A Real Man's Finger Heart
"Thank you, everyone. Now let me introduce my WeTube. Please subscribe!"
The chat lit up with support, and I was sure hitting ten thousand subscribers wouldn't take long at all.
How were you even supposed to gather that many subscribers, though? I had so much respect for the WeTubers who'd actually pulled in over a million. It wasn't like they were riding their looks the way I was. They had to have some incredible content.
"Jiyoung, let me borrow your ear for a sec."
Mina leaned in and whispered to me.
Wait. She wanted me to act cute for the viewers? That didn't feel like me at all. Still, I steeled myself. I needed those WeTube subscribers.
I turned to the camera, smiled, and made a little finger heart with my hands. Mina had said the viewers would love it.
"Hyungs, noonas, please subscribe to my WeTube~ Is that good enough?"
"A little lacking, but the viewers will eat it up anyway."
"It's Real Man TV. Same as my WeTV."
"I'll show you why I'm a real man."
I held up the school uniform I wore every day for the camera. I'd been wearing the boys' uniform since middle school. A true real man wore the boys' uniform to school even if she was a girl. Skirts were out of the question.
"I'm a real man, so I don't wear feminine clothes."
"I'd love to put Jiyoung in the prettiest outfits, but I've never gotten her into one even once."
"Heh. That makes me a real man, right?"
"Jiyoung only sings guy songs, too."
"No, not singing — we're playing a game right now. We even put chicken on the line."
Not a single person in chat mentioned the game. Nobody looked even remotely interested in playing. We'd put chicken on the line and they were just going to sit this out? I'd been planning to flatten them in Arena, too. Of course, Mina would be the one actually punishing them in my place.
"Latest, you've already thrown so much today — you can stop. Thank you for the thousand dollars."
"We can sing when we go to karaoke. There's a soundproofing issue at home."
"Alright. Thank you for the thousand dollars. Now please, really, stop."
"You can set your expectations sky-high. You're going to hear a voice from heaven."
"Ahem. I may be terrible at sports, but I can sing."
"You mean viewers. I can't play games either, okay? Happy now?"
"Jiyoung has perfect pitch, an incredible sense of rhythm, and she plays piano beautifully. She's genuinely gifted at music. And she still turned down being an entertainer."
"I got the same offer. I just didn't want to."
"If Jiyoung had become a singer, she would've been huge."
"Good thing we didn't go that route, right? That's why we're streaming instead."
The agencies had clung to us like burrs, asking if we wanted to debut as a girl group. Something about how just the two of us could dominate the entire idol industry. We told them absolutely not, and they still pressed business cards into our hands and told us to call if we ever changed our minds. Genuinely a nuisance. Compared to that, internet streaming was ten hours a week of pure comfort. Becoming a celebrity would've been a massive loss.
"We'll do songs next time. Today was supposed to be a gaming stream."
I'd already made the room, but we spent a whole thirty minutes chatting about everything else and never actually played. Did nobody want chicken? Chicken was good, though... Not that the viewers stood much of a chance against Mina anyway.
Suddenly I heard the front door open. I knew that sound. Noona was home.
"One second. My noona's here."
"I'll be right back."
I left the chat behind and hurried out to meet her. I always came to the door when she got home. She never showed it on her face, but I knew it made her genuinely happy.
"Noona, you're back?"
"You're streaming."
"Yeah."
"I was going to take us out for dinner, but I guess that's not happening."
"No, let's go out. I'll wrap up right now."
I hurried back to the computer. Sorry, viewers — but it had been a while, and I really wanted to eat out. This was entirely because none of you joined the game, by the way. Chicken would have to wait until next time.
"I'm really sorry. My noona wants to go out for dinner. I know the stream was short — please understand."
"We'll do the Arena content next time. Latest, send me your contact info by email. Everyone, bye-bye!"
And just like that, I ended the stream without playing a single game of PVP Arena. It was a mode that required zero gear, so Mina — who barely played — definitely would've been good at it. I still thought Arena, which actually took mechanical skill, was more fun than the gear-check Colosseum against AI.
We never did get to Arena, but thanks to Latest I'd made a lot of money today, and I was planning to treat everyone to a proper meal. If Minjeong and Minji hadn't eaten yet, I was going to call them too.
"Hi, Siyoung unnie."
"Hey, Mina. You're coming out to eat too, right?"
"Yeah."
Mina had always been like a little sister to my noona, so she'd spoken casually with her since we were kids. We'd been family for that long — formal speech would've been weird. Mina had actually tried to be polite at first, but Siyoung noona had hated it with a passion. Do you talk formally to your own big sister? she'd said. I think of you as my real little sister. She'd been dead set against it. So even with the age gap, Mina still talked to Siyoung unnie like they were the same age.
"What do you want for dinner?"
"Anything's fine."
"Pineapple pizza. Mint chicken."
"Got it. So I have to pick, then."
Whenever I asked the people around me to choose a menu, they dumped the decision right back on me. They knew I didn't like pineapple on pizza. I wasn't a fan of mint, either. Even Mina's mom pulled this sometimes, so I always ended up choosing anyway. And since when did mint chicken exist? Even the mint-chocolate people wouldn't touch that.
"Let's just get beef, then. The highest-grade ribeye. Stream went great today, so it's on me. Let's call Minjeong and Minji too."
"I'll find us a restaurant, then. I'll text the two of them as well."
I didn't know many places, so it was a relief having Mina. She'd offered to look it up — all I had to do was follow. Mina was so capable she might as well have known everything, and she was especially good at finding restaurants. She'd even invited us along sometimes when her family went out to eat.
Noona and I followed Mina out. After a little walking, Mina pointed at a restaurant.
A Hanwoo restaurant? Looks like she'd done her homework properly.
"This is the one. Minjeong and Minji are already over there."
Minjeong and Minji spotted us, waved, and came running over. Thank god we'd gotten ahold of them before they'd eaten. We'd come this close to being too late and leaving them out of dinner.
"Hello, Siyoung unnie."
"Hello, Siyoung unnie."
"Hey. Hey there."
"Let's go in already. I'm starving."
"Alright, alright."
Noona said it while gently ruffling my hair. The staff greeted us as we stepped inside, and the whole restaurant was filled with the most delicious smell.