An Ordinary PC Bang Part-Timer and His Not-So-Ordinary Streamer Friend (1)
“What the hell? Why are you here?”
Han Seung-yoon, my high school classmate and fellow college dropout. He's been an oddball since our school days, obsessed with internet broadcasting, and eventually debuted as a streamer on the Click platform. He's pushed past Red and dipped his toes into Black Ocean territory. In my pathetically narrow circle of connections—narrow as atherosclerosis—he's the closest thing I've got to a real friend.
I'd heard he'd gone to Japan recently for some travel stream. Already back?
“Didn't you say you were heading to Japan?”
“That was a 3-night, 4-day trip. And it was last week, dude.”
“Oh, right.”
“You bastard. So you haven't been watching my streams at all? No wonder I didn't see your ID in chat.”
“Ahem. Lately, after shifts, I've been grinding ranks...”
Truth is, ever since starting this job, I'd crash from exhaustion after a bit of gaming at home, so I'd just leave his stream on in the background while I slept. Shit.
“I came here 'cause the boss told me to check the place out, but what's your excuse?”
No matter how neglectful I've been as a friend, I knew for a fact he didn't live around here. His place was a few subway stops away.
“Dude, can't you tell? I'm here shooting with Ho-jun hyung's crew.”
“Ho-jun? The guy at the counter?”
“Yeah. What, you don't know Ho-jun Ham?”
He gave me this incredulous look, and I shot back with a What? face of my own.
“I just got back from that 3-night, 4-day trip with him.”
“Oh. So that was the guy you went with?”
“Yeah. Technically, it was me, Ho-jun Ham, and the girls from his crew. See those maids in uniforms at the counter? Them.”
“Holy shit, you lucky bastard.”
While I'm slaving away at this PC bang-slash-kitchen hybrid, he's off hanging with them?
“I can see it in your eyes—you're thinking I was just screwing around. But it was strictly business.”
He nailed my thoughts so spot-on it gave me chills. I steadied my shocked heart and asked what they'd been up to.
“What kind of stream was it?”
“Onsen travel vlog.”
“Die.”
His shit-eating grin pushed me over the edge. I slammed a rage-fueled gut punch into him, and he doubled over with a choked gack.
“You psycho! That hurt like hell.”
“You deserved it. Anyway, did anything happen with those girls?”
“Urk. Eyes only.”
“Why? Aren't you friends... no, fellow streamers? Coworkers, basically...”
As I spun my delusional fantasies, he gave me this sad-puppy look.
“Look at Ho-jun Ham. Then look at my face.”
“Ah...”
My buddy Han Seung-yoon: decent height, horn-rimmed glasses, and a face that's warm and approachable—unlike mine. But glancing between him and the guy at the counter, I sent him a look of deepest sympathy.
“Why are you staring like that, you prick?”
“Hate to admit it, but I always thought you had a solid mask. Now I see we're both squid-level.”
“What the fuck, dude?”
We weren't in any position to argue who was uglier, but roasting each other like this was just what bros did, right? Anyway, like Seung-yoon said, this Ho-jun guy was handsome. I'd never met a celeb in person, so setting them aside, among real people I'd seen, he was hands-down the best-looking. Even our shop's thug would turn into a squid next to him. Wait, if the thug's a squid, does that make me a dried squid from the snack shop? Suddenly feeling down.
“Anyway, so you're here for the shoot?”
“Yeah. The boss knows Ho-jun Ham, so it's like an event-promo collab thing. Gotta keep filming, so I'm out.”
“Oh? Yeah.”
“They'll probably go live till midnight, so head home and tune in if you got time. Search 'Junkru' channel.”
“Cool. Good luck.”
I watched him head back to work, a mix of fondness and envy washing over me. I shot a quick KakaoTalk to the boss: AK PC Bang update, then headed home.
Seeing my streamer friend up close made everything feel distant somehow. Weird vibe. Usually, I only saw him through a screen, and our meetups were just him rambling about stream drama. But today, watching him work with these celeb-level hot and cute people like some idol...
“This bastard's totally smitten.”
Screw distant. I checked the stream at home, and the dude was head-over-heels for the female streamers in his Junkru crew, completely whipped.
“Yoon-sam! You're so domestic!”
“Fr, Yoon-sam is a pro chef~”
Grinning like an idiot, he took over all the PC bang cooking solo. Ho-jun even had to tell the girls to help, but Seung-yoon brushed it off like no big deal.
This prick always bragged about his girlfriend on stream—was that not just a gimmick? It was real?
Buddy. Buddy. What the hell is a solo title for if you're gonna lie like that... Live proudly like me.
What? It could be real? No way—if he'd scored a girlfriend, he'd have flexed it in my face immediately. Couldn't be true. Must not be. I can't let this bastard escape solo life first. Objectively, he loses in every category, but he's the only one I share that bond with! If he escapes before me, my stomach'll ache so bad I'll get IBS.
Jealousy was twisting my brain into knots as I watched him lie more smoothly by the second. What a pathetic duo we made.
But this round goes to me, buddy. Watching your stream right now? It's giving secondhand embarrassment. What's that word? Empathy shame or whatever? The chat and co-streamers didn't seem to clock the BS, but I knew him too well—it was painful.
Eh? Did he sniff out the lie? For a split second, I caught a mocking smirk from Ho-jun—like the one our shop thug sometimes flashes at me.
What? Overthinking? Sure, maybe. But you get those vibes from people, right? That instant gut feel if they're looking down on you? From tone, expressions—you just know. This was it.
I usually let stuff slide with a positive mindset, but our thug? His text seems normal, but hearing him talk feels like shade half the time. That hard-to-describe nuance, expression—that stuff. Yeah. Don't know Ho-jun well, but something felt off. Just a hunch. Not like that suffocating convenience store clerk vibe where they say, “Need a bag?” and you're like, “Should I just carry it barehanded?” But still... something.
Oof. Brutal to watch. His face stiffened, cheeks flushing—pure secondhand cringe. Aaargh.
Oh god. You idiot. No comeback, so you throw me under the bus...
That sleazy-yet-handsome guy spotted me instantly in the viewer list. All traces of his earlier expression gone, he beamed politely at the camera with genuine warmth. The maid-streamer girls beside him bowed just as courteously.
God, I wanted to ghost them, but bailing would make me the rude one—and put that moron in a tough spot. So for one night only, I went full netkama. Hellooo, army-vet part-timer Im Gyeong-guk reporting in.Urp.Shiiit.
Thinking it over again: he's one of my few friends, but... one good smack—no, a beatdown till he snaps out of it. Yeah.