Chapter 10: Party - "This Oppa is Really..."
Kim Minseo still couldn't shake off her anger even after kicking him out.
"If you're gonna give your one and only little sister some pocket money, at least do it nicely. Ah, everyone. Since this is just my oppa giving his lovely little sis some spending cash, I'll ignore the 1,475. Cool?"
"Worked hard my ass! Damn it. If it's precious money, save it or something. Two sets of 1,475? Ahhh~."
She threw her head back and let out a wail. Even as she did, her hands kept busy. The timer. 10 minutes. They needed two sets of 1,476 within 10 minutes.
"Is there really no one for 1,476?"
Just then, her smartphone buzzed. She pouted her lips but picked up the call.
"Hello?"
[Hey. Unban me.]
She'd already switched it to speakerphone, so the viewers heard the man's voice too.
The chat exploded with reactions. Kim Minseo frowned as she read them.
Her own chat made even more people crack up. In the meantime, Kim Minseo switched up her attitude.
"Customer-nim. You've been added to Minseo-jjang's blacklist, so even if I unban you, you still won't be able to watch Minseo-jjang's stream."
[What's this concept now?]
"Exactly, customer-nim. So let's settle this nicely."
[...]
"If you head to Minseo-jjang's channel right now and send two sets of 1,476 star balloons, Minseo-jjang says she'll lift your blacklisting too."
[I got an alt account too.] "Yeah? So what if you do?" [Should I make sure you never eat on stream from now on?] "Whatever. I only did this 'cause the chairman-noona hasn't shown up yet. Once she does, you're on your own going bankrupt."
Kim Minseo's confident declaration. The chat mostly agreed with her.
Kim Minseo glanced at the chat too.
'Hera-unnie must be super busy these days...'
She was curious about her situation, especially since they'd made plans. She was worried. But right now, negotiation came first over showing it.
"Oppa."
She called out to him.
"Can't you just nicely give your little sis some pocket money? Why torment your one and only sister like this? I'm telling Mom!"
The viewers' chatter. Kim Minseo frowned and typed into chat.
Her threat.
The reactions were all laughs. Stealing glances at them, Kim Minseo hung up the call. Then she muttered.
"Did this oppa win the lottery or something? Suddenly throwing star balloons like crazy."
Jaewoos. At first, she'd thought it was Zeus. But now she saw it was Jaewoo, not Zeus.
'He said he got fired from his company...'
A guy who should be broke was firing off star balloons. She clicked her tongue at the thought. Why was someone who needed to save money buying and sending them?
Oppa, did you find a job?
With a worried heart, she sent one last KakaoTalk message. This was as far as she'd worry about her unemployed cousin oppa.
"What's this oppa got money for all of a sudden, playing big spender here."
Kim Minseo, who'd been ranting about him, suddenly flinched. Oh right, she'd forgotten something.
"Ah, my food!"
The viewers were thrilled by her reaction. All thanks to what Shin Jaewoo had left behind. Kim Minseo scowled deeply.
"...When he comes back later, I'm really telling Mom everything."
Kim Minseo huffed and swallowed her rage. As she stared sadly at her dwindling timer and the food...
The notification popped up in chat. And right away, star balloons exploded.
Heraº sent 1,476 star balloons!
She'd really shown up. And it wasn't just once.
Heraº sent 1,476 star balloons!
"Unnie!"
Kim Minseo's face lit up brighter than ever. Meanwhile, the newly arrived Hera started chatting.
Her follow-up chats. Kim Minseo's face beamed.
'Yeah, that's how you protect your little sis!'
For this moment, Hera felt more like real family than Shin Jaewoo. Maybe to dodge Hera's sharp glare, the chat started passing the buck.
One line in the chat threw Hera off.
Why bring up a cousin oppa out of nowhere?
"Yeah. Shin Jaewoo, my only cousin on my mom's side. He came and went, but unnie, listen to this."
Kim Minseo chattered on. The one viewer who'd shown up out of the blue—Zeus or Jaewoos or whatever—had lifted the "don't eat."
"So I was gonna happily eat, and he sends 'clear the food.' That oppa did."
"Yup. My oppa's name is Jaewoo. So I thought it was Zeus, but he mashed his own name with Zeus."
Regardless of Shin Jaewoo's intentions, his real name got revealed. Now the viewers got the nickname secret.
Chats admitting they'd been fooled too. Kim Minseo spoke up after checking them.
"That oppa's not exactly rolling in cash right now, but he shows up in my stream outta nowhere and pulls this crap. If he's got money to blow, save it."
"Huh? Nah, I dunno the details. But he might have some cash now? He got severance since he quit..."
Talk of money sparked it—Hera chimed in too.
"Huh? Unnie, something wrong?"
Kim Minseo sighed in relief at Hera's words. Hera continued.
She was the Hera they'd all been waiting for.
"Then it's good news?"
Kim Minseo's darkened face brightened as she listened. Hera nodded eagerly with a bunny emoticon.
"Whoa, really?"
It was great news. Cash would be tight for a bit, but Hera expected things to pan out well. She'd dipped into personal funds on top of company reserves because she foresaw success. Then one last message.
"Ah, of course not, unnie. I'm super curious too—what kinda place is it?"
"Yup!"
Kim Minseo nodded. The two were talking about a party. Using the party invite Hera had gotten, Minseo was going as her partner.
'VIPs' party, wonder what it's like...'
Shin Jaewoo got a call from Lee Sooyoung.
"I should've mentioned it earlier, but..."
Her voice from the receiver.
"Tomorrow, one of our Royal Road customers is hosting a party."
"Oh? Nice."
Shin Jaewoo had been bored out of his mind. Lee Sooyoung's words perked his ears.
'Finally meeting Korea's top VVIPs?'
Of course, what Lee Sooyoung said was a bit different.
"Not all Royal Road members will be there... Aside from the host, there'll only be a few like you, customer-nim."
"Then what?"
"Um... You know AsiaTV?"
AsiaTV? The platform he'd popped into earlier. Why mention it now?
"It's a party inviting the big spenders active there. The host is one of our Royal Road customers, so they rented a hall at Baekje Hotel through us."
Any Royal Road member could attend, AsiaTV affiliation or not. Royal Road customers had more cash than most big spenders there anyway.
"The Inbang regulars are bringing partners, so... probably lots of streamers too. If you'd like to attend, customer-nim, I can pass it on."
"Uh..."
He was curious, honestly.
"...I'll go."
He decided.