Shinye's Surprise Visit
"Hello, Shinye unnie."
"Hello."
"Thanks for coming, both of you. I can't believe Mina and I have been living in the same complex this whole time without ever running into each other."
"Even if you're in the same complex, there's no real way to know if you're not in the same building. And these are high-rises, after all."
The two of them had been living in the same apartment complex without even realizing it until recently. And just as they'd finally figured out they were neighbors, Mina had decided to stay at my place — which meant they were about to drift apart all over again. Aside from the occasional trip home, there wouldn't be much reason to come back here.
I'd already made up my mind to go wherever Mina went, so if she stopped by her place even briefly, I'd be tagging along — which meant I'd get to see Shinye now and then, too.
"Starting today, Mina's going to be staying at my place. It takes forever to get to school from here."
"That's a little disappointing. If Mina stayed here, you'd come visit all the time."
"Not really. Mina was always the one coming over to my place anyway, so I almost never ended up here. But now, whenever she pops back home, I'll be coming with her — so we'll still see each other pretty often."
"Really? You'll come see me again?"
"Of course. After everything you've done for me?"
Just the donations Shinye had sent me already added up to millions of won. Of course I was going to pay her back somehow.
"Well, come on in."
"Yes, Shinye unnie."
"Yes, unnie."
Mina and I followed Shinye into the building, and she pressed the button for the top floor.
The top floor. She really was rich. From what I knew, the units up there had been combined into one, making them more than twice the size of anything on the floors below. The price tag was several times higher, too — people said only the genuinely wealthy ever lived at the very top.
"Come in."
"Yes, Shinye unnie."
"Yes, unnie."
The top floor was, without question, far larger than even Mina's place. These were luxury apartments, the kind where you barely heard a thing from the neighbors. And if that still wasn't enough, you could always have a soundproof booth installed.
How exhausting would it be to clean a place like this by yourself? The thought crossed my mind unbidden.
"Do you live here with your family?"
"Hm? No? I live alone."
"What? In a place this big?"
"Yep. That's right."
She lived alone. In a space this enormous. Did that mean she cleaned it by herself, too? Even doing it once a week would be enough to wipe a person out.
"This is my main streaming room."
"Whoa."
The room Shinye showed us had been built for one purpose and one purpose only: streaming. At Mina's place, the computer shared space with a bed, a desk, and everything else you'd expect in a bedroom. Here, there was a computer, a handful of chairs, and a bed to lie down on. That was it. No wardrobe, no extra furniture — not even a desk.
She'd said she was rich. She was rich among the rich. No wonder she could throw more than five million won a day at me in donations and not so much as blink.
"Shinye unnie, you really are loaded."
"I told you. A little donation like that doesn't even register."
"So streaming really is just a hobby for you."
"I started streaming as a hobby, and that's how I met our Jiyoung. I'm so glad I ever hit that go-live button."
"Hehe. That's all thanks to Mina for telling me about streaming in the first place."
"Mina's a really good friend, isn't she?"
"She is. She's like family to me."
"Thank you, unnie."
Mina and Shinye had only met because of me, but I was hoping the two of them would get close. We'd be seeing each other often enough from here on out. I was sure they'd warm up in no time. And if Shinye couldn't get along with Mina — well, she was never going to get close to me, either.
"We brought coffee and dessert. Want to have some together?"
"Hm? You didn't have to do that. You went and bought all this?"
"It's fine. Let's all eat together."
Shinye was smiling, but her hands hovered in the air like she had no idea what to do with them. I could see what she wanted from a mile away.
I walked right up to her and hugged her tight. The first time is always the hardest. After this, I figured it'd come easy.
"H-huh? Jiyoung?"
"You can stroke my hair, if you want."
"Hnnn, you're too cute. Ahh, I'm so happy."
Shinye had clearly been waiting for this. She stroked my hair and pulled me in close, then fussed with my cheeks, a thoroughly contented look on her face. She soaked up every bit of contact she could get, and it was a long while before she finally let me go. I hadn't expected her to hold on for anywhere near that long.
"Shall we start with lunch, then?"
"Sure. Let's keep lunch light so we have room for dessert."
"Were you going to order delivery? Or do you cook?"
"Hmm. Then maybe I'll cook something. I'd like to treat the two of you to a meal I made myself."
"Sounds good."
"I'll help."
"No, it's fine. You two just rest. Want to play on the computer or something?"
Even with Mina offering, Shinye refused outright. Come to think of it, she'd mentioned making fried rice herself before, hadn't she? Of all the homemade dishes viewers had shown off, hers had looked the most delicious. And Shinye wasn't the type to skimp on ingredients — if her skills were solid, it might even rival Mina's cooking.
It was going to take her a while, so I decided to poke around the WeTV community while we waited.
He canceled plans with his friends just to watch my stream live? Most people would feel terrible about that — and then he went and gave each of them 50,000 won. Now that was a real man.
I should become a real man like him, too.
This person seemed a little off. Well, they thought they were funny, so I figured I should just let them have it. The world was a big place, and there was no shortage of strange people in it.
As expected, the community was overflowing with compliments about my looks. Did reading all this make me an attention-seeker? I couldn't stop clicking on every post that mentioned me.
I'd been hearing that I was cute for a long time, so I was used to it to a point — but having complete strangers say it still felt a little strange.
"Looking at this stuff is kind of embarrassing."
"It's all true, so you can own it."
"Still. I never expected the reaction to be this good."
I'd only been streaming for three days, but I hoped it would keep going this well. It was only possible because my friends had made it so easy for me to stream in the first place. I never could have done any of this on my own.
Mina really was incredible at games, so watching her play would be a lot of fun. I, on the other hand, was terrible, so I didn't have much to show off. Still — Shinye had said she had a ton of games at her place, and I was looking forward to that.