Chapter 29
Chapter 29
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: How to Survive Between Two Mega-Corporations
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Heyni's face went a little blank.
Before I knew it, both her hand and mine were tucked into the same pocket. She clearly hadn't expected me to come on this strong.
I let out a small chuckle at her reaction, then kept walking.
The café we'd reserved ahead of time soon came into view. We were planning to grab some coffee there and chat.
But that's when it happened.
"Ah! It's Park Jae-ho!"
"Where?!"
"Whoa! For real?! Hey, Park Jae-ho!"
Suddenly, a group of boys swarmed toward me. They looked like middle schoolers at first glance.
They rushed right up, then started making a huge fuss.
"Jae-ho bro! I'm a huge fan!"
"We're all Tiger Squad! Swear!"
"Whoa! Heyni sis is here too. Total goddess."
"C-can we get a photo together?"
They seemed like legit fans. You could just tell.
I smirked and walked over to them.
"I'll do one with each of you."
"R-really?!"
"No way!"
Truth be told, I hadn't gone out much lately. I'd been too busy streaming from home.
So I'd never imagined having this kind of popularity.
The kids crowded around me one by one, snapping photos with bright smiles all around.
"Keep the streams coming, bro!"
"We'll watch every day!"
"You two look perfect together!"
"Just get married already!"
They each said their piece, then started heading off. Lucky for me, the kids had good broadcast instincts and bailed at the perfect moment.
That's when I noticed Heyni staring at me with a weird look.
"Hm? What?"
"Nothing. You're way more popular than I thought, oppa."
"Yeah? Does that bug you?"
"No. Makes me like you even more."
Instead of replying, I stepped closer to Heyni and gripped her hand tight. This time, our fingers interlaced properly.
"Ready to keep going?"
"Y-yeah..."
I stole a glance at her flushed face, then headed off again. She was too cute to ignore.
'Those red cheeks are killer.'
And I wasn't the only one who thought so.
💬 Live Chat — Viewer Heyni's adorable AF lololol — Viewer So damn sweet — Viewer I want this drama to go 100 eps — Viewer I hope they date for real — Viewer My teeth are rotting! — Viewer Can't stop grinning watching this couple lololol The chat was flying by at top speed. And most of it was satisfied reactions. Looked like we were doing great so far.
Hand in hand with Heyni, we arrived at the café. We'd gotten filming permission ahead of time, so we just strolled right in.
I opened the door and stepped inside with her.
The place had a traditional hanok exterior, but the interior was modern and cute. The lighting especially was gorgeous.
That's when it hit.
⚙ DONATION ⚙ [Your Maje looooong time no seeeee!!!] A massive sound blasted from my filming phone.
There's always that one person who kills the vibe no matter where you are.
And my viewers had a ton of them. Probably because I always played along with their antics.
This was no different.
Someone had dropped a voice donation out of nowhere. At max volume, no less.
Every single person in the café turned to stare.
Suddenly calling for His Majesty like that? Totally understandable.
I glanced sideways. More worried about Heyni than anyone else.
Sure enough, she was frozen stiff. Caught her off guard, no doubt.
I hesitated for a second.
The textbook move would've been to apologize immediately and bail. Or just straight-up bolt.
Heyni and the viewers would've gotten it. Hell, they'd probably roast the idiot who sent the random voice don.
But that would've been boring. Fine for a normie, but not for an internet streamer.
I scanned the room again. Yep, tons of eyes on me.
I cleared my throat lightly.
"Ahem."
Straightened my back, put on a regal face, and spoke.
"Hoho, you've all grown tense at the sight of Us. Pray, continue with what you were doing, subjects."
With that, I led Heyni deeper into the café.
Perfect timing—we were both in matching hanbok.
Plus, the voice don was still playing. King's entrance BGM blaring from my phone.
And it worked like a charm.
"Pfft."
"Phhht."
"What? He's streaming?"
"Oh! I know that guy. Streamer Park Jae-ho!"
"Who is he? Dude's got quick wits."
Everyone reacted pretty positively, all things considered. My improv had landed nicely.
I spotted an empty corner table and sat down with Heyni.
Then the server approached us.
"Wh-what can I get for you?"
"Hmm. Two iced Americanos, if you please."
"Pardon? Ah, y-yes! Two iced Americanos coming up!"
Pfft.
Heh.
Server had some solid instincts too.
The whole café's vibe lightened up in seconds. People were peeking over with amused looks.
Whew. Dodged that bullet.
Heyni was staring holes into me, though.
"What? Got something on my face?"
"Pfft, no. You're just... impressive."
"Impressive?"
"Yeah. You're a total natural, Jae-ho oppa."
There was a hint of envy in her expression. Jealous of my snap adlib skills, maybe.
'It was just a lucky fluke...'
I grinned anyway. Felt good getting props from another streamer. Maybe 'cause we were in the same boat.
Wonder if it was 'cause I always rolled with their bits?
Donations started flooding in.
⚙ DONATION ⚙ [Your Majesty! Make it a caramel macchiato for this humble one!] ⚙ DONATION ⚙ [Her Majesty the Queen Consort looks extra radiant today!] ⚙ DONATION ⚙ [Hey now! Such insolence! How dare you wag your tongues at His Majesty?!] They never knew when to quit.
Once they found something fun, they went full brain-dead mode spamming it.
And sure enough, one crossed the line.
⚙ DONATION ⚙ [Your Maje looooong time no see! The streamer An Young is a better consort candidate! Please understand!!] Bringing up An Young in the middle of my date stream with Heyni. And via don, so she heard every word.
Heyni's face stiffened instantly.
"Gonna hit the bathroom real quick."
She said that and bolted.
I jumped right in.
"Do you lot have brains or not?! Why drag Lady An Young into this?!"
⚙ DONATION ⚙ [D-deadly sin committed! Your Maje looooong time no see!] ⚙ DONATION ⚙ [S-spare me, Your Majesty!] "Eh, enough! I can't even look at you lot—begone!"
⚙ DONATION ⚙ [M-mercy, Your Majesty!!] ⚙ DONATION ⚙ [Kick us out and there's nothing left to watch!!] I bantered with the chat to kill time.
Wasn't worried about Heyni. She'd winked at me on the way out—just for my eyes.
She was a pro broadcaster too. Faked the anger to boost the stream.
Anyway, enough messing around.
I switched back to my normal tone and asked the viewers.
"You all enjoying the stream so far?"
💬 Live Chat — Viewer Insanely fun lolololol — Viewer Peak entertainment lololol — Viewer Didn't expect that adlib lololol — Viewer She's lowkey a broadcast genius — Viewer Next ep when!! I chuckled and wrapped up some more interaction. Reactions were stellar, just like I'd hoped.
⚙ SUPERCHAT ⚙ Heyni♥Love donated 500,000 won! "Whoa! Chairwoman! Thank you!"
Even the big donor was hooked and dropped a fat one. Pretty successful day.
Then I spotted a weird chat.
💬 Live Chat — Viewer Dokgo Hwa-yeon's live rn. Everyone go! — Viewer Ma-sam went live too, and now Dokgo Hwa-yeon? — Viewer Heard she's on briefly for audition talk It was 3 p.m.—still prime daytime slot.
But two of the top five conglomerates' streamers were live? Never saw that coming.
'Didn't expect Dokgo Hwa-yeon to jump in too.'
As predicted, Ma-sam had gone live to snipe me. I'd checked subtly earlier.
But with this tooth-rotting sweet date content?
No real damage. Barely felt it.
Thank goodness.
Now even another top-five player, Dokgo Hwa-yeon, joins the fray.
And I was still holding steady viewers. Pretty solid defense.
'Never been more grateful for the fake-couple stans.'
Still, a little disappointing.
'Breaking 10k's gonna be tough like this.'
Current count: exactly 8,000. For my sweet-drama finisher, it stung a bit.
'Can't be helped.'
I shook my head and took a sip of coffee. No point getting greedy. Surviving between two mega-corps was victory enough.
"Oppa! I'm back!"
Heyni's cheerful voice rang out from behind.
Yep, the earlier act was just that—an act. She plopped down next to me, all smiles again.
"Whoa! What? You got even prettier?"
"R-really?"
"Yeah. No clue what you did, but you look more stunning somehow."
"Y-you think?"
Up close, the makeup touch-up was obvious.
But I played dumb and hyped her up. Gotta know when to pretend.
'Yeah. Today, screw the viewer count. Just stream and vibe.'
Seeing her made my earlier worries feel pointless.
No obsessing over numbers during this date. Time to just enjoy it.
"Oh, right. Can't let that prettiness go to waste. Wanna hit up some photo spots next?"
"Photos?"
"Gotta capture the hanbok magic."
"Sounds good!"