Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Audience
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“Welco, me.”
The male employee, who had been greeting them with a bright smile, suddenly faltered.
His eyes met with a woman of such beauty she could be called a goddess.
Having worked in Gangnam for a long time, he'd occasionally served celebrity customers.
But none of them had ever possessed an aura so powerful it left him speechless.
“Do you have a table?”
“Ah... yes. H-how many in your party?”
“Two.”
And her voice was so lovely.
She was so stunningly beautiful that even making eye contact made his heart tremble.
He now understood how the expression "glowing from behind" came to be.
“Ah, this place looks a bit expensive.”
“What are you talking about? It's way cheaper than where you went last weekend, Oppa.”
“You belong at a cheap beer joint.”
“Ugh, if you said you'd treat me, just do it. Seriously.”
Judging by their conversation, was that her older brother?
After showing them to their table, the employee turned around and froze.
He finally realized that every eye in the hall was fixed on the siblings—or more precisely, on the brother.
Many tables in the hall had fallen silent, their occupants sneakily watching the sibling customers.
The upbeat music barely managed to fill the sudden silence left by the ceased conversations.
The younger sister was a goddess.
At least, she would have been if her brother wasn't there.
With a true god standing next to her, the sister's beauty, which would normally be worshipped, was somewhat overshadowed.
Everyone in the hall had the same thought.
Wasn't the term 'divine visuals' created to describe a man like him?
Annoyed, yet languid.
The brother, sitting down nonchalantly, exuded a dangerous aura.
The kind that could bewitch you with a single glance.
The kind that would make you lose your mind and approach, only to be blinded by his dazzling brilliance.
He carelessly dripped this fatal presence, drop by drop.
Like droplets of water shed by the goddess of beauty as she steps naked from a golden bathtub.
Spilling it all around.
Everyone whose gaze was captured had the same thought.
That they would never, in their entire lives, see a man more handsome than him.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Why is it so quiet?
I don't think I've ever experienced an atmosphere like this.
At first, I thought it was because of us, but maybe a famous celebrity is here?
I decided to just ignore it.
Right now, I needed to focus on our fun "real siblings" mode.
“Since we're here, just order whatever.”
“I'm ordering everything I want, okay?”
“Go ahead. But you'll have to face Mom's wrath and then cry your way to the gym to lose weight.”
“No. Why do you and Mom keep ganging up on me about being fat? My body is good enough to be a model or an idol.”
“Are you trying to kill off every idol in the world?”
I crossed my arms and watched as Jung Hye-na placed our order with the employee.
A moment later, puffed rice snacks and the draft beer we ordered arrived.
“Don't overdo it. Think about yourself tomorrow, crying on the treadmill.”
“Worry about your own fat, Oppa.”
“What more do I have to manage? Mom told me to make a person out of you, and I'm just trying to help. Are you ever going to get a boyfriend like that?”
“There's a guy who likes me, you know.”
“You're lying.”
“It's true. He even gave me a gold bar recently.”
For a moment, my heart fluttered.
The way she gazed into the distance with a wistful look.
Her expression was that of someone picturing the man who wasn't here, the one who gave her a gold bar.
Man, why is she so good at immersing herself in the role?
For a second, I thought I was her actual older brother.
“What, did he get you a tiny one?”
“It's a secret. You'd just take it if you knew.”
“It's a lie, right?”
“Believe what you want.”
“How far have you two gone?”
“What's it to you?”
“So when you stayed out all weekend, you weren't in Gacheon with your friends, you were with that guy?”
“Didn't you lie and spend the weekend with a girl, Oppa?”
“Am I the same as you? And I asked first.”
“...”
“What kind of guy is he?”
“It's none of your business.”
“What do you think of him?”
Why did this simple question make me tremble so much?
It felt like I was eavesdropping on Hye-na's true feelings for me through a third party.
A part of my heart tingled, it pounded, and my pulse quickened.
“I think he's pretty great. He's handsome.”
“If you think he's handsome, he must be average at best.”
“What are you talking about? Even you'd look like a squid next to him.”
Jung Hye-na rested her chin on her hand and gazed wistfully into the air.
Her eyes were filled with thoughts of Lee Chang-woo, who wasn't here—her boyfriend, me.
It was too lethal.
I don't think I can continue this sibling game today.
“If you're going to date him, bring him by sometime. It takes a man to know a man.”
“I don't know. He's great, but there are too many women around him. That's what worries me.”
I swallowed hard.
Was this Jung Hye-na indirectly telling me her true feelings?
Or was it just a fake line she improvised to stay in character?
Wow, not knowing which it is is driving me crazy.
I don't think I'd be satisfied with any answer.
Whether it was her true feelings or a fake script.
I don't think I could believe it was the truth.
This is dangerous.
I have to stop this sibling game for today.
“Hey, let's stop this now and—”
“Excuse me. We weren't eavesdropping, but you two seem like siblings.”
Suddenly, two women approached and spoke to us.
They were quite beautiful with slender figures, and they looked somewhat alike.
“We came out for drinks as sisters, too. Would it be okay if we joined you?”
“Ah, I'm sorry, but—”
“We'll pay for everything.”
“Yes! Hurry and sit here, quickly.”
Jung Hye-na, fully immersed in her role as the mooching little sister, excitedly made room for them.
I missed my chance.
I had no choice but to shift further inside the booth.
“You two are siblings, right?”
“Yes, we are. Are you really going to pay for everything?”
“You seem very happy about that.”
“My brother dragged me to the gym today and killed my legs, so I'm exhausted. I need to eat a lot.
>But he won't let me eat what I want at a bar because he says if I gain weight, Mom will nag him.”
The two sisters covered their mouths and giggled.
The woman who sat next to me spoke first.
“I'm the older sister.”
“And I'm the younger one.”
“Siblings around your age don't usually go out for drinks together, so we found it a little strange and were watching you with interest.”
“Still, you both seem quite forward. Is it because you're sisters?”
When I asked, the two sisters exchanged glances and smiled, then the older one spoke.
“We're streamers. We broadcast online.”
“Oh, really? Don't tell me right now you're...”
“Hey, there's no camera. Of course we're not broadcasting right now.”
“We often do missions where we talk to people during our outdoor streams, and sometimes we have to get close to them, so we get called 'forward' a lot.”
Perhaps because they were streamers, they were excellent conversationalists.
At the mention of streaming, Jung Hye-na's eyes lit up even more, and she eagerly asked them all sorts of questions.
“Actually, I work as a staff member at a YouTube channel's office.”
“Oh, really? Which one? It must be pretty big if they're hiring staff.”
“I'm sorry, but that's a secret. I'm a personal employee, so I don't disclose it outside of work to avoid causing any trouble for the channel. I hope you understand.”
“Ah, if it's not your own channel and you're an employee, that makes sense. We understand.”
“Well, we're in a position where we need every subscriber we can get, so we'll tell you ours. Please be sure to subscribe and like our videos.”
The younger sister and Jung Hye-na hit it off immediately and even exchanged phone numbers.
After checking out their channel, Jung Hye-na's eyes widened.
“Wow, you have 500,000 subscribers?”
Is that a lot?
“Excuse me, but would it be rude to ask about your income?”
The two sisters exchange a look and smile.
The older sister sitting next to me looked at me and opened her mouth.
Jung Hye-na was the one who asked about their income.
“Including super chats, our platform revenue is about 50 million won a month.”
“Wow, that's amazing. But that can't be all of your income.”
“Sponsored content brings in anywhere from 5 million to 20 million won a month. From that, we subtract 3 million for our editor's salary and 3 million for office rent. We've already recouped our equipment investment, so there aren't many other expenses.”
“Amazing.”
“Our content involves meeting various people, interviewing them, interacting, and sometimes doing collaboration streams, so we don't have many other production costs.”
“But your brother is really handsome. Are you sure you're not a trainee?”
“I'm not.”
“No matter how I look at you, you seem like a trainee that a major agency is keeping under wraps.”
“If I were, would I be out drinking like this?”
“But Oppa, you bragged to me that you've been street-casted several times.”
“When did I ever?”
“Oh, you have? Well, with your visuals, I'm not surprised.”
“To be honest, we asked to join you because you're so handsome. You knew that, right?”
“That's right. Did you really think we asked just because we were curious about a brother and sister drinking together?”
Honestly, I thought it would be a drag at first.
But they were great talkers, so it was pretty fun. Most importantly, Hye-na was enjoying herself, which was nice.
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
The older sister asked me seriously.
I suddenly felt Jung Hye-na looking at me with a meaningful gaze.
Her expression was unreadable, yet somehow alluring.
She could be a little sister enjoying her brother's predicament.
Or she could be a lover, curious about how I would describe my feelings for her.
“There's a woman I hope will become my girlfriend.”
The corner of Jung Hye-na's mouth twitched slightly.
It was still ambiguous whether she was the sister or the lover.
“Oh my, really? No way.”
“Any woman would say yes if a man like you asked her out. Even Im Chae-seul would fall for you instantly.”
“Who's Im Chae-seul?”
I'd never heard the name before, but she said it as if I should know.
The sisters clapped their hands in astonishment.
Jung Hye-na shrugged, looking at me as if I were pathetic.
“See? I told you, Oppa has no interest in general knowledge. That's why he has no friends.”
“I have more than you...”
“Then name one. Someone you can call right now to prove it.”
“Uh...”
Of course, I couldn't name a single friend.
The sisters burst out laughing and clapped.
“Hahaha, hey. 'Oppa.' Im Chae-seul is the top-tier, most famous actress in her twenties in our country right now.”