No Broadcast Is Complete Without a Beauty

Donations slammed in all at once, a flood thick enough to stack the alerts into a solid wall. In the end, Minjae couldn't even last a full minute before he killed the donation feature. Then he tore into a few of the more conspicuous viewers.

"Hey, what the hell do you think asking about coins is gonna do? And if you want ticker picks, pay more! What is ten thousand won supposed to get you?!"

Minjae's shameless demand didn't sour the chat at all. If anything, they turned on the people who'd tried to fish for tickers with a ten-thousand-won donation. This was internet streaming, no question — the mood, the texture of it, was nothing like a forum. I felt myself settle in a little easier.

With the room back under control, Minjae opened the floor.

"Alright then, Dalya — want to run through some of the questions we already got?"

"Sure. Where should I start?"

On Minjae's cue — Minjae hyung's, rather — I worked through the questions in the order I remembered them, starting with how I picked investments and what I looked for, then drifting into the various disasters and scandals that had ripped through the coin market. It was my first time doing anything like this, but with Minjae hyung steering beside me, keeping the conversation going was easier than I'd expected.

Honestly, the stream was fun. It was a completely different animal from trading short posts on a forum. I was starting to understand why BJ Minjae still went live every single day even with tens of billions of won to his name.

Not every viewer rolled over quite so nicely, of course. A few of them worked overtime trying to tear Minjae and me down, and the nastier ones didn't even hesitate to go after our families. Whenever that happened, Minjae would quietly talk them down — or, when that failed, kick them from the stream.

I could never be that nice.

It wasn't in me. Talking kindly to someone who came at me with genuine malice was, temperamentally, impossible. If nothing else, that alone was enough to tell me I could never be a streamer.

"Hold on a second. Looks like Minju's here."

Mid-stream, Minjae stood up from his chair and stepped out of the studio. I blinked, thrown by the idea that someone else was about to walk in.

In that brief burst of chat, I pieced together two things. One: this Minju person was Minjae hyung's little sister. Two: everyone in the room already knew that except me.

What is going on right now?

I was still trying to work out the situation when Minjae hyung came back in — and he wasn't alone. The woman with him looked to be in her early twenties, and she had the kind of beauty that hit you with an aura the instant you laid eyes on her.

Holy shit. She's gorgeous.

My standards have always been unreasonably high. How could they not be? I grew up looking at Jieun, her older sister, and their mother — a mother-daughter trio so stunning they barely seemed real. For someone like me to look at an ordinary person and feel this kind of awe? That happened maybe once a decade.

And sure enough, the viewers who already knew this Minju woman weren't reacting any differently than I was.

A pretty face, a height around five-foot-five, long slender limbs, and just the right amount of curve. Admiration erupted from every corner of the chat. The camera sitting low enough that her face wasn't fully in frame didn't bother the viewers in the slightest.

Minjae hyung sat me in the middle, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠put the woman named Minju on my left, and took the seat on my right. I was officially sandwiched between the siblings.

Whatever the chat was doing, Minjae hyung paid it no mind.

"So here's the thing. I had the wrong idea about you, and because of that I made a promise to the viewers."

"A promise?"

"A stream pledge, I guess. I told them that if Running Wild Horse really was twenty, I'd introduce my little sister. Sorry I didn't mention it ahead of time."

That was when it finally clicked. I glanced to my left, and the woman named Minju offered me a slightly awkward nod of greeting.

She is pretty. What does she even do?

If growing up around Jieun's family hadn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠given me a working immunity to beautiful women, I probably would have been sitting there stammering like an idiot.

"Hello. I'm Dalya."

"Nice to meet you. I'm a fan."

Not panicking and not feeling awkward were two very different things, though. The whole encounter had been sprung on both of us, and the air between us showed it.

"For the record, kids, this is not whatever you're thinking. They're around the same age, so I figured they should at least know each other's faces. Minju's a fan of Dalya's too. Don't get carried away."

Fortunately, Minjae hyung drew on years of streaming instinct and stepped in fast, seizing the conversation with a handful of sentences. Minju, who had been quietly reading the chat, jumped in as well and helped kill off what was left of the awkwardness.

"Okay but guys, my pride is actually hurt? You're really gonna ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠do me like this? Running away? Especially you, ChocoBanana! I have been watching you this whole time!"

The people who'd been tearing Minju down hurriedly flooded the chat with laughter, scrolling their old messages out of sight.

What had been two guys talking suddenly had a woman in the mix, and the stream got a whole lot more colorful for it. Minju, of all people, had an unbelievable feel for being on camera for someone who wasn't a streamer — she had the whole broadcast in the palm of her hand within minutes. She clearly wasn't new to collab streams.

"Alright, that's going to do it for today. A little short, but Dalya's tired, so let's send him off."

After about two hours, having burned through the prepared content at a clip, Minjae called the end of the stream like he'd been waiting for the chance. I'd been enjoying myself enough that I was almost disappointed.

"An afterparty? If Dalya's up for it, I'm all in. But we're not streaming it. Too uncomfortable. I'll spill the stories tomorrow instead. What do you say, Dalya?"

"Works for me."

Minjae's question was the kind where the answer had already been decided for you, but I didn't mind. I wasn't ready to call it a night either. More than anything, I wanted to talk with Minjae hyung about the things you couldn't say on stream — the boring, complicated stuff. We'd spent two hours talking, sure, but almost all of it had been for the broadcast. Even on a coin stream, you couldn't get into anything too dense or difficult unless you were running an actual lecture.

In a way, the real game was only starting now.

"Alright then — bye, everyone!"

And just like that, a stream that might have been my first and last came to an end. We tidied up the studio in a few quick motions and stepped out into the living room.

"How was it?"

"More fun than I expected."

Minjae hyung, last one out of the studio, dropped the formal speech again. The way he switched it on and off without thinking — yeah, that was a professional.

"Glad to hear it. This is for you."

He held out a paper bag he'd already had ready. Even I, who didn't know the first thing about luxury brands, recognized the crown printed on it. Rolex — the name that practically defined high-end watches.

"What is this?"

"Paying you an appearance fee in cash felt a little weird. Consider it a gift. Two birds, one stone."

"Wow."

The present so thoroughly exceeded anything I'd imagined that I couldn't find words. Me, receiving a luxury watch — a Rolex, no less — from anyone, anywhere. My heart was hammering in my chest.

I opened the box inside the paper bag. Nestled beside the warranty papers was the watch itself. Not knowing the first thing about watches, I turned to Minju beside me.

"Is this expensive?"

"That's a Datejust. Goes for around fifteen million."

I'd had some idea from the brand alone, but actually hearing a number that cleared ten million won made my jaw drop.

What kind of appearance fee is this?

I knew the gift carried more goodwill than a simple payout ever could, and I still couldn't quite wrap my head around it.

Minju, for her part, looked at Minjae like she was seeing a new side of him.

"Oppa, wasn't that the one you bought for Jeongmin oppa?"

"I can get him something else later."

"Yesterday when you dropped a hundred million you looked like death, and now you're a whole different person."

"…You really know how to kill the mood, don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you."

For siblings with a fairly wide gap in age, they talked like friends.

Minju's attention swung to me next.

"By the way, you're already speaking informally with oppa?"

"Well, given the age difference…"

"True, our oppa is getting up there. Let's drop the formalities too. I'm twenty-two. You're twenty, right?"

"Yes. Kim Dojun. I can call you nuna, then?"

Just like on stream, she had a completely straightforward way about her. You could feel the extrovert energy rolling off her in waves. In school she had almost certainly been class president at minimum — student council president, if I had to bet.

Her personality is nothing like Jieun's.

Jieun shrank from strangers. She would never, in a hundred years, have been the one to suggest dropping formal speech first.

We were still sorting out what to call each other when Minjae cut in.

"Shall we get moving? Minju, you're coming to the afterparty, right?"

"Why the rush? Someone waiting?"

"Plenty of people. Today's guest is Dalya — you think nobody's gonna show?"

Minjae looked at me with a sly little smile.

"What now? You're making me nervous."

"I'll introduce you to someone interesting. That alright?"

He'd only contacted me today, thrown this collab together today, and somehow the plans just kept spilling out of him, one after another, like sausages from a machine. I was a little overwhelmed — but the solid weight on my wrist did the convincing for me, and I nodded.

"This time it's a guy?"

"Yeah."

"Is he good-looking?"

Even so, there were things I needed to check. Fortunately, Minjae thought about it for about a second and shook his head.

"No. That hyung isn't exactly handsome."

"Then we're good. Let's go."

I felt a lot lighter after that.