Misconception
"Cough, cough." A cough slipped out before I could stop it. It was my body's way of rejecting the spicy food I hadn't touched in a while. ...Was Shindang Tteokbokki always this spicy? I had to chase every bite with a full glass of water. At this rate, I might as well just soak the rice cakes in water before eating them.
"Oppa. Don't tell me... is it spicy?"
Yuna watched my reaction, her face clouding with worry as she studied me.
"Ah, no... hiss. It's not that bad~?"
I tried to play it cool on the outside, but my body betrayed me. Sweat was already beading on my face, and my cheeks burned hot. My tongue felt like it was on fire, screaming for mercy.
"It doesn't look fine... No matter how you slice it, you look like you're dying."
"No... hiss... I'm really okay."
Yuna casually dipped a gimbap roll in the tteokbokki sauce and popped it into her mouth without a care. Was she insane? Could she not feel the heat at all? I hadn't even touched the broth yet. Just the rice cakes and fish cakes had done this to me. Maybe our tongues were made of completely different substances. Like vibranium or adamantium.
"Oppa. Your face is already beet red. Be honest. It's spicy, right?"
Yes. It was spicy. So spicy I thought I might actually die. I couldn't hide it anymore, so I nodded. Yuna immediately slid several dishes toward me.
"I knew it. We should've just ordered something milder. Why did you insist on the spicy one?"
The dishes she pushed over were steamed egg, gimbap, and Coolpis—exactly what my furious tongue needed to calm down. Thank you, Yuna. For saving my life.
"Hold on... hiss."
I put off answering and quickly shoved a spoonful of steamed egg into my mouth. The soft texture wrapped around my tongue, bringing a wave of relief. I followed it up with the gimbap for round two, then doused everything with Coolpis like a firefighter hosing down flames.
"Whew... I really... had no idea it would be this spicy."
God, how embarrassing. My face must look like a disaster right now. This place is supposed to be famous for its sweet tteokbokki. How can the spicy version be this brutal? The heat completely shattered the brand image. I genuinely wanted to cry.
"You must not eat tteokbokki very often. Most spicy versions are around this level."
"Hiss... Yeah, I don't eat it much."
It wasn't that I disliked tteokbokki, but I rarely ordered a single serving. Deliveries usually came in three or four portions, or it just wasn't worth the price.
Yuna chewed another piece of tteokbokki, then swallowed.
"Oppa, you're a total spice lightweight, huh~?"
Look at her acting all superior. That teasing tone—she sounded exactly like she did on stream. A smug little smile already played on her lips.
As one of her loyal viewers, I couldn't let this insult slide. I fired back immediately.
"I'm not a lightweight. My condition's just off today, that's all."
"Oh~! So it's because your condition isn't good, huh~?"
Yuna beamed with that mischievous, wicked smile as she continued to poke at me. She really hadn't dropped her habit of annoying people. Yuni. Teasing is the viewers' right. My body trembled with frustration at how she kept stealing that privilege from us.
Just you wait. We'll settle this on today's stream. I'm not usually the type to spam chat, but today I couldn't hold back. After almost a year of watching, I knew exactly where the line was—the one where Yuni would get annoyed but wouldn't hand out a ban.
"I'm just kidding~. I'll take care of the tteokbokki, so you focus on the sides, oppa."
"Uh... thanks."
After thoroughly enjoying herself at my expense, Yuna pulled the tteokbokki pot closer to her side. She pushed all the fried items and side dishes over to me. Seeing her like this, it was impossible to stay mad. The annoying persona she showed on stream and her genuine, caring side existed in real life too. This was probably just who Yuna was. The reason the streamer Yuni came across as so charming was because the person behind her—Yuna herself—was genuinely that appealing.
We focused on eating for a while after that. Both of us must have been starving. We didn't speak, just steadily worked through the food.
"Oppa, do you have any favorite celebrities or idols?"
Yuna suddenly threw the question at me out of nowhere. Celebrities? Idols? If she'd asked about streamers, I could've named a few, but my brain had been marinating in live broadcasts for so long that TV and OTT platforms felt like ancient history. The celebrities and idols I knew were all from years ago. Besides, my idol is you. But I couldn't possibly say that to her face. Her question left me completely flustered.
*
Was oppa trying to show off in front of me? He didn't have to do that. Women hate men who are full of bravado more than anything. I couldn't understand why he'd chosen the spicy option when he clearly couldn't handle it. Then again, maybe he really didn't eat tteokbokki often and just didn't know. I like it, so I have a good sense of how spicy it usually gets. But for someone who doesn't normally eat it, that reaction was understandable. That's why I ended up eating all the tteokbokki myself.
"Oppa, do you have any favorite celebrities or idols?"
I decided to use the strongest technique in my arsenal. I'd read somewhere that if you want to figure out the ideal type of someone you like, this is the best question to ask. The source? Somewhere on the internet.
"Hmm... I'm not really sure?"
Hmm... Not easy. Oppa really was a dating expert. He'd completely neutralized my carefully crafted question in a single breath. Saying he didn't know was probably a strategy to avoid revealing any information about his type. But I wasn't about to back down.
"Come on, there has to be something, right? Like, this kind of vibe is your type. Anything like that."
They say experts are weak to direct attacks. Against high-level players who are good at dodging, it's better to land basic attacks than to whiff non-targeted skills. When facing strong opponents, it's smarter to group up mid and fight rather than waste time rotating to side lanes. When I'm at a disadvantage, honesty is my chosen strategy.
"If I had to pick... maybe the cute type?"
Oppa glanced at me cautiously as he answered. The cute type, huh... Was he saying that because of me? Or did he actually prefer that type? I don't think of myself as particularly cute, but if we're dividing people into categories, I definitely fall into the cute one. I'm short, and my figure is nowhere near glamorous. The real reason I was pressing him on this was simple. I wanted to know what he liked about me. My first impression must have been the absolute worst—anybody would think a drunk, rowdy girl was terrible. So if oppa had still fallen for me, there had to be something about my appearance that caught his eye. That's what I kept telling myself.
"What about other than that?"
"Other than that? Hmm... an attractive woman who's good at games?"
A woman who's good at games? That's me. The memory of bragging to him about being Master flashed through my mind. My skills were overwhelmingly higher than most girls my age. Well, being a pro gamer meant I had to be good, but there were still levels to it. Even I knew I had a natural sense for games.
Ugh. He keeps saying things like that with such an innocent face. It's confusing. The one I like is you, you know? It felt like he was hinting at it over and over.
"Hmm... I see?"
I tossed a piece of fish cake into my mouth. Mmm~! So good. The spicy flavor sent dopamine rushing through my whole body. Why couldn't he enjoy something this delicious? I felt a little sorry for oppa and his weak tolerance for spice.
"W-what about you, then?"
"Hmm... let's see... I think I prefer cute guys too?"
My taste had stayed pretty consistent since I was younger.
"Rather than the big, muscular, or super cool types, I like guys with softer features. That kind of vibe?"
"Ah. Like idol-style?"
"Yes. That kind of feeling."
I subtly slipped in the hint that someone like him fit the description. After all, no one would call oppa the cool, handsome type. If he really was a dating expert, he'd pick up on my signal, right? Feeling satisfied, I picked up another piece of tteokbokki and ate it. That's when oppa's expression suddenly tightened.
"Yuna. You've got something on your mouth."
He handed me a tissue as he spoke.
"Where? Here?"
Not knowing exactly where, I started fumbling around blindly.
"No. Not there. Ah, no."
Oppa watched my clumsy attempts, growing more frustrated by the second. Finally, he pulled out a fresh tissue and gently wiped the sauce from my right cheek himself.
Gulp.
I swallowed so hard the sound was audible. A strangely soft touch. I didn't know what the scent was, but a faint raspberry fragrance drifted from him.
"Right here. That's where it was."
His action sent heat rushing straight to my head. My face must have turned as red as his had been from the spice earlier.
"Ah... thank you."
Only then did his expression soften, looking relieved. To do something like that and act completely unfazed... Isn't he a total player? Thinking back on everything he'd done so far, I became certain. Absolutely. Without a doubt. No matter how you looked at it, oppa was definitely a fox who'd made plenty of girls cry.