068. Beneath the Scarlet Ceiling Light, the Kitchen
068. Beneath the Scarlet Ceiling Light, the Kitchen
On the way back home.
When we'd come, it had just been Bubblegum and me.
Now, including Plum Blossom, Catgirl, and Dick Lover, we were a party of five.
I'd already been planning to let Bubblegum stay the night anyway.
As for the others, since it was late, I'd suggested they crash at my place,
and all three had agreed on the spot without a moment's hesitation.
They were easy women to read.
"Warkyarpya! It's already pitch-dark out!"
"Seon-ggeum. Stop flapping your arms around."
"Okay!"
So Bubblegum and I walked out in front, holding hands, and the three women tottered along in a line behind us.
Catgirl offered to give us a ride,
but I said we might as well walk back to clear our heads.
The camera, by the way, was in Catgirl's hands.
When Plum Blossom told me to use her as a pack mule, I'd handed it right over.
‘Was she filming properly?’
I glanced back over my shoulder.
"Trudging along a country road at night~ breathing in the crisp air with a sniff-sniff~ my head going totally clear~"
She was filming properly, all right,
while humming some bizarre song.
‘...What the hell kind of song was that? It made my ears rot.’
I checked the chat window on my phone, and the viewers seemed to share my sentiments.
【Yoho】─Catgirl, please stop committing eardrum terrorism.
【Qkrnfl892】─Ears rotting.
【BigGirl】─This one's a little hard to endure.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─Somebody tape her mouth shut, for fuck's sake.
Not a single person liked the song. So my ears weren't the problem after all.
If she sings one more time,
‘I was going to have to put duct tape over her mouth or something if she called me that one more time.’
Fortunately, the sound of singing didn't reach me again.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I looked away from my phone and faced forward again while I walked.
While we were walking,
I overheard Plum Blossom and Dick talking behind me.
"But why is Se-hun holding hands with Bubblegum, anyway?"
"Probably because it gives him paternal feelings or whatever."
"As if you could find a guy with paternal instincts these days..."
"Se-hun's different from normal guys."
After Dick finished speaking,
the conversation died out naturally.
They still seemed awkward around each other.
It made sense, since this was their first time meeting in person.
‘Come to think of it, those two had only just met, yet they were already speaking casually to each other.’
Were they just crazy bitches who'd eaten their manners with their rice?
I was chewing on that thought when—
Prod, prod.
Bubblegum poked me in the leg with her finger and spoke up.
"Se-hun!"
"Yeah?"
"Are we eating dinner when we get home? We didn't get to eat today."
"Ah. Now that you mention it, we never did end up eating. Don't worry about dinner, I'll cook for you once we get there."
"Cook? You're gonna make it yourself?"
"Yeah. There's nowhere that delivers to our place at this hour. Since we're in the countryside."
"Wakyapya! I'm looking forward to Se-hun's cooking! Let's hurry up and eat!"
Bubblegum let go of my hand and ran ahead with a sunny laugh.
The more I saw her, the more she was unmistakably a little kid.
***
By the time we were almost home,
I realized I'd been neglecting communication with the viewers, so I glanced down at my phone.
【Reformed Guburi】─You fucking bitches! Don't ignore us!
【Min-ji】─Hellooo?
【Min-ji】─Se-hun? Plum Blossom? Dick? Bubblegum?
【Min-ji】─Are you actually streaming right now?
【Min-ji】─Let's do a little communicating, hehe.
【Min-ji】─None of you are looking at chat, are you?
【Min-ji】─Look at the chat. You ugly bitches.
【Yoho】─Gasp.
【Reformed Guburi】─Damn.
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─?? Where's an ugly person? They're all pretty? Are my eyes messed up or something.
【Min-ji】─Yep. Your eyes are rotten. Would recommend pulling your eyeballs out. Heh.
【Qkrnfl892】─Min-ji! Stop the corruption!
【Se-hun Defense Force】─Does Min-ji have a split personality? LOL
【Reformed Guburi】─Isn't she just a fucking moron?
Feeling sheepish, I turned around and spoke up.
"Dick. Plum Blossom. You could've communicated with the viewers a little on the way over. Min-ji's pissed off now because of you two."
"Huh? Wait, this is your stream."
"Now he's even passing off streaming duties."
Plum Blossom and Dick answered like they couldn't believe it.
They weren't exactly wrong.
But there was one fact they were overlooking.
"You guys have the camera. So you should've been handling the stream, too."
What I said was orthodoxy.
"What kind of nonsense logic is that..."
"Shut it."
I cut her off before Plum Blossom could argue,
then looked at Catgirl.
Catgirl flinched, then laughed awkwardly and bowed to the camera.
"Oh, h-hello! Haha... We've been a bit negligent with communication, haven't we? Sorry! We'll work hard from now on!"
She was quick on the uptake.
That was probably why Catgirl had a boyfriend, and Plum Blossom had been single since birth.
I'd learned that little fact by eavesdropping on the way here.
Anyway.
Once Catgirl started engaging with chat, Min-ji's mood seemed to soften considerably.
【Min-ji】─Hello, pretty cat person. Hehe.
"Huh? You think I'm pretty?"
【Min-ji】─Yep. Hehe. Much prettier than that Plum Blossom-squid person next to you!
"Oh! Thank you! Truth is, I've been thinking the same thing for a while myself!"
"What a load of bullshit."
“Come on, don’t be jealous. What can I do if it’s the truth?”
"Are you actually brain-damaged..."
The broadcast picked up energy again like that, and before long we arrived in front of the house.
***
We crossed the yard and stepped inside the first floor.
"Whoa. You've even got a chandelier? When I was snooping from outside it didn't really sink in, but coming inside and seeing it for myself, this place is amazing!"
"Crazy bitch, shut your mouth for a second."
As Catgirl marveled at the house, Plum Blossom hurriedly clapped a hand over her mouth.
She was probably worried the viewers would catch on that she'd been stalking us.
【Reformed Guburi】─Gye Bastard-hun's house is pretty nice, I'll give it that. Ahem!
【Yoho】─Why is Reformed acting all proud?
【Se-hun Defense Force】─Right? LOL Way she's acting you'd think it's her house.
Fortunately, the viewers paid no attention to Catgirl's words.
They were only reacting to the part about admiring the house.
"Wakyapya! I wanna eat, hurry!"
Bubblegum was dashing around the house energetically, as if she'd returned to her own home.
At first, I didn't think she wasthisbad, but she seemed to be regressing into infancy more and more as time went on.
"Chef Gye Se-hun! Present the food posthaste!"
On top of that, she was now even acting like the homeowner.
‘I really wanna smack her one.’
A sigh escaped me unbidden as I watched Bubblegum jump onto the sofa without washing up and rub her face all over the cushions.
I considered saying something, but barely held myself back.
If Plum Blossom or Dick had done that, I would've cussed them out and kicked them out on the spot, but I couldn't do that to Bubblegum.
‘Looking like a kid was basically a free pass...’
Still, in my stead,
the viewers had banded together and were cussing out Bubblegum.
【Yoho】─Gasp. Guess we'll have to throw out that sofa now. T_T
【Min-ji】─Bubblegum, cut the shit, please. We're gonna scold you for real.
【Hottie Licker】─LOL lick.
【Qkrnfl892】─I thought that little turd was an adult? Why's she acting like a damn toddler?
【Gyejipsa】─Wakyapya...
【Se-hun Defense Force】─Personality is proportional to appearance, it's a rule.
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─There's a rule like that? Gotta look it up.
【BigGirl】─There isn't one, so don't bother searching.
【Semen Thief】─LOL the viewers here are fun.
【Hottie Licker】─LOL lick.
【Reformed Guburi】─Condom Collector, you fucking bitch! Don't dirty our Gye Bastard-hun's house!
【Drift AI】─I state: I concur with Reformed Guburi's chat, it says.
【Reformed Guburi】─?? Drift, you little shit, when'd you get here? If you're back from lurking, you start with a greeting, you cunt.
【Drift AI】─I state: Hello, it says.
【Reformed Guburi】─Good.
Bubblegum was supposed to see these chats.
But at the moment, Bubblegum was passionately making love to the sofa and wasn't even looking at her phone.
【Yoho】─But what are those blue stains all over the streamer's and Bubblegum's clothes?
【Reformed Guburi】─Huh? Now that you mention it, something weird is on there.
【Min-ji】─I just noticed that too. Couldn't see it earlier 'cause it was dark.
【Hottie Licker】─LOL lick.
【BigGirl】─Everyone's so quick to ask.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─Been on them since we left the neighbor's house.
Maybe she was conscious of the chat.
Catgirl shoved the camera toward me and started filming the blue-blood-stained areas in close-up.
She seemed to have a knack for camerawork.
"...Catgirl. You don't need to film this."
"Ah, okay!"
"And guys. This is just paint or something, so don't worry about it."
【Yoho】─Why are you covered in patches of paint?
"There's a story behind it. Don't try to dig too deep. Unless you want to get banned."
【Yoho】─Yes, ma'am.
【Reformed Guburi】─LOL Yoho. Don't try to get pounded too deep. Unless you want your uterus ruptured.
【Yoho】─The hell.
【Reformed Guburi】─Play along a little, you fucking bitch.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─How is anyone supposed to play along with that? LOL
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─Fr LOL even I can't play along with that.
【Min-ji】─How on earth does Guburi never get banned.
【Drift AI】─I state: Reformed Guburi enjoys Gye Se-hun's favor, it says.
【Qkrnfl892】─Does seem that way. If any other viewer typed that crap they'd be blacklisted for at least a day. LOL
【Hottie Licker】─LOL lick.
【Reformed Guburi】─But why have that little shit Hottie’s messages been so short for a while? What’s she doing?
【Hottie Licker】─Shh. Masturbating.
【Reformed Guburi】─Oh I see. I'mma do it too later before bed.
【Qkrnfl892】─LOLOLOLOL
【Yoho】─Good grief...
I figured I could stop worrying about the chat.
They seemed to be entertaining themselves just fine without my intervention.
I set my phone on the shelf.
Then I called to Bubblegum, who was sprawled across the sofa.
“Seon-ggeum. Let’s eat after we wash up.”
“I don’t really need to wash!”
“Quit bullshitting... Anyway, Dick and Plum, sit here and wait for a bit. I’ll wash first.”
As I headed toward the bath after saying that,
the back of my head suddenly prickled, so I stopped and looked behind me.
‘What?’
Every woman’s gaze was fixed on me.
Every one of them had a disconcerting look in her eyes.
“...Why are you all staring at me like that?”
“Wakyapya...”
“Ahem!”
“Ah...!”
“...”
Without answering, they cleared their throats and looked away.
Something felt odd.
My body felt so grimy that I wanted to wash up quickly, so I ignored it and hurried toward the bath.
***
After Gye Se-hun departed for the bath, silence descended over the living room.
Plum Blossom's junior broke the stillness by parting her lips.
"...We're not thinking of sneaking a peek at him, right, guys?"
Nobody answered the question.
They just kept eyeing one another warily.