No Lies This Time
“Everyone. We made that promise a while ago, but it wasn’t even early morning, just a late message. If the other person doesn’t reply, it’s bound to feel a little frustrating, right?”
I hadn’t meant to say all that. But the viewers were already ahead of me, piecing everything together.
Still, it didn’t matter much. The important part was that I had handled it smartly, so nothing like that would happen again.
“That’s why I wasn’t queueing for a match right now. Thanks to that, I was able to reply right away to Celesty-nim.”
Who wouldn’t want an instant reply when someone messages?
So I sent my reply on the League of Champions client, layered right over the KakaoTalk window.
“Yeah, but I didn’t get up early on purpose…”
“Just woke up because I went to bed early yesterday.”
No lies. Not even a tiny one.
Yet the viewers exploded anyway.
Embarrassing.
But I couldn’t tell Celesty-nim I passed out drunk.
Viewers were one thing, but I didn’t want to get branded as a lush in her eyes.
Then I realized something I’d missed.
The viewers in my room were mostly people watching Celesty’s stream together.
Just for a second it felt weird that the viewers had latched onto Celesty-nim.
Still, the reason was clear: they were worried about me.
That little sting vanished fast under Celesty’s fussing.
“I’m fine, I can just eat something simple.”
“No!!! You’ve only had ramyeon and burgers and chicken so far!!! A Korean person needs soul food!!”
Hearty soul food.
I could guess what that meant without much thought.
Obviously gungap, rice and side dishes.
I’d never stayed up all night drinking, but I knew that the morning after, gungap was the standard.
Mom would boil the clear bean-sprout soup, Dad would smile warmly and say that if you’d been drinking all night you had to eat gungap at the house.
……I ended up feeling sour for no reason.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“Hehe, feel free to! I’ll take you to the best place!”
Even so, Celesty’s chat was washing away that uneasy feeling.
I could almost hear that bright, cheerful voice behind it, and a small laugh slipped out.
It even smelled like her signature fresh scent.
After chatting like that, the viewers noticed I was about to head out.
“Ah.”
I wasn’t great at multitasking, but I could catch the important part of those chats.
Gabi had already offered to help, but since someone was offering, why not treat them to a meal?
Celesty-nim had also said she’d help with the wheelchair, so I should at least treat her.
The saying was that kindness came from the storehouse, after all.
Normally it would have been impossible for me to treat anyone, but now that I had the settlement money, treating someone to lunch at least was possible.
“Can I invite a friend too?”
“Celesty-nim, thank you, and my friend too, so I thought it’d be nice to treat them to lunch together.”
“Oh, of course!”
“But you’re saying you’ll treat Noel-nim…?”
“I’m not teasing you, but I heard your situation isn’t great…”
“The settlement money makes it fine.”
“Aha!”
“Then I’ll happily accept! Hehe”
“I’ll head over to Noel-nim’s apartment now, so get ready.”
“See you later.”
There wasn’t much to prepare, really.
Since Celesty-nim was coming, I just answered casually.
Finally I would have a wheelchair.
No more limping with a cane and aching arms.
I might still have to crawl or hop around the house, but I didn’t want to bother with tools even at home.
Letting that feeling wash over me, I wondered if placing the wheelchair by the entrance would be okay, when the viewers suddenly spammed me with question marks.
“Ready? I’m already done. I showered, and my hair is messy, but it’ll calm down after a bit. The clothes are fine.”
“I did it last night before bed. I always shower before bed. Morning is just a quick rinse.”
Honestly, before meeting them I had skipped showers, telling myself it was bothersome and I wasn’t sweating or smelling. But now I could say it proudly.
Thanks to Next-door Sister, I’d revived the habit of showering every day.
But the viewers didn’t believe me.
It stung a little. Was our trust really that weak?
“I don’t think I’ve ever lied to you guys on stream so far. I’m really bad at lying anyway. And there’s no point in lying when it’ll get found out.”
“Anyway. Getting ready to go… oh, there is one thing. I’ll change clothes quickly and be back, so while I wait for Celesty-nim, feel free to chat. If you have questions about top-matchups or how to play, I can tell you.”
I couldn’t say “I’m wearing underwear right now,” so I couldn’t claim I was putting on a swimsuit instead.
I just made up an excuse to change clothes, and the viewers nodded along.
No lies. Not even a little one.
A swimsuit was still clothes, right?
That earned the reaction that I obviously wasn’t going out wearing the clothes I had on at home.
They didn’t answer while pretending to be absent.
I had planned to leave in the hoodie I’d been wearing.
……The other clothes were just too big.
Even if the hoodie was oversized, girls wore it oversized like a one-piece, so there was no awkward feeling.
But shirts and pants I used to wear as a guy couldn’t be worn in any way that fit.
So I had to wear the usual missing-pants fashion.
Well, it was possible right now because the weather was warm.
If it got colder, I wouldn’t be able to do that…
Then I could just stay inside.
When I really had to go out, I’d worry about it then.
So I put on a swimsuit under the hoodie, sat back in front of the computer.
As the so-called top laner, the quiet viewers suddenly asked questions.
What items do I need to keep winning with Nasus the whole way as a shark?
Who counters my Aatrox mid-game?
Dr. Mundo is the mother of all champions. Of course I agree.
Dr. Mundo being a late-game character, can I just lie down early?
And so on.
Feeling a surge of pride at having some authority now, I answered each one subjectively.
Meanwhile Celesty-nim’s message arrived.
The Q&A ended there.
I headed out with Celesty-nim to buy the wheelchair.
Even though the viewers were few, there were more than before, around thirty, and I hosted them for Celesty-nim.
So I left the cane and arrived on the first floor.
“……Celesty-nim. Are you really a guy?”
“Um, yeah. I got a cross-dressing mission? So I dressed up properly. How do I look?”
She was wearing a flowing blouse and skirt.
I could face Celesty-nim who clearly didn’t mind hiding that she was a girl at all.
Maybe she came out on a date?