The Uninvited Guest
Han-gyeol pulled the airtight containers from the shopping bags and began stacking them neatly in the fridge.
"Mom was climbing the walls worrying whether you were even eating properly."
Her scolding gaze drifted to the computer setup in one corner of the studio apartment.
Dual monitors. LEDs flashing inside the tower. On the desk, a microphone and a camera fixed to a tripod…
No matter how you looked at it, that was not a normal young woman's desk.
At first I'd considered hiding it, but reinstalling everything sounded like a chore, so I'd left it as it was. If I'd known Jeong Eun-gyeol had skimmed academy fees to buy all that, I would have stashed it for sure.
"Unnie. What is this?"
Han-gyeol's voice went cold and flat.
"Uh… that's…"
"You took over five million won from Dad saying you were enrolling in academy classes. Don't tell me you bought all that with it?"
I spun my brain at full speed, hunting for an excuse. Nothing usable came to mind.
"Camera and mic… are you doing some kind of internet broadcast?"
"Well, Han-gyeol, the thing is—"
I was about to try some half-baked cover story when the corners of her eyes went damp.
"Unnie… I told you to try getting along with people a little, but I never wanted it to go this far… You're not… doing weird streams, are you?"
"W-wrong idea. It's not that kind of stream. My face doesn't even show."
Han-gyeol's eyes snapped to the cam.
"Then what's the camera for? You're not, like, wearing skimpy outfits and doing weird dances… right?"
As if Jeong Eun-gyeol would ever have had the guts for that.
I sighed. Now that I'd been caught, I at least needed to clear up the "weird stream" misunderstanding.
I walked to the desk and jiggled the mouse. The monitors woke from sleep mode and the desktop appeared. I double-clicked the VTuber Studio icon.
Ziiing—
A green light lit on the cam as the lens focused on my face. On the monitor, a cute cat-eared avatar with pink twintails popped into existence.
"I stream with this… It's called being a VTuber. Virtual YouTuber."
"…"
Han-gyeol stared blankly at the avatar on the screen, then finally spoke.
"So… you took that huge sum from Dad just so you could do this?"
That wasn't me. That was Jeong Eun-gyeol.
But I had no way of explaining that to Han-gyeol.
"Uh… yeah, pretty much?"
"And here I thought unnie was trying to get out into the world… trying to be around people…"
"Ah. That part's actually true."
Jeong Eun-gyeol had absolutely started VTubing because she wanted to be around people. I, on the other hand, had not.
"And people… actually watch that?"
"Not a ton, but… yeah, there are some."
Over a hundred people sit through my nonsense. They even pay me for it.
Han-gyeol looked from the avatar to me and back, then sighed.
"Unnie, I'm seriously torn right now. Whether I should tell Mom about this or not."
Absolutely not.
This wasn't even my mess. Was I supposed to get chewed out by some stranger I didn't know over it? Hard pass. And the VTuber challenge had genuinely been the challenge of Jeong Eun-gyeol's life.
"Han-gyeol. I'm really sorry I lied… but I'm actually doing pretty well."
"…Now that you mention it, your whole vibe does feel different… You never used to be able to talk this naturally with me."
"That's all thanks to streaming. Oh, right—want to see this?"
I opened the Vivid homepage, pulled up the settlement page, and turned the screen toward her.
"Well?"
The screen showed this month's sponsorship total.
A full 3.65 million won.
Granted, most of that had come from Hina-nim during the raid, but still…
"I haven't even been streaming for two weeks."
I said it with a modest little spark of pride. Han-gyeol's expression wavered. The power of numbers.
She stared at me, then sniffled.
"You really… have changed, unnie. You can even make a face like that now. Okay. I won't tell Mom. It does seem like this is having a good effect on you."
Whew.
I let out a breath of pure relief.
"Can you show me a stream sometime?"
Ah. That one's rough.
Showing the person who was going to keep seeing me in real life the nonsense I spouted on stream… Honestly, that was a little mortifying.
"Umm…"
The second I hesitated, Han-gyeol eyed me with suspicion.
"It really isn't a weird stream, right?"
"Ah—fine. I'll show you."
I had no choice but to agree. Still, I badly wanted a subject change…
"Han-gyeol, aren't you hungry? Want to order chicken?"
"Now that you mention it, I haven't had dinner yet… You're treating?"
"Of course. You saw. I make good money."
I hadn't actually received a payout yet, but I still had cash left from selling the keyboard and mouse. If chicken was the price of derailing this conversation, so be it.
That night.
As planned, Han-gyeol was staying over. I'd already posted a rest-day notice explaining my little sister was visiting, so at least I didn't have to worry about streaming.
She insisted on spreading a blanket on the floor, but I managed to wrestle her onto the bed. I wasn't the type who could sleep easy knowing a kid younger than me was on the floor.
Though, come to think of it, I still didn't know Han-gyeol's exact age. Between the makeup and the fact that she'd come to Seoul alone, she seemed like an adult—but a high schooler could manage that too. I didn't even know where Jeong Eun-gyeol's family home was. The pile of things I still needed to learn was mountain-high.
The lights went out. Only the soft glow of the streetlamp outside filtered into the room.
Hmm.
Even as a man I'd always slept alone, so sharing a bed with someone else for the first time in ages was oddly keeping me awake. And knowing a pretty person was right next to me—even if she was Jeong Eun-gyeol's blood…
Excitement? Not a bit. Zero reaction.
"Haa."
I sighed, mourning my vanished masculinity. A rustle came from the bed.
"…The floor's going to cave in. Why are you sighing that hard?"
"There's a reason."
Even if I said, I used to be a guy with the full package, she wouldn't believe me. Not that I planned to try.
"Don't worry. I really won't tell Mom. But unnie."
"Yeah?"
"I get that you're making good money… but still, go outside sometimes. Get a little sunlight."
"……"
"When we used to talk, you always just stared at the floor. Today you actually looked me in the eye… You seem so much brighter than before. I'm glad. It was like seeing you when we were little. You used to be really bright back then."
Hmm. Nighttime atmosphere's got Han-gyeol going sentimental.
So Jeong Eun-gyeol really had been a bright kid once. Something must have happened to trigger that appearance complex of hers.
"I—I was?"
"I know some things are hard to forget."
Less "forgot" and more… I have no idea what even happened…
Please don't let it have been something like assault.
"The best revenge on the kids who ostracized you is showing them you're doing well."
Ah… so she was bullied. That must be how she ended up a hikikomori.
Though, Han-gyeol, isn't the best revenge still kidnapping the bullies and torturing them? Not that I felt any real thirst for vengeance—I hadn't lived through it. Still, the outline of what Jeong Eun-gyeol must have endured was starting to take a faint, visible shape.
When I stayed quiet, Han-gyeol went on.
"So unnie. Come out with me tomorrow."
"Huh? Where?"
"Anywhere. Lunch is on me."
Going out.
It sounded like a hassle… but I had no good reason to refuse. Even if I did, turning down a little sister who was this worried about me would feel wrong.
"Umm… okay. But I'm buying lunch. Feels weird letting my little sister treat me."
"Mom gave me money. Said to feed you and buy you some clothes. You're still living in baggy tracksuits every day, right?"
I'd lived in tracksuits as a guy too, but Jeong Eun-gyeol's closet had seemed to have plenty of women's clothes…
I tilted my head at the thought, and Han-gyeol's voice came again.
"You never wear anything Mom and I buy you, do you?"
Ah. So that's how it is.
Not that I'd wear women's clothes even if she bought them. Felt like a waste of money.
"Clothes, whatever. Let's just eat."
"No. Tomorrow is lunch and clothes shopping. Got it? If you don't listen, I'm telling Mom and Dad about your stream."
"Ah—okay."
All I could do was nod.
The next morning.
"Wake up, unnie! We have to wash up so we can go eat!"
I cracked my eyes open half-asleep and checked my phone. A little past nine.
"It's only nine…"
"It's already nine! The sun's at its zenith!"
"Han-gyeol… 'zenith' means the sun is at the center of the sky, so that would be noon…"
"Should I call Mom?"
"…I'm getting up."
I pushed the blanket off and sat up. Han-gyeol beamed at me.
"Hurry and wash up."
"Yeah."
Still half-asleep, I finished a rough shower and reached for my usual tracksuit.
"Unnie. Put that down right now."
"This is… comfortable."
"I looked in the closet. The clothes I bought you last year still have the tags on."
Apparently she'd already gone through Jeong Eun-gyeol's entire wardrobe. And she'd already picked out what she wanted me to wear. The bed was strewn with blouses and knits and other feminine pieces—I didn't know the names; they all looked the same to me.
"Put them on."
"Han-gyeol, come on."
"Put. Them. On."
"…Han-gyeol, decorating yourself to match other people's gazes is a prison of the se—"
"I'm calling Mom?"
She lifted her phone as she said it. I had no choice but to surrender.
What she'd picked was black pants, a white T-shirt, and something like a navy jacket to go over it. At least it wasn't a skirt. Small mercies.
I started to change—only Han-gyeol was still watching me.
"I… need to change."
"So what? We're sisters."
Out of arguments, I rustled into the clothes.
"Now sit at the vanity."
"I don't know how to do make—"
"I'll do it. Just sit still. Base and lip only."
Something dabbed across my face. Something slick went on my lips. My usual loose hair turned presentable the moment Han-gyeol took a curling iron to it.
"Done."
I looked into the vanity mirror at my—no, at Jeong Eun-gyeol's—reflection.
"Oh."
I was honestly a little stunned. She'd already been ridiculously pretty, but with basic makeup and a little work on the hair, the woman in the glass was an overwhelming beauty. And the clean semi-formal fit gave her this hard-to-approach career-woman aura. She could honestly debut as a celebrity.
"You're impressed too, right?"
There was no denying it.
After that, Han-gyeol linked her arm through mine and towed me out of the studio. We hadn't even been outside twenty minutes before serious problems started cropping up.
"Excuse me, you're so pretty—could I get your number…"
"No."
"Then at least your Byeolstar ID."
"I don't use it."
Two guys had already asked for my number just walking down the street. Eight out of ten people who passed us did a double take. On top of that, the girl arm-in-arm with me was a looker in her own right. Perfect, absolute attention magnet.
This is exhausting…
"Han-gyeol, aren't we going somewhere too crowded? Can we take a detour?"
"It'll be the same wherever we go."
There was a smug little set to her shoulders. What was she so proud of…
We walked a while longer.
"We're here."
The place she'd brought me was a brunch café steeped in that Byeolstar aesthetic. We took a sunlit window table across from each other. I knew nothing about this kind of place, so I left the ordering to her.
While we waited, Han-gyeol's eyes sparkled as she lifted her phone.
"Unnie, can I take a picture?"
"Huh? Why are you asking me?"
"So that's a yes?"
She pointed the lens straight at me.
Wait—taking a picture of me?
"H-hold on!"
"Yeah? What?"
"You're not… going to post it anywhere, right?"
"Obviously I'm posting it on Byeolstar. First outing with unnie in forever."
Byeolstar.
Jeong Eun-gyeol's face exposed to the general public?
"Please spare me that much…"
"Hmm. Guess even this is too much… Okay, unnie."
She nodded more easily than I expected. Until very recently Jeong Eun-gyeol had been a total shut-in, so just getting her outside was already a win in Han-gyeol's book.
A little later, the food arrived. In front of me sat a salad pasta buried under a mountain of greenery and some mysterious thing called eggs Benedict. One tentative bite later: greasy and bland.
I should have suggested gukbap.
I still couldn't understand the psychology of people who paid money for this greasy stuff. I let out a tiny sigh, careful not to let Han-gyeol notice.