A Children's Song Worth a Million

"Wah— waaaah... What do I do? What am I supposed to do?"

Heo Myangmyang had short-circuited. She made decent money on YouTube, but no one had ever put a million won in her hands before, and she flustered and stammered while the viewers ate it up. A panic like that was a feast.

"Ah, yes! Th-thank you, CoinGodGodGod. This is the first donation I've ever gotten that's this big, so I panicked."

"A reaction...? Ah... I've never done anything like that. What should I do?"

Harmless. And cute. She was like a small animal — a rabbit, say. The sight of her trembling in a fluster tugged a smile onto Kim Taeyoung's mouth.

"Aaaah! Right! Look at me. The galbi-jjim — the braised short ribs — will be ready in thirty minutes. It's a slow dish, so I already have a batch made."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The moment he kept pressing for a reaction, the viewers turned on him with one heart and one mind. People like that were what the internet called mom-fans: viewers who parked their ego in a BJ and threw up a shield no matter what. He didn't particularly like them, but he didn't think badly of them either. Somebody had to look after the BJs' nerves, and this breed did the job.

But this was Corea TV. A BJ streamed to make money, and whoever paid more was the one in charge. That was simple sense. These people didn't seem to know who that was.

"Huh? Ah, n-no. It's not like that. I'll try. A reaction... only I've never done one, not even once, so... I don't know what I'm supposed to do..."

"Ah, everyone, please don't fight. I'm fine. I want to do it too. A million won is a lot of money, you know. And, CoinGodGodGod... would a children's song be all right? I'd like to sing one for you."

Kim Taeyoung burst out laughing. A children's song, out of nowhere — and yet it suited Heo Myangmyang, a perfect legal loli, almost too well.

"Everyone, please don't fight. Then I'll try a reaction."

Heo Myangmyang sang. The singing itself was ordinary, and the choreography was one-dimensional: both hands lifted over her head, palms open, making rabbit ears. She swayed her head from side to side as she sang, and on the hop-hop she bent her knees and bounced.

Cute. A detonation of insane cuteness. If it had come out of her without a thought, she was a genius of the broadcast. If she had aimed it, then she was a loli queen who knew exactly where her strength lay.

Every now and then, a flavor like this was good too. Grinning so wide the corners of his mouth nearly reached his ears, Kim Taeyoung nodded, satisfied. After nothing but sexy faces and bodies on the verge of bursting, the exact opposite landed thick and rich.

The chat that had been cursing Kim Taeyoung flipped on the spot. People who a moment ago had been calling him a bastard and demanding a ban fell in love at one short mountain-rabbit dance.

Heh. Kim Taeyoung shook his head, almost incredulous. Those people were going to be swept whichever way the wind blew anyway. He was the one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠steering the mood. He didn't need to mind them.

"Aah, everyone, please calm down. And please don't donate. I'm a cooking streamer. I-I'll get back to the cooking for now. Once the vegetables are all trimmed, you add them to the broth you simmered with the beef short ribs after soaking the blood out. You have to let them boil down good and soft. Time-wise, at least two hours."

She carried the cooking broadcast on. In the meantime the galbi-jjim he had ordered arrived. Kim Taeyoung set a tray in front of the computer and waited, meek as anything. Only after she started her mukbang did he pick up his spoon. It was a satisfying meal.

He'd eaten. So now it was time for work. Wasn't it?

"Lunch starts at eleven-thirty and goes until one, and dinner starts at five-thirty and goes until seven. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I'm off."

"Huh? Wh-what are you starting?"

Heo Myangmyang was puzzled. What else could it be? A money blitz, obviously.

"Aaaah..."

Another ten thousand burst. This time the Myangmyang-moms split down the middle: one side insisting her mood and her will had to come first, no exceptions, and the other asking what was wrong with getting to see something cute. In the end the choice was left to Heo Myangmyang.

"Th-that's..."

She panicked again. Honestly, it felt good. Even after the fee, it was six hundred thousand won — more than a single video of hers brought in. She uploaded two or three videos a week. A month came to about four million won, which, by simple math, was roughly four hundred thousand a video.

And from donations she had already made one million two hundred thousand. One children's song had earned her a week's income. So this was why people went into female cam.

"I'll do it. I'll sing a children's song again."

Honestly, it was embarrassing. Twenty-eight years old, singing a children's song and doing the motions. But embarrassment paid. Besides, the viewers didn't know she was twenty-eight. They were probably looking at her and seeing the early twenties.

People reading her as younger was an extremely common event. Her face was an extreme baby face, and she was short on top of it. Once, someone had even mistaken her for an elementary schooler. And that had been when she was twenty.

Her height and her baby face had been a complex, but she had overcome them well enough to spend them as a broadcast concept. Cute was something everyone liked, man or woman, young or old. So she figured a children's-song reaction sat on that same line. Bear the shame a little, and six hundred thousand won came in.

The song this time was the one about the frog and the tadpole. She remembered every motion, too, thanks to a nephew who had just turned four.

Finished with the song and the dance, Heo Myangmyang sneaked a look at the chat. Fortunately the reaction was good again. Then again, her core fans adored her even when she only picked up a pot. The reaction she actually needed to check was CoinGodGodGod's.

CoinGodGodGod liked it too. Little by little, her confidence grew.

"I don't really know either. I've never counted. But I can do most of the children's songs that are out these days."

He amused himself by putting her through reactions, and before she knew it more than thirty minutes had flown. Heo Myangmyang's face was full of regret as she spoke. Endure the embarrassment once and six hundred thousand won appeared — a honey of a stream. If she could have, she would have kept going until CoinGodGodGod's money ran dry.

But she still had the evening broadcast. A cooking stream, by its nature, demanded a great deal of preparation beforehand, and she also had to edit videos in whatever scraps of time she could find.

Heo Myangmyang hated to see a plan knocked out of line. A payout she could grab off a brief stroke of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠luck mattered less to her than income that kept coming, steady and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stable.

"It's time to end the broadcast. Thank you for watching today, too. I'll see you this evening."

Heo Myangmyang gave her sign-off, and as she did she stole a glance at the chat. Could she tell CoinGodGodGod to come again next time? Would the other viewers feel she was playing favorites? Worrying over it, she ended up saying nothing.

"I-I do! I make a weeklong plan on Mondays. If you need it, should I send it?"

That did it. Joy rose on Heo Myangmyang's face. Asking for the meal plan meant he meant to come back to her stream on a regular basis. She would have to practice more songs, and more dances. Enough that he would be satisfied.

Friday morning. Gangnam.

Su Yeoning of the all-natural G-cup appeared in a Gangnam alley in a tight top, and every eye, man and woman alike, gathered on a bust that looked ready to burst. Stares like these were why she usually went around in baggy clothes. Walk down a street and people looked too hard; it wore on her. Men stared as if they might start drooling, and women whispered about what kind of surgery could have made them that big.

But today was not a day for hiding. Her greatest weapon was her chest. With this chest, she had to catch Coin God.

What kind of person is he?

Her heart pounded. She didn't know Coin God's face. All she knew was that he was thirty. She wasn't even hoping he'd be handsome. She only hoped he wouldn't be too much of a middle-aged uncle.

"Yeoning."

"Y-yes!"

How long had she been waiting? A voice called her name. Su Yeoning swallowed and turned toward the sound.

"Ah...!"

Tall, and clean-cut. Not a devastatingly handsome man, but a young oppa tens of thousands of times better than the worst uncle her imagination had supplied. He was tall, for one. And his build looked solid.

"Hello."

"Hey. First time seeing each other for real, right? Shall we go in?"

"Y-yes!"

Wound tight with nerves, Su Yeoning followed Kim Taeyoung. She stepped in close, then drifted back, over and over. Inside her, the conflict was sharp. Link arms, or don't? It was a bit of vixen-craft one of her closer BJ friends had taught her.

"Yeoning. Go ahead."

"Yes...?"

"You were about to do something, weren't you? You looked like you were hesitating. I'm saying just do it."

"Ah..."

Su Yeoning's face went red. Having her insides seen was embarrassing, and she ducked her head.

Kim Taeyoung took one look at the flush climbing all the way up the back of her neck and burst out laughing.

"What were you going to do?"

"L-link arms..."

"Yeah? Here."

Kim Taeyoung bent his arm to make the link easy. With careful hands, Su Yeoning hooked her arm through his. Her large breasts brushed his elbow.

"Nice."

"Yes..."

Still arm in arm, the two of them stepped into a beef galbi restaurant.