Chapter 79: Attention
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 79: Attention
[Ah~ LukaMangoRingo-nim~ Thank you so much for the 50,000 won~~~]
It was her new avatar, unlocked after the release of her music video.
Bright stars twinkled in her light pink eyes.
[Luka... is so happy she might just die...?]
She shivered as if her heart was aching, and the Pink Army flooded the chat with comments about how cute she was, a crazy display of firepower.
And as for me, her boyfriend, watching all this in real time...
“Ah, 5,000 won is just pathetic...”
Me... Me too...! I want to do that!
I want to get a reaction!
This was Luka’s personal stream, which she started after the music video release and the interview on the official YM channel.
The Pink Army was having a great time, praising CLOSER and Luka.
[HungryHunter-nim! 30,000 won! Thank you so much! I’ll put it to good use!]
Naturally, donations in the tens of thousands of won were pouring in, and the largest amount today came from someone who had sent a whopping 500,000 won.
She had made it clear from the start that this would be a chill stream for chatting, but it felt less like a two-way conversation and more like a session of receiving donos and giving reactions.
[Mwah~ Luka-tti!]
A wink to show her gratitude.
Why can’t I spend my money even when I have it?
If I were broke, I’d just sit back and watch, but having money with these restrictions created a suffocating frustration.
Finally, holding back tears, I decided to send a single 5,000 won dono and hit the send button.
She, who had been reacting nonchalantly to every donation regardless of the amount, flinched.
Others might not have noticed, but I caught the subtle change in her expression immediately.
Modern technology really is amazing.
To think it could capture such a fleeting movement perfectly.
[Ah~~ Lucario-tan~~ Thank you? I’ll put it to good use!]
Still, it seemed Luka intended to give me some special treatment, adding “-tan” to the end of my nickname.
“Heheh.”
Ah, I love it. So much.
Would it be okay to donate one more time?
Maybe I’ll see how things go and send another 5,000 won later?
Most people probably wouldn’t understand this kind of spending.
They’d think of it as giving money to a complete stranger for no reason.
But this was never an act that sought understanding.
I believed this was true for all forms of fandom, not just for VTubers.
The simple fact that I was supporting that person was what mattered.
The process itself was a joyful form of self-satisfaction.
I didn’t think of it as rational spending, nor as a healthy lifestyle.
[Alright then~ Shall we talk about the promise I mentioned before?]
Once the initial frenzy died down, Luka cleared her throat and fanned the flames once more.
[HORROR GAME!!!!]
[Luka-nim, can you do that short clip that’s trending on YouTube?]
[Do the Polaris Challenge!]
The chat was basically their personal diary.
The Pink Army was busy spewing out everything they wanted Luka to do, completely unfiltered.
[Now, now. Settle down, everyone. I’ve actually been thinking about this a lot and prepared something.]
A continuous stream of Pink Army emotes munching on popcorn filled the chat.
[Ugh... you know that thing I really, really hate doing? The one that makes me have a fit just by looking at it. That one.]
A name that no Pink Army member who followed her streams could fail to recognize.
Seeing that their wish was about to come true, they all erupted in cheers for Luka.
[Horror Game! Horror Game! Horror Game! Horror Game! Horror Game! Horror Game! Horror Game! Horror Game! Horror Game! Horror Game! Horror Game! Horror Game!]
[Wow. Have you already decided which game you’re going to play?]
[Get the song streaming, now!]
[Luka-tan cuteee!]
In that moment, I felt an overwhelming sense of superiority.
You guys have no idea what Luka’s up to!
The fact that I had personally chosen the game she promised to play as her pledge filled me with an incredible sense of pride.
When Luka revealed the game’s title, the Pink Army went wild, and people scrambled to start streaming the song.
[If we get into the top 20 on the music charts! I’ll do it! Please give us lots of support!]
I had already been streaming it for a long time.
Sitting in the cafe waiting for Oppa, I took out a hand mirror to check my makeup.
I was bothered by how I’d messed up my eyebrows a little.
Of course, I didn’t think Oppa was sharp enough to notice something like that, but the problem was that I was bothered by it.
Ugh... seriously, why did you have to be so stupid, Kim Doah?
Ting-a-ling.
I turned my head toward the sound of the bell, and there was my boyfriend, exuding an overwhelming presence as he looked around for me.
“Oppa. Over here!”
When I waved, Oppa broke into a wide smile and strode toward me.
“Have you been waiting long?”
“About five minutes?”
“Ah, really? I’m just gonna go order a drink.”
As he turned back to the counter, I stared at his back.
I could see the face of the part-timer behind him.
Since I was sitting quite close to the front, I could observe her expression clearly.
When Oppa said something to her, she smiled brightly.
I don’t think she was like that when I ordered.
The difference felt a little too blatant, and I let out a bitter smile.
Yeah. Honestly, for a guy like Oppa, it makes sense.
No, wait. Shouldn’t I feel proud that a man like that is my boyfriend?
When he returned with his coffee, I reached my hands out to him.
“Hold my hand.”
It might seem cheesy to others, but I really loved fiddling with Oppa’s hands.
I wiggled my index finger, gently tracing the veins on his hand, and Oppa chuckled.
“I have something to tell you.”
“Something to tell me?”
I had been enjoying myself, but Oppa was looking into my eyes with a rare seriousness.
...What is it?
Did I do something wrong?
Don’t tell me he’s going to say something about my over-the-top reactions yesterday.
But I couldn’t help it.
For the people who donated so much, the only thing I could do was thank them enthusiastically and act cute.
If I were as good at singing as Leah, that would have been another option, but I didn’t feel like doing that yesterday, at least.
“What is it?” I asked, cautiously pulling my hand back.
Oppa took out his phone, tapped the screen a few times, and showed me a music streaming site.
“I’ve been streaming the song non-stop since yesterday.”
...For a second, I almost cursed, but I managed to hold it in.
“Why are you saying that so seriously?”
“Because it’s important.”
“Is it really that important?”
When I protested with a slightly dumbfounded look, Oppa’s eyes widened as if he couldn’t believe I didn’t understand.
“At this rate, you might actually have to play a horror game!”
His voice was full of excitement, and I was at a loss for what expression to make.
“A promise is a promise, so I guess I have to do it...”
To be honest, neither I nor the other members had any idea how well the song would do.
Each member had made a different pledge, but the one with the most hellish difficulty was Clover unnie’s.
A 48-hour non-stop stream.
Ugh. I could never do that.
I think even 24 hours is too much, but 48 hours is just... wow.
I had a feeling Unnie was probably praying it wouldn’t get that popular.
“Anyway, I’m going to have it playing every single day without fail, so you know.”
“Sure, whatever.”
He spent a full thirty minutes talking about my work, but not about me.
Is he really not curious about Doah at all?
As I listened to Oppa go on and on about Luka and CLOSER, I spoke up in a small voice.
“...Don’t you have anything to ask Doah?”
At my question, Taemin Oppa seemed to feel a pang of guilt and took a long sip of his coffee.
“...What did you have for lunch?”
“Are you even curious about that?”
Come to think of it, that’s how it always was.
I was always full of interest in what Oppa liked.
What he did all day.
What he was going to do tomorrow.
But it didn’t seem to be the same for Oppa.
Even when he asked about my actual life, it felt like the shadow of his other interest never faded.
There were times my self-esteem would plummet, worried that he was only paying attention to me out of obligation.
“Ah. Of course. Why wouldn’t I be curious?”
He tried to play it off coolly, but my already sulking heart couldn’t just laugh it off.
“Then, could you please...”
Ah, why am I about to cry all of a sudden?
I’m so ridiculously quick to tears.
It wasn’t even a particularly sad story, but I could feel a lump forming in my throat.
“Ask about Doah, too, please. Hic.”
I don’t care anymore. I’m just going to say it.
You only ever say what you want to say.
“Give me some attention, too... you damn bastard...”
Through my blurry vision, I could feel other people in the cafe turning to look at us.