First Appearance
"Yeah. Jihyun only plays the airhead on stream. Day to day she's really kind, and serious. She looks after the people around her."
"She does seem that way. I'm just more used to how she comes across on broadcast."
"That could be. Oh—so did you watch any of the streams before you came?"
"Only about as much as the outdoor broadcast. I rushed through one of the gaming streams today."
"Ah, so you haven't seen a guest episode?"
"No."
"Want me to give you the rough shape of how it goes?"
"I'd appreciate that."
"Don't worry too much. Two hours disappear fast if you just chat and play a game. The only thing is, when it goes out, it's locked behind a 19+ rating."
"...Nobody said anything about that."
"Ah, it's not because the content runs that hot. Every so often kids wander in and start trouble. You catch a sexual-harassment chat and it's always a student. If we want to protect the guest, there isn't much choice. All-ages would be better for us too, but..."
I didn't know this side of the work, so all I could do was nod. I needed to get my head on straight. The people I'd been meeting lately were all so uncomplicatedly sincere that I'd let my guard slip.
"Thank you so much for coming today."
"It's nothing. I was a little put out once I found out I was just a last-minute fill-in."
"I'm really sorry. I didn't know what to say..."
"It's fine. It's my first time on a stream anyway. There's no way you weren't nervous about it."
"...If I hurt your feelings, I'm sorry."
"Not at all. If anything, now I've got something to tease you with. Works out for me."
"Huh?"
"There's a thing."
Her hands had been quietly holding my face, turning it this way and that. I opened my eyes and met Choi Soojung's. She flushed, flustered, and hurried to pack her tools away as she answered.
"Ah, ha—if you wait about ten minutes, Jihyun should be out."
"All right. Thank you."
Then I caught my reflection, and I lost my words too. I hadn't known makeup could do this much.
"...You're incredible. This doesn't even look like me."
"I—I was startled too.... You look so handsome."
"...If I walked around like this, I'd start treating this face as the default without even noticing."
"I'm glad you like it. I did it to my own taste."
"Oh. So this is the kind of look you like?"
Choi Soojung flinched, caught off guard, then blushed and gave a small nod.
"I like it too. I should get a picture of this."
"Ah, I—I'll take it."
She took my phone and snapped a few shots. When she turned the screen toward me, the person inside it still wasn't me, no matter how I looked. It was close to a once-in-a-lifetime photo, but it felt a little early to put something like that on social media.
"You'll probably look even better once the stream camera has you. The camera's much better, too. The studio lights are strong, so the shading came out heavy, but it needs to be about this much..."
"I just hope they don't panic when a completely different person shows up."
Soojung smiled, soft and a little shy, and was just opening her mouth when a knock sounded at the door.
"Shinwoo. Soojung."
"Yeah. You can come in."
At her answer the door burst open, and there was Bae Jihyun. Today's look felt even bolder than that day. A heart-shaped charm swayed against a black choker. A sheer blouse clung tight to her, and the black bra beneath it caught the eye, finished with a black miniskirt and chocolate-colored stockings. She seemed to favor that kind of style. Whether it was a broadcast concept, I couldn't say.
"Shinwoo. I'm late saying hello... I'm sorry..."
She started the greeting with apology written all over her face, and then her mouth slowly fell open. It was such an overreaction I almost wanted to laugh. I smiled and waved.
"You've been well?"
"Ah, yes.... Y-you are Shinwoo, right?"
"Right? I was getting confused myself."
"Oh my god. The makeup is doing insane work."
"...That is a compliment, right?"
"Of course it's a compliment. My god."
"Soojung's really good at this."
"Ah, no.... Your base is just that good."
"Well, that much I already knew.... Ah, this isn't the time."
She hurriedly set down the tumbler she'd been carrying and went on.
"First we'll go in, do a quick hello, and stretch things a little by answering viewer chat. The donation messages will set the mood on their own, so don't worry too much."
"Got it. Anything I should watch for?"
"Anything's fine, but, um. You have to be careful which chats you actually read, okay?"
"I get it. Filter out anything too much on my own. That what you mean?"
"Yes. We've got two mods today, so we can cover it. Don't worry. If something's really bad, remember it and tell me—I can help you press charges."
"And the game?"
"Well, if we get that far, the only things two people can play together are Switch games or fighting games. If you like the Souls series, we can do that too."
Hearing that, her taste ran a lot like mine. I'd been worried we'd end up stuck in some online game, so this was a relief.
"That sounds fine. Anything else?"
"We're getting food ready. Anything you can't eat?"
"Just leave out raw carrots."
Bae Jihyun and Choi Soojung both snorted. I scratched my cheek in silence while Jihyun waved a hand and answered.
"Ah, sorry. That was cute. How about sushi, then?"
"Sounds good."
"Soojung, I'm counting on you."
"Okay."
"I'll ask you one more time on stream. Shall we head in?"
"Sure. I'm a little nervous."
"Don't worry about it. You'll have plenty of time to settle in."
I thanked Choi Soojung once more, then followed Bae Jihyun—no. Followed the woman who, from here on, was Lee Hyangsuk—into the room across the way.
"..."
The instant the door opened, the lights hit hard enough to dazzle me. Three monitors, a DSLR, three ring lights, and a reflector set low beneath them. Under the desk sat two enormous PC towers.
"You all waited, right? Okay—who do we have here?"
Lee Hyangsuk dropped into the computer chair, dragged over the other one she'd pushed aside, and spoke. Her voice, tension cranked all the way up, was the same feeling I'd gotten at the café. I sat where she pulled the chair in and bowed my head.
"Hello. I'm Lee Shinwoo."
"See? I told you to look forward to it."
She watched the chat, leaned back at her ease, crossed her legs, and started putting on airs. Beneath the hem of the miniskirt, tugged tight, the lace-trimmed band of her stockings cinched a milk-white thigh and pushed the soft flesh above it.
"This is incredible."
"Right? The gods have straight-up descended. Aigoo, you like it that much?"
Chat was flying up the tablet set beside the monitor, and the speed of it was something else. It felt deeply strange. There were only the two of us in this room, and yet the ones watching...
"There really are a lot of people. Seven thousand of them."
"This is about what I do. More will show up. Peak's around nine. All right, donation chat's going on, kids. Behave yourselves, yeah?"
"So you really are something."
"Do I look a little more attractive to you now?"
She tucked her hair behind her ear and blinked at me. I shrugged.
"I'm not sure about that. I just don't really like people who lie."
"Eh? What lie did I..."
The moment she let the pause hang, the chat that had hesitated exploded upward. Then the electronic woman's voice, reading the donations aloud, began to sound from the speakers.
"Ah, I said it's not like that. I didn't lie. Just say what actually happened. I said I didn't!"
"Ah, I don't like carrots."
"Ah, it's the makeup. Someone named Soojung did it for me. I was a little surprised myself."
"So she's usually not great?"
The donation-chat feature was far more useful than I'd expected. I'd been a little tense, and that tension was starting to loosen. There was plenty of nonsense, sure, but they changed the subject on their own, and whether I answered was up to me. This is... kind of comfortable?
"Ah, well. I only found out after I got here that today's stream is 19+."
"D-did I not... mention that?"
"You didn't."
"Ah, that... it wasn't on purpose."
"I was pretty thrown when I found out. Made me wonder how you saw me."
"Ah, ah! It's absolutely not that. That wasn't my intention. Really. It was to protect the guest..."
Even flustered, Lee Hyangsuk's reactions looked a little exaggerated. She understood the situation, and I could feel her trying to pull runtime out of it. A joke within certain bounds seemed fine even without an explicit agreement. A broadcaster is a broadcaster, I suppose.
"And on top of that, me being called in today. Apparently I wasn't even the original plan."
"Ah, no! Shinwoo!"
"Well. I guess to Hyangsuk I'm only worth about that much."
"Don't bow your head while you say that! I can see the corners of your mouth going up!"
The only parts that felt a little awkward were reading the chat, or when a long video donation came through. Whenever that happened, Lee Hyangsuk quietly bit the straw of the tumbler in front of her and waited until the donation finished. I followed her lead, waited in silence, and then opened my mouth.
"Look at this. A mouth only for herself. Terrible hospitality."
"Ah, ah! H-hold on. I just forgot! Soojung!"
"Since when is he your oppa! She's watching the stream, so she'll bring it right over."
"Ah, it's not like that! That's not it! You guys said you wanted to see him soon!"
"The apology's fine. I think I know what kind of person she is now."
"Ah! Seriously! I'm sorry..."
"Now you are?"
"...It was my fault."
I looked at the crown of her bowed head, then quietly stroked it. Lee Hyangsuk flinched, but I smiled as if nothing were strange and answered.
"Apology accepted."
"...Th-thank you."
At that chat I stared at my hand in silence, pulled a wet wipe, and cleaned it.
"Ah, I said no! Really! I washed it today! You guys want a ban?!"
Lee Hyangsuk barked it, and the chat filled with nothing but laughter. The reactions were friendlier than I'd expected. They were laughing at a prank this mild. There was some swearing and some harassment, but by my standards it was cute, and before long those messages thinned out. Then one big donation popped. The contents, though...
"Aigoo, thanks for the hundred thousand won.... You're banned. When a guest is here, did I or did I not tell you to be careful? You ready to get sued?"
A playful mood had gotten into me. I scratched my cheek and muttered. It was a public place, so the question was mischievous, but it wasn't as if I couldn't answer. A hundred-thousand-won donation, and they were paying for the ban besides.
"Mm. Black? Well then, take care."
At my answer the chat came crashing down in a flood, and Lee Hyangsuk spun toward me in a panic and started to speak.