Yoo A-yeon's Solo Stream (1)
Ding.
The elevator chimed, its doors parting down the middle.
Step, step.
Pitter-patter.
I stepped out of the elevator, holding my mom's hand.
This was a law office located in Seoul.
It wasn't like we had gotten caught up in some legal trouble.
We were just here to meet a relative.
My dad Yoo Jin-hu's younger sister, Yoo Jin-ah.
To me, she was my aunt.
I knew my aunt very well.
In my past life, I had greeted her often whenever I visited my dad's place.
In this life, she was someone I saw every holiday.
We had even met just a little while ago during Chuseok.
On top of that, my aunt was an elite lawyer who had crushed law school in her late twenties and opened her own practice.
But... Auntie is... to me...
Gulp.
I steeled my resolve before meeting her.
The office door opened.
My aunt, who had been sitting at her desk, stood up the moment she saw us.
"Hi, Jin-ah."
"Sister-in-law, you're here? You should have told me you were coming, I would've gone out to meet you."
Then, her gaze shifted downward.
"Oh my. Oh my goodness."
My aunt's expression transformed in an instant.
"It's A-yeon!"
"Hyeet!"
Just as expected, my aunt rushed over and scooped me up in a tight hug.
"Oh my goodness! You've gotten even cuter since I last saw you! Auntie watched your documentary, you know! I watched it three times! Our A-yeon is a total superstar!"
"Ugyaaa!"
I knew this would happen...
My aunt was a master of Energy Drain, sucking away all my vitality.
Last holiday, I had almost turned into a shriveled Yoo A-yeon mummy after getting caught in her clutches.
Even A-rin had fallen prey to her terrifying clutches starting this year.
My aunt began rubbing her cheek against mine.
Rub, rub.
"You're seriously so cute! How can anyone be this cute? How did my brother end up with a daughter like this? Sister-in-law, how did you make A-yeon so incredibly cute!"
"Mhm-mhm-mhm..."
I cast a desperate glance at my mom.
It was a silent plea for rescue.
"Mhm-mhm..."
Mom calmly sat down on the sofa.
"A-yeon, your aunt is so happy to see you. Shouldn't you show her some affection too?"
"Hreeet...!"
"The scene in the documentary where you showed off your IQ! It was so cute! That's Auntie's absolute favorite part!"
Rub, rub!
In the end, I had no choice but to endure the endless cheek-rubbing hell for a good while longer.
We explained the whole story of why we had come to see her.
By the way, did you know the 'details' of a story have nothing to do with retail stores? Fascinating, right?
"You want to show a photo of the two of us together on your broadcast?"
"Yes. It looks like A-yeon has to do a livestream, but we're a bit worried."
That was it.
The solution my mom had come up with to handle the flood of question emails.
A Yoo A-yeon livestream!
I could answer questions without having to type everything out on a laptop.
And by broadcasting my cute and smart self directly, I could spread the name of Yoo A-yeon even further.
It was truly a strategy that killed two birds with one stone.
However, Mom, who had come up with the idea, was worried that a bunch of trolls would swarm my broadcast.
In fact, the channel that had streamed my lecture live apparently had a hard time managing the chat because of the trolls who swarmed in after hearing the rumors.
So, when I broadcasted myself, I needed a talisman to make people behave in the chat.
And that was a photo of me with a lawyer.
Click!
My aunt and I took a photo, making peace signs with our hands.
"That's totally fine. In fact, it's even better if you promote my law firm! A-yeon is a superstar now, so I should be the one asking!"
My aunt readily agreed to our proposal.
"Oh, right! Take this too."
Shuck.
My aunt handed over a business card for her law firm.
Now, if I just displayed this in the corner of the broadcast screen, even the trolls who came after hearing rumors would behave themselves.
"Fuheheng."
Who am I?
A genius with an IQ of 160, a former Apple phone owner, the first author of the Riemann Hypothesis proof paper, a master of the holy trinity of outfit-hair-makeup, and a lawyer's niece.
I'm a lawyer's niece~ I'm a lawyer's niece~
Lawyer connections... so reassuring...!
"Auntie! Thank you so much!"
I bowed politely.
"Oh my, A-yeon, you're so polite."
Stroke, stroke.
My aunt smiled warmly and stroked my head.
"My cute niece, use this to buy some snacks."
Then, she pulled a golden bill out of her pocket...!
"Heeet!"
"Ah, Jin-ah..."
"Oh, put it away, put it away."
Mom tried to stop her, but my aunt insisted on slipping the golden bill into my pocket.
"Nihihi, thank you! I'll use it well!"
Pitter-patter!
As soon as I got home, without even washing my hands, I ran straight to my piggy bank.
And I slipped the 50,000 won bill into the piggy bank labeled [Nintendo 2 Fund]!
"Uhehing."
When I picked up the pig and shook it side to side, the rustling sound of the stack of bills made me feel full just listening to it.
"Oh, so full. Yoo A-yeon's belly is stuffed."
This piggy bank contained all the money I had saved up, starting from the 50,000 won bill I grabbed during my first birthday grab—grabbing money is the most efficient choice, after all—to the New Year's money and pocket money I received from relatives.
My mom had tried to take my New Year's money, saying, "I'll save it for you and give it to you later," and it was such a struggle to defend it... Phew.
I had a grand ambition to save this money, proudly buy a Nintendo 2, and play Pokimon and *Animal Crossing* with A-rin.
It wasn't for studying, it was for entertainment, so it felt bad to ask my parents to buy it for me.
That was why I was saving up step by step like this without begging.
"A-yeon, the broadcast setup is all done."
Thump!
Dad set up the camera on a tripod, adjusted the angle in front of the whiteboard, and gave a thumbs up.
When I said I would turn on the broadcast to defend my paper, Dad had helped me set up the broadcasting environment, including the camera and tripod.
"Okay, then Yoo A-yeon's personal broadcast debut! Let's begin!"
"Three, two, one, cue!"
A professor at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris was anxiously waiting for a reply to the email he had sent to Han Seol-ae.
The professor had refreshed his inbox several times since morning.
It had already been three days since he sent his questions about the paper.
But there was still no reply.
In a way, it was only natural.
Yoo A-yeon's paper was drawing attention from all over the world, and countless other researchers must have sent emails too.
Still, he couldn't help but feel anxious.
The paper study group seminar was next week.
If he couldn't resolve that part, his presentation would end up incomplete.
A fellow professor from the research lab walked in carrying coffee.
"Did you get a reply?"
"Not yet."
"Just wait. There must be a mountain of emails piled up."
"I know. I'm just checking."
The professor looked back at his laptop screen.
At that moment.
Ding.
A notification popped up.
"What? Did it come?"
"Yeah."
The professor hurriedly checked it.
The email was short.
A MeTube link was attached at the bottom.
When he clicked the link, a live broadcast was already in full swing.
The channel name:
[IQ Genius Yoo A-yeon]
On the screen, a girl standing on a step stool in front of a whiteboard was writing formulas with a dry-erase marker.
The author of the Riemann Hypothesis proof paper, A-yeon Yoo herself.
In the top-left corner of the screen, a photo of A-yeon Yoo and a woman who looked strangely like her was displayed, along with a business card written in Korean.
"Please understand that the broadcast will be conducted only in English! This part is about setting the boundary conditions of the operator! As many as seventeen people asked about this exact same part!"
A-yeon Yoo on the screen began to explain the contents of the paper step by step on the whiteboard in easy-to-understand English.
The professor plugged in his earphones and turned up the volume.
When we started the livestream on the [IQ Genius Yoo A-yeon] channel, people started coming in one by one and chatting.
Looking at the reaction in the chat, half of them were Koreans drawn in by the algorithm.
And the other half were probably overseas questioners who had clicked the link attached to the email.
"Hello! I'm Yoo A-yeon! I'm sorry to the Korean viewers, but since there are many people from overseas today, I will proceed only in English from now on! Sorry, sorry!"
I bowed my head slightly in apology and checked the chat window.
"Wow, so many people from different countries! Hello, buenos días, bonjour, guten Tag, buongiorno, ni hao, konnichiwa! First, I will answer the most frequently asked question!"