Maru? Do you know?”
“Uh… I don't think they've arrived yet? Not sure. You should call them.”
“Call…?” That sounded like a hassle. They'd show up anyway… since the house was right here…
“Yeah. Do it.”
“Hmm…”
“You don't want to?”
“No, it's not that. They'll come, so why bother?”
“Still, just call once. That way they can adjust their schedule. We said we'd start at two.”
“Uh… If they come, I'll… Okay.”
Raming's gaze overwhelmed me. I reluctantly called Mom.
“Mom, it's Seon-a.”
“We're on our way. We'll be there in thirty minutes.”
“Got it.”
Click… I knew it. I shouldn't have called. If they don't say anything, it means they're coming. Next… Maru.
“Hello, Maru. It's Seon-a.”
“Ooh~ Yes?”
“Where are you?”
“I'm nearby. About five minutes? Three minutes?”
“Okay…!!”
I hung up. I knew it. Everyone here actually keeps their promises. My instincts were right again. After ending the call, I looked at Raming and Pyeongjipja. When did Pyeongjipja even get here?
“Ah, Maru will be here in five. Mom and Dad in thirty. That's the situation.”
“Really? Then we're good.”
Pyeongjipja's expression had turned strange. Not just her face—her behavior too. I hadn't seen her that often, but I'd seen her plenty. This wasn't like her. Suddenly she was… making a very feminine face.
“Pyeongjipja, what's wrong?”
I walked over to her. She forced a smile and waved her hands.
“Ah, it's nothing.”
“What is it? There's something, right? Tell me.”
“Really, it's nothing. Ahem, ahem… It's nothing.”
“No. There's definitely something.”
I stared at her with suspicious eyes. That expression, that voice, that tone—I'd never seen them before. She couldn't fool me. Once something was on my radar, I had to know. Catching an employee's discomfort was part of a boss's job.
“There's something. I'm going to find out for sure.”
I made a firm resolution. I'd uncover the secret. I'd become the boss who digs up every secret. Then Pyeongjipja started twisting her body in a very feminine way.
“Ah, it's really nothing…”
“No…!!”
This wasn't like her at all. The usually cool and composed Pyeongjipja… What on earth? I was genuinely shocked. Why was she suddenly radiating feminine energy? Did she want to stream? Was she excited because it was her first broadcast? Or maybe…
“Streaming is fine. Just do it comfortably!!”
“Th… That's not it…”
Was she nervous because it was her first stream? What was going on? This really wasn't like her. The Pyeongjipja I'd known wasn't like this. There was definitely something here. My curiosity was at 1,000%. It had been ages since my curiosity went into overdrive!!
“What is it really…”
I was dying to know when Raming smiled and spoke up.
“There must be something. We'll grill her later—let's just test the stream first.”
“Oh. Ah!! Got it. How do we do it?”
“Why are you asking me? Wake Moddeok up and do something together.”
“What? It wasn't Moddeok who set this up?”
“You think she'd do it?”
Raming turned her head sharply. I followed her gaze and saw Moddeok sprawled out, still asleep.
“What? She's still sleeping? Then who did all this?”
“Me and… Jihyeon.”
“Why?”
I felt a genuinely primal curiosity. Neither of them had anything to do with this content, so why had they set everything up?
“Why? Because someone had to. This was basically a group project. If we hadn't done it, what would've happened?”
“Um… It would've been a disaster?”
“So, grateful or not?”
“I'm really grateful. My friend Raming!!”
I grabbed both of Raming's hands tightly. She really was a good friend. Then I grabbed both of Pyeongjipja's hands too. A truly good employee.
“Thank you, everyone.”
“Yeeeah…”
Wait, what was that voice? Pyeongjipja sounded like a shy girl, giggling softly. This was driving me crazy. Seeing her completely different side made me even more curious. Did she get a boyfriend? What was going on!!
“Pyeongjipja, did you get a boyfriend?”
“A boyfriend? I don't have one…”
Her voice was incredibly gentle. What the heck!! Then what was it!!
“We'll think about that later. Seon-a, wake her up first. At this rate she won't get up.”
“Ah…!! Okay!”
I was dying of curiosity, but priorities mattered… Content came first. It was a big project, so I had to focus. Without Raming, this would've been a mess. I lay down on the floor and started rolling. Roll, roll. Roll, roll… I rolled right past Moddeok.
“Ugh… Ugh…”
She let out a pained groan. One more time and she'd probably wake up. This was a surprisingly proven wake-up method. It was probably back in elementary school—Mom had been napping on the living room floor. Dad and I found her, and Dad said this was an effective way to wake her… So I got paid to roll Mom awake. Dad loved it. Mom couldn't take it and shot right up.
“She's still not up? I need to do it again.”
I rolled again.
“Ow… Who is that… What…”
“Your eyes are still closed?”
“Huh…?”
“They're closing again.”
I rolled one more time. Her chest was so big that sometimes I lost momentum at the bump, but I powered through.
“Ow… You're serious.”
“Are you up?”
“I'm definitely up.”
“Good, good?”
Moddeok sat up, brushing her hair back. Maybe because it was a proven method? It worked really well.
“Good… good.”
“Moddeok woke up late, so Raming and Pyeongjipja set everything up. We just need to test it.”
“Ah. Ah. Okay.”
Her voice was really hoarse. Looking closely, her eyes seemed to be closing again.
“Want me to roll you again?”
“No. I'll get up. I'm getting up.”
“Really? Then I'll count to ten from the side. Ten… nine… eight…”
I kept counting. Even at three seconds she showed no sign of getting up.
“One… one point five… one point three… one… half of half of half a second. Zero point… At this rate it'll be zero. Yeeeeah.”
Oh well. I'd basically given her an extra ten seconds. She was still sleeping, wasn't she? I lay down again and prepared to roll.
“Ready!! Fire!!”
I rolled with full force. I passed her legs and went over her stomach. Now I had to explode with power here, but I was a little short on strength and started sliding down at the bump.
“Here I go!!”
“Ugh… Wait… Ah. Hey. Hey. Ah. Move. Ah, what the—”
“Aah!!”
I gathered every bit of strength I had and cleared the bump. After that it was easy. Once I slid past, Moddeok shot upright.
“Whew… That was brutal.”
“You're up?”
“I feel like I just had a nightmare.”
“Got it.”
Good thing she escaped the nightmare thanks to me? Honestly I wanted praise, but Moddeok was still half-asleep so she just let it slide.
Around the time we were finishing the stream setup, Maru—who'd said she'd arrive in five minutes—showed up twenty minutes later.
“Hello, everyone~”
Maru walked in humming loudly.
“M-Maru!!”
I sprinted to the front door to greet her. Maru was, as expected, dressed sharply again today. This was what a woman should be. She smelled nice too. Her makeup was gorgeous. Hahaha!! I hugged Maru and inhaled her scent like crazy.
“Hff!! Maru, you look pretty today too!!”
“Thank you! Ehehe.”
So respectable. This was what a woman was!! Everyone, learn from her!! Yep!! Understood!! Hehe. I walked into the living room with Maru.
“Hello, everyone~ Huh? Oh! Pyeongjipja, right? I can see exactly what Seon-a meant now.”
“Uh… Uh… H-Hello…”
Pyeongjipja couldn't stay still. Her voice came out metallic and her breathing was rough. Why was she like that?
“I've been watching your videos. You're really good.”
“Uh… Uh. Yeah. Uh. Yeah. Yeah… Uh.”
She suddenly turned into a broken robot. Why was she acting like this? I really didn't get it. I slowly backed away and approached Moddeok. Then I whispered quietly.
“Why is she like that? Do you know?”
I couldn't understand a woman's heart. So I asked the most feminine person here—Moddeok.
“Why? You don't know what fangirling is? She met her oppa. Of course she's nervous. She was looking forward to this so much last night. You were asleep so you didn't know, right?”
Shock. No, I really didn't know. Before the shock could fade… I witnessed Pyeongjipja's feminine power in full force.
“Wait, why are you crying? All of a sudden?”
Maru's extremely flustered voice made everyone's eyes turn to her and Pyeongjipja. She was really crying? I sneaked over for a peek. She really was?! Then… No, don't cry right now. Ah. What a shame. I went straight back to Moddeok and whispered. Was I the only one like this? Was I the only one obsessed with streaming? Just in case, I laid the groundwork.
“Moddeok, I had a really bad thought.”
“What kind of thought?”
“It would've been funnier if we'd put that on stream… Right?”
Moddeok and Raming, who was standing next to her, burst out laughing. What… what was so funny… Let me laugh too.