An Unexpected Confession
Soyu had wrapped up her stream a bit early today to take care of some personal errands. Sitting at her desk, she had been going over YouTube approvals and content scheduling with her channel managers. Just as she was about to call it a day, her editor frantically chimed in to stop her.
"Yeah. It feels like nothing really entertaining or funny has happened in Croc Farm 2 just yet."
Her editor practically leaped out of their chair in protest.
"I mean, well..."
Deep down, she was well aware. If they edited the footage and posted it right now, the view count would explode through the roof. Her subscriber numbers would soar right along with it. However...
It's just way too embarrassing...
Posting it on YouTube felt far too much like putting her actual dating life on public display, and the sheer mortification made her cheeks burn. When she hesitated, her manager stepped into the fray, pulling out all the stops to coax her. There's massive demand for that kind of dynamic! The channel's growth will be insane! If it's really that uncomfortable, Boss, just hand over the raw footage and you don't even have to look at it. We'll handle everything from start to finish!
Worn down by their relentless persuasion, Soyu finally relented with a soft sigh.
"I'm too embarrassed to review the final cut, so I won't check it... but I'll still take full responsibility for whatever happens..."
With those hasty parting words, she hurriedly exited the group chat.
Ding.
Left alone in the quiet chat room, the manager let out a long breath.
......Fellow shippers of the Ugyeol-dan, lend me your strength.
The afternoon following his serious, heart-to-heart discussion with Mabel, Rusty started his livestream slightly earlier than usual. The very instant the stream went live, an absolute riot erupted in the chat. Cutting the broadcast right when things were reaching peak excitement the previous night had provoked the inevitable fury of the mob.
"Rust-hi~ Rust-hi! Hello, everyone~"
Watching the chat catch blazing fire right from the opening second, Rusty offered a wry, amused smirk.
"Aww~ is my little Sanyangdan cranky? Did someone hurt your wittle feelings? Is that what happened?"
He grinned warmly, coddling the chat like a room full of toddlers, which only drove the viewers into a wilder frenzy.
Seeing viewers claim immunity on the grounds that they belonged to other fandoms, Jiwon decided it was high time to draw his ultimate weapon.
"Are you... still gonna stay mad at me? Really? Even now...? Mm-hmm~?"
The sultry, velvety cadence of Thirty-Noona washed over the stream like an anesthetic fog. The riot died instantly, crushed flat beneath an avalanche of simping.
Watching grown adults regress into giggling infants at the sound of a single feminine modulation never got old. That sheer entertainment value was precisely why he saved it for special occasions.
I mean, the payoff is just so delicious whenever I bust it out...
Truly an evil demon of a streamer.
Having thoroughly subdued his viewers with the intoxicating voice of Thirty-Noona, Rusty logged onto Crocodile Farm 2 and clocked in at his usual post on the Babel Tower construction site. Slowly but surely, the chat began to shake off the mental daze.
Once he felt the chat had adequately regained their senses, Rusty smoothly brought up the real topic.
"I really am sorry for shutting down the broadcast so abruptly yesterday. But we had some personal matters to discuss, so there wasn't much of a choice."
"Aish, real-life fight? Of course not! Though I can't say the urge wasn't there. Ahem."
After letting them have their fun with the jokes, Rusty's tone turned calm and sincere.
"Anyway, even if you ask about yesterday, I won't be able to tell you anything. It's strictly private business. So let's just enjoy the game and have a great time today, alright?"
This exact scenario was why he had started early. Knowing countless viewers would come interrogating him over last night's cliffhanger, he had hopped on first to smooth their feathers. When Mabel logged on later, she naturally earned bonus points with her own chat thanks to his groundwork.
The real issue, however, was Kuronyang.
"Hmph!"
Thanks to some tattle-tale snitching from her Butler Squad, she had found out that Rusty and Mabel had turned off their streams specifically to talk in private. She was thoroughly sulking. Worse still, since the conversation had revolved entirely around her, neither of them could give an honest explanation. Their awkward hesitation only deepened her hurt feelings, cementing her stubborn pout.
"Uh..."
"Well..."
All three were live on air, making a candid confession impossible. (Not that they could have said it off-stream either; how on earth do you casually announce that you sat through an interrogation between an overprotective mother figure and her prospective son-in-law?) Flustered and sweating, the pair stumbled over their words, turning what had started as playful teasing into genuine hurt for Kuronyang.
In the end, that day's stream dragged along under a noticeably heavy cloud before wrapping up earlier than planned. Naturally, the Butlers—who had initially celebrated her indignation—ended up drowning in guilt, kicking themselves for causing trouble in the first place.
"Aaaaargh! Why did I act like such an idiot today?!"
The moment her stream ended, a tidal wave of mortification slammed into Soyu. They had every right to talk to each other. She had no claim over them to act so possessive, yet she had let her petty sulking ruin the broadcast mood. It wasn't as if she suspected anything romantic between the two; Mabel—Lee Arin—was completely immune to human men, an extreme mecha otaku through and through.
What was her ideal type again? Ci... Cinnamon? Something like that?
Guh... Si... Sinan... guh! Deep in the void of copyright laws, an unseen force wept in agony over her butchering of Sinanju, but held back from correcting her out of sheer legal terror. Unaware that she had just inflicted catastrophic psychic damage on mecha enthusiasts everywhere, Soyu merely tilted her head, unable to recall the name.
Click, beep-beep-beep—
Her front door unlocked with a cheerful chime, and Arin bounded inside.
"Soyu-yaaa~! Wanna go out for a drink?"
"Hmph."
The second she saw Arin's face, the lingering pettiness she thought she had buried surged right back up. Soyu reflexively snapped her head away with a pout, instantly regretting the childish reaction the moment it left her mouth. Arin, however, just stared at her with doting, sparkling eyes.
"Aww, why is my sweet baby so upset? Who made you this grumpy, huh? Who did it?"
With an enthusiastic lunge, Arin threw her arms around Soyu, rubbing her cheek against hers like an overaffectionate puppy. And then, as if driven by unyielding muscle memory, her wandering hands slid downward.
Squish. Squeeze.
Kuronyang let out a long, defeated sigh.
Seriously, which one of us is supposed to be the baby here...?
Waiting patiently until Arin finished her customary tactile ritual—it was somewhat depressing how accustomed to this she had become—Soyu gently pried the girl off and asked, "Why drinks all of a sudden? You don't even like alcohol."
"Well, duh! To cheer my little baby up! Hehe."
She desperately wanted to argue over who the real toddler was, but knowing it was utterly impossible to break Arin's stubbornness, Soyu simply offered another quiet sigh.
"We don't have any booze here. Are you going out to buy some?"
"Nope! Let's go out and drink tonight!"
Normally, they would just crack open a can or two at home, so the sudden suggestion to go out caught Soyu off guard. Still, figuring Arin wanted a change of scenery to help lift her spirits, she gave an agreeable nod.
"Alright, give me a minute. Let me change first."
"Okey-dokey~! I'm gonna go back to my place to get ready too, so head out first. I'll be right behind you~!"
Since Arin lived right next door—she had miraculously found an opening on the same floor when Soyu decided to move out on her own—Soyu nodded once more and stood up to get dressed.
Smack!
"Ow! Why did you hit me?!"
"Huh? Yeah, weird... why did I do that?" Soyu mused innocently.
Serves her right.
Setting out first for the pub Arin had texted her, Soyu walked through the humid summer evening. Even though the heat was sweltering, dealing with the weather was infinitely preferable to dealing with unwanted attention. She wrapped herself up thoroughly in a baseball cap and a snug mask before hitting the sidewalk.
Glance. Glance.
Naturally, no matter how tightly she concealed her face, the summer heat made it impossible to bundle up in thick layers. Her tall, statuesque height and breathtakingly curvaceous figure were impossible to hide, effortlessly drawing the gazes of passersby.
Gross...
Doing her best to swallow her discomfort under the leering stares, she quickened her pace until she finally arrived at the destination.
Why did she have to pick a place so far away...?
There was a cozy spot near their apartment complex they visited occasionally, but Arin had begged with sparkling eyes: 'I really want to try this place tonight! People say it's super famous!' Unable to refuse that eager look, Soyu had made the trek. It was an awkward distance to call a cab for, so walking in the muggy summer air had sent her discomfort index soaring through the roof.
Eager to escape the oppressive heat, she pushed through the pub's entrance. The interior was lined with clean, private booths designed for quiet, intimate conversation.
Which room did Rin book again...?
Muttering the reservation number Arin had messaged her, Soyu scanned the corridor until she found the matching door. She pulled it open.
Click.
"Ah."
Her breath caught in her throat. Someone was already sitting inside.
"Oh... I'm so sorry! I must have opened the wrong room."
Bowing in apology, she moved to pull the door shut when a voice halted her.
"Excuse me... are you Soyu?"
The deep, resonant male voice made her freeze.
"Who... who are you?"
Turning around with caution, she kept one hand firmly gripped on the brass doorknob, ready to bolt into the hallway at a moment's notice. But as she took a proper look at the man sitting before her, her thoughts ground to a halt.
He's... insanely handsome...
The man sitting across from her possessed striking, defined features that instantly stole the breath from her lungs. Sensing her immediate wariness, he smiled gently and slowly raised both hands in a placating, non-threatening gesture. Seeing that he had no intention of cornering or harming her, Soyu let a fraction of her tension drain away.
"It's me, Jiwon. Rusty."
Her eyes snapped wide.
"Wait... Rusty...-nim? Why are you here?!"
"...Could you please sit down first? Mabel is on her way too, right?"
Hearing Mabel's handle and realizing he knew all about their meetup helped lower her guard significantly. Hesitant, Soyu walked over and sat down across from him. For several quiet seconds, the two simply took each other in. Once he felt she had caught her breath, Jiwon spoke with a soft, apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry for springing this on you without warning. Did I scare you?"
Hearing that warm, familiar voice—the one she had listened to so often through her headphones—melted the rest of her anxiety away.
"...I was definitely surprised. O... ppa... Rusty-nim, how did you end up here?"
Hearing the stiff honorifics slip from her lips brought a subtle, wry twist to Jiwon's expression.
Ouch. Getting hit with formal speech really drives home the distance between us...
"Well... I felt awful about leaving things so messy on stream earlier, so I asked Mabel for a favor."
"O... oh, I see..."
Seeing that she was still keeping her walls up with that careful politeness, Jiwon leaned forward slightly and launched a preemptive strike.
"And... I really wanted to see you in person."
"...!!"
Her breath hitched. Before she could recover, he delivered a devastating follow-up.
"By the way, are you really going to keep speaking so formally to me? You're going to hurt my feelings."
"I... uh... well..."
And then came the absolute finisher.
"I really like you, Soyu. I want to get much closer to you... do you not feel the same way?"
"Aauuuggghhh..."
BOOM!
Her face erupted into a blinding crimson fireball. Total K.O.