ASMR Echoes and Mala Tang Cravings

Every time I went to the bathroom after streaming, it felt like tears were welling up. It was like my pride as a man was just vanishing into thin air.

And unlike when I was a guy, it came out the moment I sat down, with this weird sensation that made me feel like I was dying. But worst of all, unlike back then when I could just shake it off, now I had to wipe... I never wanted to know about this stuff.

"Haa... when will I get used to this?"

I flushed the toilet and shuffled over to the sink. In the mirror, a cute girl with a flushed, embarrassed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠face was staring back at me. She was still adorable today—I found myself thinking it'd be nice to have a girlfriend like that...

"Sigh... what girlfriend."

I let out a hollow laugh and quickly splashed cold water on my face. Forget a girlfriend; I didn't even have any girl friends. There was no way I could've approached a woman back then.

I roughly dried off and flopped face-down on the bed, grabbing my phone. The first thing to do after a stream was always an egosearch. There'd been a ton of lurkers during the ASMR broadcast, so someone must've posted a relay in the gallery.

Honestly, searching for Riee specifically instead of initials like "Ri" or "Rie" meant avoiding the really nasty stuff, but those other searches would've been full of toxic comments anyway.

Just skimming a few posts put me in a great mood. Sure, words like "hot" or "pro" were a bit crude, but this wasn't even the deep end of the cesspool.

"Ehehe...!"

Did I always love this kind of attention? Me, the guy who'd spend every day holed up watching other streams and gallery lurking—now seeing myself mentioned felt amazing. Mesmerized, I tapped the linked post next to it.

I should set up VOD uploads separately—do they go up automatically? Vowing to look into it later, I tapped the link in the comments.

"Ah, whatever. Wanna stay at your place till next class?"

The moment my voice hit my ears, I flung my phone away. What? What did I just hear? Did I say that in that voice?

Hearing my own recording for the first time since the change sent chills exploding down my spine. I'd never imagined it'd sound this seductive.

"Hnggh...! Crazy, you crazy bitch!"

I buried my face in the pillow, screaming and kicking the blankets. I'd lived 24 years as a guy—how could I make a voice like that? I was just talking ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠casually like I did with my guy friends back then. Was the voice itself just inherently seductive?

My mind reeled. Now I got why viewers went nuts in chat and why Noona was banhammering so hard.

"Haa... haa..."

After smothering my face in the pillow forever, I finally lifted my head, panting. Actually, this was good—I finally knew how my voice sounded. Next time, I could pitch it lower, more manly, right? Calming myself with that thought—

*Ding-dong*

"Yoonie! It's Noona!"

The doorbell and her mature voice rang out together. Why did her voice sound so grown-up compared to mine...?

A twinge of envy hit, but I couldn't keep her waiting. I got up and headed to the door. Were we eating out again? I preferred home-cooked...

"Our Yoonie, great job on the stream today!"

"Uh, yeah..."

Her touch still startled me, but it felt nice anyway. Noona ruffled my hair, kicked off her shoes and padding jacket like always, and came inside.

"Today's stream was super fun, right?"

"Really?"

"Yeah. Especially, you seem to have a real talent for ASMR?"

If even Noona said that, maybe it didn't sound weird just to me? As I perched on the bed, seriously pondering ASMR—

"Noona had no idea our Hayoon was such a delinquent."

"Ah, seriously, Noona!"

Her words made my face burn as I yelled, but she just grinned mischievously and poked my cheek like I was adorable.

"Stop teasing for real...!"

Her hand shifted from my cheek to lightly flick my pouted lip with her thumb, and she burst out laughing.

"Can't help it—you're too cute. The stream was seriously adorable today?"

"Really? Cute... no, fun?"

No way "cute" would've landed well on guy me, but I almost asked if I was really cute.

"Super cute! Adorably so."

Noona caught my slip-up, eyes sparkling as she scooted next to me on the bed. Remembering how she'd mercilessly groped my chest before, I crossed my arms defensively.

"What're you doing?"

"N-nothing!"

I dropped my arms with a hasty excuse, but Noona approached with a "whatever" look. I had no choice but to raise them sneakily again.

"Mm... Our ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yoonie's getting bigger, huh?"

"N-Noona? Aren't we going for dinner?"

A 24-year-old man had entered the body of female Ha-yoon Seo, but Noona acted like a 50-year-old uncle had possessed her.

After that whole fiasco, I lay clutching the blanket. But Noona sat on the bed, looking refreshed as she stroked my hair.

"Bet it'll taste good."

"Really? Coming from you?"

"...We'll see."

She just nodded like my sass was cute.

"Fine, fine—before you file that lawsuit, wanna grab dinner? Noona'll buy whatever you want as settlement."

She pried my hand off the blanket and pulled me up. I considered demanding nearby beef, but as a newbie office worker, that'd be too harsh—I'd forgive her.

"Then not mala tang, just anywhere."

"For real?"

"You think I eat mala tang every day?"

"Don't you?"

Old me would've survived on it, but not now. Sure, I could if I wanted... nah, maybe I should.

Thinking about it, mala tang was healthy—varied flavors, rice mixable, protein from tofu, fiber from bean sprouts. Perfect, right?

"...Mala xiang guo?"

"Khk...!"

Noona covered her mouth, laughing, but I stood firm. It wasn't wrong—mala tang was boiled soup, mala xiang guo was stir-fried. Totally different...

Fuck.

Even I cringed at my own logic, but ever since thinking of mala xiang guo, my brain was stuck on it.

"Alright, alright. Let's get mala xiang guo."

Noona stood, stifling laughs, and I followed, grabbing my padding from the rack.

"Then mala tang or different mala xiang guo?"

She teased me right up to the door. I wanted to retort, but it was too ridiculous even for me.

"Agh, cold. Hayoon?"

"...Got it."

Outside, her call made me nod and offer my hand. She took it naturally, pocketed it, and we walked, fingers wiggling.

The college district was packed despite break—guess I was the crazy one studying. This was normal.

"Lots of people."

"Yeah, all drinking. Our Yoonie'll do that once you're in uni?"

"Maybe...?"

"But Noona absolutely won't forgive you getting a boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend..."

Those guys who'd messaged me popped into my head, and I muttered. Noona stopped dead, glaring scary-like. W-what?

"...You have one?"

"N-no!"

She must be mad about my stream flopping—no money to repay her.

Yeah... that's it.