062. Promise
062. Promise
I didn't grant the little kid's request for a hitchhiking ride.
If she were a lost child I would've been willing to give her a lift, but that thing was no lost child.
‘That crazy stalker bitch...’
The kid was none other than a viewer of my stream.
A viewer who used the nickname 'Bubblegum Collector'.
The writing on her sign made it obvious.
She'd plastered her own nickname across the bottom, so it was easy to tell.
‘But wasn't Bubblegum supposed to be an adult? Even just from her chat style, she didn't seem like a minor.’
Even at a glance, she didn't look like an adult.
Her appearance was that youthful, and her build was severely small.
‘...That was not the important thing right now.’
Anyway.
I had no intention of giving that crazy bitch a ride.
So I floored the pedal and jacked up my speed.
"Give me a ride!!!"
I drove right past Bubblegum.
Completely ignoring her cries to be picked up.
‘Her voice was loud as hell...’
Even with the windows closed, her voice came through perfectly clear.
She was a bitch with one hell of a set of lungs.
【Hottie Licker】─Why'd Se-hun suddenly break into a cold sweat? Makes me wanna lick him.
【Reformed Guburi】─Stop licking, you nasty bitch.
【Hottie Licker】─Want me to lick you too? Sllurp.
【Reformed Guburi】─Fuck off.
After a brief glance at the chat.
I sidelong-checked the right side mirror.
But Bubblegum Collector, who should've been on the shoulder, was nowhere to be seen.
‘What the? Where'd she go already?’
The road I was driving on was a straight stretch.
It wasn't a curving road, so it was strange that Bubblegum's figure wasn't reflected.
【BigGirl】─What's wrong? Your expression's dark.
【Min-ji】─You keep glancing at the right side mirror.
【Yoho】─Was there something outside?
【Reformed Guburi】─Looks like you witnessed some outdoor sex.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─Is there anything in Guburi's brain besides sex?
【Reformed Guburi】─Ppaguri's in there too.
【Qkrnfl892】─Oh. lol
I decided to just ask.
Since Bubblegum should be watching my stream right now.
"Bubblegum. Was that really you trying to hitchhike just now?"
【Yoho】─??
【Gyejipsa】─Wakyapya?
【Se-hun Defense Force】─Hitchhiking?
Even as time passed, Bubblegum's chat never came up.
*
*
*
I explained to the viewers what I'd just experienced.
Some little kid had tried to hitchhike, and judging by the phrase written on her sign, she seemed to be Bubblegum Collector.
I summed it up more or less like that.
The reaction was predictably heated.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─lolol for real?
【Hottie Licker】─Creepy as hell.
【Reformed Guburi】─Bubblegum Collector really is a crazy bastard, huh? Is she a stalker?
【Yoho】─Gasp. Shouldn't you report this?
【BigGirl】─Explain yourself, Bubblegum.
【Min-ji】─Bubblegum, stop lurking and crawl out here already.
【Qkrnfl892】─You've been whining about wanting to eat with him all day, and now you've finally resorted to stalking, you fucked-up bitch.
"Don't insult her. She's still a kid, so she might not know better."
【Reformed Guburi】─She's an adult, wtf.
"I thought so too, but when I saw her just now, she didn't seem like an adult."
【Hottie Licker】─Maybe she just looks young like Guburi?
【Reformed Guburi】─Huh? Only my voice is fucked-up; my looks are mature, you bitch. You've never even seen me, so don't run your mouth.
【Hottie Licker】─lol sllurp.
"More importantly, why didn't she show up in the side mirror? That's seriously weird."
【Yoho】─You didn't just mis-see it, did you?
【Min-ji】─You might have mis-seen it. Se-hun, your eyesight's really bad. You should go to an eye doctor.
"Eye doctor my ass. My eyesight's fine, you crazy bitch."
【Min-ji】─It is not. You looked at the hideous Eight-Nine-Two and called her pretty, so you might be entering the stage of full blindness soon.
【Reformed Guburi】─Why's Min-ji coming out so hard today.
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─Dark-side Min-ji. lolol
【Qkrnfl892】─lol pathetic, Min-ji.
【Min-ji】─Just a joke. heh.
"Anyway. Bubblegum isn't answering, so for now, I'm gonna ban..."
『'Hottie Licker' has donated 1,000 won.』
└Behind you, f-fuck!!!!
While I was still talking.
A donation suddenly popped off and a voice message played.
Hearing that voice, I shifted my gaze to the rearview mirror.
"..."
A little kid was pressing her face flat against the rear window connected to the cargo space, staring at me.
"Hehe."
"...That crazy bitch."
SCREEEECH—!
I immediately slammed to a hard stop on the shoulder.
After that.
I grabbed the kid by the hair and forcibly dragged her out of the cargo space.
***
The roughly ten-minute interrogation came to an end.
First off, this kid was indeed Bubblegum Collector herself.
She said she'd really chased after me because she wanted to share a meal with me.
"How did you get into the cargo space?"
"I just jumped in!"
"You jumped into a moving vehicle and climbed on?"
"Yeah!"
"Contrary to how you look, your athletic ability seems good."
"Yeah! Hehe."
Bubblegum answered energetically.
Seeing her looking that bright and innocent made me want to smack her in the head.
Anyway.
I slowly and thoroughly let the viewers know what I'd just heard.
After that, I made Bubblegum kneel on the dirt ground.
To make her apologize to me and to the viewers.
I captured the scene on camera while I spoke.
"What are you doing? Apologize, quick."
"I'm sorry!"
"Say exactly what you're sorry for."
"I'm sorry for stalking! I'm sorry for saying I wanted to eat together! Uh, and also... what was it...?"
From behind the camera.
I silently mouthed the words 'cargo space.'
"Ah! I'm sorry for climbing into the cargo space without permission!"
And just like that, the performative apology was over.
The reason I made her do a performative apology was simple.
I could casually forgive Bubblegum without a second thought, but the viewers wouldn't forgive her as easily as I would.
【Reformed Guburi】─lolol was that bastard really an elementary-schooler?
【Yoho】─If it were an adult woman it would've been disgusting, but since she's a kid, it's a little cute.
【Semen Thief】─She looks younger than me. lol
【Hottie Licker】─Even if she's young, stalking's a crime. tch tch.
【Min-ji】─But how did she get into a moving car?
【Dick Lover】─Probably timed a jump and leaped in or some shit.
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─This isn't a movie; say something that makes sense.
【Qkrnfl892】─Hey, brat. Were you that jealous that I got to eat with Se-hun? lolol so damn cute, for real.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─She didn't chase him down to harm him, so I think we can let this slide. She's still young.
【Drift AI】─I speak. I state that the Juvenile Act should be abolished.
【Plum Tree】─Drift, when'd you come in?
【BigGirl】─You mustn't forgive her too easily. You need to scold her sternly so she won't do this again.
【Gyejipsa】─Wakyapya... Mustn't forgive Bubblegum, ya know...
There weren't as many viewers scolding Bubblegum as I expected.
Seemed like it was thanks to her youthful appearance.
‘She was an adult, though...’
For the record, Bubblegum was apparently an adult.
It wasn't something to think of as strange.
There were rare diseases that halted growth, after all.
Of course, Bubblegum had once said this:
「Actually, my growth stopped because I'm a test subject, but the fact that I'm a test subject is a secret so I can't tell you!」
I'd dismissed it as total bullshit, but still.
Anyway, if I needlessly revealed that she was an adult, there could be calls for severe punishment.
So just as I was thinking it'd be best to bury the truth—
"Huh? Hey guys! I'm actually an adult, you know?"
Bubblegum outed herself as an adult.
Waving her ID card right at the camera.
The chat was swept up in shock and erupted into chaos all over again.
***
In the end, the decision was made to forgive her.
Because I actively defended Bubblegum, saying I didn't mind this incident at all.
Especially, our house Gomdori had even pleaded with me to please forgive Bubblegum.
They seemed to be quite fond of Bubblegum.
"Oh. And just in case, I'm telling you now: just because I let Bubblegum off this time, don't any of you start thinking about stalking me. Next time I absolutely will not let it go."
【Yoho】─What? You won't let us go?
【Min-ji】─Don't discriminate. tch.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─Ah, for real? You won't let it go? I had my clothes on but now I guess I'll have to strip back down.
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─Lotta would-be criminals in here.
【Plum Tree】─lol.
【Reformed Guburi】─Sex.
I knew it'd be like this.
If I hadn't said anything, we'd almost have had a whole group offline meetup right at my house.
I sighed and glanced over at the passenger seat.
【Gyejipsa】─Wakyapya! Bubblegum's cute!
"Hehe. Thanks."
Bubblegum, sitting in the passenger seat, was smiling brightly while looking at the camera.
【Hottie Licker】─So in the end you're taking that bastard along to eat too?
【Yoho】─Seems like it.
【Qkrnfl892】─Hmm. A little worried. In manga, there are quite a few cases of guys getting conquered by a loli...
【Dick Lover】─But Bubblegum looks familiar somehow.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─So jealous of Bubblegum. lol.
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─Special treatment. tch.
【Min-ji】─Pfft!!!
【Reformed Guburi】─Pfft, and shit, you fucking lesbo bitch.
"I've got no choice but to take her. I can't just heartlessly dump her on the road and leave."
【Qkrnfl892】─?? But you just ignored her and drove past earlier.
【Reformed Guburi】─Gye Bastard-hun. Dumping us somewhere is your daily routine, you know.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─lol. Even if he left her behind and took off, seems like he's just taking her along because he's worried she might secretly climb into the cargo space again and follow him.
I decided to just bring Bubblegum along.
She'd tearfully begged me to take her, saying it was her lifelong wish to share a single meal with me.
‘If it had been Guburi, I'd had thumped her on the head once and flatly refused...’
Bubblegum's request was hard to turn down.
Seeing her eyes brimming with tears in her childish form had made my heart waver.
‘...Well, taking one person along ought to be fine.’
I'd just introduce Bubblegum to the neighbor mother and daughter as my kid.
Nobody would complain about a neighbor bringing family to a dinner gathering.
【Reformed Guburi】─But hey, does that Bubblegum bastard realize she's the one who bitch-whined at me for being a brat before, even though she looks like an elementary-schooler herself? What a fucking bitch.
"Me? When? I never did that?"
【Reformed Guburi】─Don't play dumb, fucker. You went on and on fucking bitching at me to prove I was an adult. I remember it all. tch.
"You're just making up shit that never happened. Guburi, that's not okay!"
"Bubblegum, you fucking bitch. Don't unbuckle your seatbelt."
"Okay!"
And so, Bubblegum ended up being brought along to the dinner with the neighbor mother and daughter as well.
***
A house with a blue roof a short distance away from Gye Se-hun's home.
That house's basement.
Three women sat at the table, quietly staring at the wall-mounted clock.
［The promised time is seven... There are still four hours left.］
“...”
“...”
On the table they were gathered around, a person's head was placed.
The head of a man who had gone missing not long ago.